Klaxoon provides a variety of tools to facilitate information-sharing and collaboration at events. Planners can use the system to launch surveys, ask questions, create games, and prompt brainstorming. The system provides real-time results, so planners can track if attendees need clarification on content. The company is based in France, and expanded to the United States in June.
Beep is a beacon-enabled mobile app and attendee analytics platform. The system uses Bluetooth low-energy beacons to track attendee movement and dwell time, for example as they visit an exhibitor booth or attend a keynote session. Beep can also be used to send your guests location-based alerts and content, such as coupons, case studies, and website URLs, and can be set to trigger this content when they are anywhere from five to 230 feet from a beacon. Planners can access their event data in real-time from a Web-based dashboard.
Photo Butler is a new, free photo-sharing app for events. Hosts create a private album in the app and then invite guests to view and contribute their images. Those that choose to participate have all of their photos automatically added to the stream, without the need to text, upload, or email. The app’s algorithm pulls the best photos together into a highlight album.
Asembl is a new, free event discovery and promotion app. Planners create their event in the app, tag it with descriptive attributes (such as art and theater, fitness, music, etc.) and indicate the cost to attend and the target age group and gender. Users can then filter events based on attributes as well as by what their friends are attending. Events are displayed on a map so users can also search for events within a certain distance.
Ivvy is an event management system for venues and meeting planners. Based in Australia, the company has thousands of users in 13 countries, and this summer launched in North America. The system provides tools for planners to create custom websites, manage registration, coordinate hotel and airline bookings, coordinate speakers and sponsors, accept payments, and more. The venue capabilities allow planners to search, compare, and book event space, catering, and group accommodations by reviewing real-time availability, rates, and inventory. The venue component is available now in North America, and the planning tools will be available in the near future.
MoveShake is an app that allows users to design, create, share, and store virtual business cards. The cards are interactive, so clicking on the phone number in the image launches the phone’s dialer and clicking on the email launches the phone’s email client. Contacts be exported to a phone’s contacts and synced to the cloud or other applications. At events, presenters can give attendees their MoveShake ID so they can enter it in the app to immediately get their digital business card. Planners can also use the preload the app with cards from their sponsors, so those are immediately available to all attendees. And the app can be used to create digital badges to manage check-in.
Festivalgoers could play DJ inside the larger-than-life boombox and snap pics for social media.
At American Eagle’s inaugural Governors Ball, fans could pick up a free canvas tote with a custom screenprint design provided by Tour Print.
Similar to last year’s activation, the beer brand’s space, which was produced by MKG, featured picnic-style tables and a bar, along with free charging stations and Wi-Fi.
A new addition for this year was a Plinko-style game where visitors could score swag by using their empty, crushed cans as playing chips.
The hair brand Göt2b was on on site offering free styles like classic braids and funky knots to festivalgoers. ESP Camera was on hand to snap Polaroids of the finished ‘dos.
Giant trees built by Founders Entertainment with balloon arrangements supplied by Katie Balloons sprouted up throughout the festival grounds.
The DirecTV Now activation, which was created by experiential agency Blue Revolver, featured an oversize boombox, along with an 80s-theme urban playground setting with tricycles, a basketball hoop, and funky graffiti.
At this year’s festival, Tito’s Handmade Vodka debuted its Love, Tito’s Festival Experience. Produced by New York-based experiential and digital agency the Participation Agency, the activation featured a digital time capsule where festivalgoers could make a video pledge for change that will be emailed to them a year from now. They could also learn about the brand’s charity initiative, which includes highlighting a different charity at each festival the brand attends throughout the year.
In addition to the Love, Tito’s activation, the vodka brand also parked an Airstream trailer bar featuring music and cocktails within the “Best Kept Secret” area.
Located next to the Bacardi Stage on the festival grounds, Bacardi Bay offered fans a tropical island-inspired oasis, produced by Hargrove, featuring specialty cocktails, hammocks, and views of the entire festival grounds from the two-story bar.
Festivalgoers could kick back in colorful day boats inside in the branded space.
At the Bacardi Stage, performers including British band Wolf Alice, rapper Goldlink, Canadian rock band Japandroids, and Silk City with Diplo and Mark Ronson entertained the crowds.
AEO Connected loyalty program members received access to the roof deck, which featured lounge chairs, charging stations, and giveaways.
On the second floor of the activation, which was produced by Shadow and Live Nation, card members could pick up festival essentials like sunscreen, hair ties, ponchos, and more.
State Farm engaged attendees with four different action stations as part of its Neighborhood of Good, including the Here to Help House where fans scored festival gear and the Music Education House where participants built ukuleles from kits. The instruments were donated to local school music education programs.
The Here to Help at Risk Youth space asked fans to write encouraging messages to at-risk youth. The note cards were placed in hygiene supply kits and donated to local nonprofits. Participants also received a stenciled tattoo. At the Here to Help Hunger House, participants assembled food kits of non-perishable items, which were then donated to local food banks. For each activity completed, festivalgoers earned pins that could be traded for branded swag. Following its debut at Governors Ball, the Neighborhood of Good, which was produced in conjunction with Live Nation, will be on site at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Lake Shake, and other festivals.
At the Lay's tent, attendees could taste four different chip flavors and cast their votes for their favorite by scanning their festival wristbands at the corresponding station.
At the Kleenex Cabana, fans could freshen up with the brand’s new wet wipes, as well as get their faces painted.
Fans could pick up some M&M’s Caramel samples inside the candy brand's bright yellow dome. The empty wrappers could then be exchanged for festival swag, including sunglasses, fanny packs, and blankets.
The sparkling water’s branded lounge included seating, a balloon-adorned photo booth backdrop, free samples, and a ball pit for creating shareable gifs.
