event stuff

TEDActive in Palm Springs, California, in 2013, had a similar idea: Buttons with blank fields labeled "Talk to Me About ... " invited guests to write a short list of topics they love or are knowledgeable about, to encourage meaningful mingling. Attendees could attach the buttons to their existing badges. The independent TED-style event TEDxWaterloo in Canada, takes it a step further, leaving titles and company names off of name badges. Instead, organizers leave 40 characters on the badges for attendees to finish the phrase “I'm chasing … ,” which gets conversations started among attendees on a deeper level.

A “collective community mural” was featured at the entrance to the space; it included frames within a digital collage that pulled in art from the digital easels, so the giant mural was constantly evolving over the course of the activation.

At Refinery29’s 29Rooms in New York in Los Angeles, illustrator Jen Mussari designed hand-painted punching bags and gloves for a “The Future Is Female” installation. Electronic music artist Madame Gandhi created beats in the space that guests could turn on by punching the bags.

In December, more than 500 young people gathered in Los Angeles for the inaugural Teen Vogue Summit: two days of activism and empowerment-theme talks from Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Women’s March organizer Paola Mendoza, poet and artist Cleo Wade, film director Ava Duvernay, and more. The event, which was designed and produced by 23 Stories, featured an eye-catching step-and-repeat that evoked buttons with inspiring, inclusive phrases such as "Women's rights are human rights" and "Love wins."

Sponsor Urban Outfitters teamed up with Teen Vogue editors to create a series of empowering tote bags, shirts, hoodies, and buttons. The products were adorned with phrases such as "Resist the Gaslight" and "This is what a Teen Vogue reader looks like."

Inspired by Maria Lani, the self-declared actress who conned the crème de la crème of the 1920s Paris art scene into painting her portrait, John Galliano's spring 2011 fashion show invites came in the form of scaled-down artworks printed on canvases with the show details on back.