Once again this year, Citi cardmembers were able to link up their R.F.I.D. festival wristbands to their Citi credit and debit cards in advance. The wristbands served as a cashless payment device and also offered access to the Citi viewing deck. The elevated area provided a view of the main stage and a cashless bar. Live Nation produced the activation.
A greenery wall, which was created by B Floral and decorated with gold records, provided a backdrop for photo ops inside the viewing deck area.
For the fourth year in a row, Tequila Don Julio was on site, serving up craft cocktails via a 1967 vintage Airstream Speakeasy. And for the second year in a row, the tequila brand teamed up with restaurant review site Infatuation for the #AgaveAndEEEEEATS happy hour at the festival’s "Best Kept Secret" area. The space featured a swing set photo booth and the Tequila Don Julio vintage pick-up truck.
A new attraction for groups, Spyscape is an interactive museum about spycraft. The midtown space was designed by the buzzy architecture firm Adjaye Associates and features high-quality audio and lighting design. Guests receive R.F.I.D.-enabled devices upon entry and can use them in experiences that illuminate the art and science of spying. Examples include challenges such as using a profiling system developed with a former British Intelligence official, testing agility in laser-equipped tunnels that recall a movie set, and attempting to fool a lie-detector test. The museum opened in February, and is available as a ticketed experience for groups or as a venue for events of about 600 guests.
Freehand New York hotel opened in the former George Washington Hotel in Flatiron in January. Designed by Roman and Williams, the hotel offers 395 guest rooms—including two penthouse suites—and five dining options, including the Simon & the Whale restaurant and the George Washington Bar, helmed by restaurateur Gabriel Stulman. A rooftop location of the acclaimed Broken Shaker is planned for the spring. The hotel also is launching “The Freehand Fellowship” in partnership with the Bard College MFA program and Live Arts Bard—Bard College’s artist residency and commissioning program—in which selected artists will have the opportunity to live, work, and exhibit at the hotel.
Elsewhere, a 24,000-square-foot nightclub and event in Bushwick, Brooklyn, opened in November. The venue has five separate spaces: two performance rooms, a loft, an art gallery, and a rooftop that’s slated to debut this summer. The Hall, its largest space, holds 675 guests for standing performances or seats 200 theater-style. It also can seat 140 banquet-style. It includes integrated lighting and HD projections, plus a full bar. Befitting a live music venue, the space has professional audiovisual capabilities as well as private green rooms.
Relocated after 10 years in the meatpacking district, Scarpetta New York City opened its new location in NoMad at the James New York hotel in February. The signature restaurant concept from LDV Hospitality, the Italian restaurant is known for its pastas made by hand at the restaurant—dishes include taglierini with knuckle clams, leeks, scallion, and caviar as well as a classic spaghetti with tomato and bail—and also offers fish and meat entrées. The main dining room seats 115 or holds 200 for receptions, and a private dining room seats 30. The Bar at Scarpetta seats 52 or holds receptions of 75. A new cocktail lounge, the Seville, is located underneath the restaurant.
Guerlain Spa moved from the Waldorf Astoria New York to the Plaza, opening in late October. The spa, located on the hotel’s fourth floor, spans 6,500 square feet has 11 treatment rooms, including a couples suite. The space is available for private receptions, lectures, and meetings, and can be booked for full or half days. For meetings elsewhere at the hotel, the spa offers options for group wellness. Its 15-minute “feel-good sessions” range from stretching sessions to guided laughing sessions to get blood flowing, reduce blood pressure, and ease stress. The spa can also arrange for speakers on topics relating to health and wellness.
New Hell’s Kitchen spot Jax B-B-Q brings wood pit barbecue and a rockabilly vibe to its location along Ninth Avenue. The restaurant, which opened in January, seats 60 and comes from Nick Accardi, whose Italian concept Tavola is nearby. In addition to Memphis-style ribs and Carolina pulled pork, the menu offers fried catfish and a selection of burgers. The Americana-style decor includes antique gas station signs and stools from a 1930s-era Woolworth. Buyouts are available.
A newly built property, the Embassy Suites by Hilton New York—Midtown Manhattan opened in January in the city’s garment district. The 310-room hotel includes two spaces for small meetings: The Empire Room holds 40 theater-style or 30 in a classroom set-up, and a boardroom seats eight. In April, the property plans to debut the SkyLawn Bar and Social Space, spanning 3,560 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. The third-floor venue holds 235 guests for a reception.
Micro-hotel company Pod Hotels debuted Pod Times Square in January. The company’s fifth property and flagship offers 665 rooms overall and is the first site with Pod Pads—45 living suites ranging from 600 to 800 feet—that are available for extended stays and long-term leases. The BD Hotels property also includes Parm Restaurant and Tiki Bar, both from Major Food Group.
Mr. White, a New Orleans-inspired restaurant from hospitality veteran Jeffrey White and partners Kelly Rheel and chef Andrew Dunleavy, has the look of a Southern mansion. The space evokes the look and feel of a grand Southern dining room with white marble and gold trim, and seats 25 in the main dining room, 20 at the bar, and 18 in the chef’s counter room. For buyouts, the venue seats 44. Its menu features dishes such as chargrilled oysters, shrimp and grits, crawfish po’boy, and a vegan rib sandwich. Sweets include brûléed bananas with salted caramel gelato, a take on the classic New Orleans dessert bananas foster.
Soogil, a modern Korean restaurant from executive chef and owner Soogil Lim, opened in the East Village in January. Stemming from Lim’s knowledge of Korean food and culinary background in French cooking—gained from his experience at Daniel and Hanjan in New York—the restaurant serves Korean-inspired small plates with French presentations, as well as Korean twists on classic French cocktails. The 850-square-foot space seats 39 guests and is available for buyouts.
