ideas

Retailer Sally Beauty had a carnival-theme booth complete with acrobat performers, games, and a miniature Ferris wheel of products. A branded photo backdrop featured illustrated black and white hair with red combs; guests sat in a spinning hoop to get their photos taken. The activation was designed and built by Conversate Collective.

Target Beauty used swings in its booth, which the brand tapped MKG to design. Oversize paper flowers in shades of orange, yellow, and red filled the area.

After the conference, Engaging Concepts sent every attendee a thank-you gift of fortune cookies; the fortunes inside were printed with quotes from conference speakers.

At the Power Ball in Toronto, piñatas made for a kid-friendly activity.

At a Belvedere-sponsored event during the 2012 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, guests sat on haystacks covered with bright orange blankets and chevron-patterned pillows.

Staffers were on hand to capture Polaroid pictures of guests, which were then displayed on a wall.

The booth also featured a dance challenge stage. Guests stepped in front of a camera to try their best dance moves, which were broadcast in the Cheez app.

One photo op area featured the brand’s signature blue and thumbs-up icon, while others had 3-D emojis.

This year’s Governors Ball music festival took place June 1 to 3 at Randall’s Island in New York. Giant trees built by Founders Entertainment with balloon arrangements supplied by Katie Balloons sprouted up throughout the festival grounds.

For smaller events, name tags don’t have to break the budget—or stick to a standard format. Artist marketplace Minted suggests a D.I.Y. option for event hosts using a simple button maker. The colorful round buttons are a simple, unobtrusive way to share guest names plus a small fun fact about them—which encourages conversation. Read more about the process on Minted’s Julep blog.

Guests could leave comments on an interactive graffiti wall marked with the SodaStream logo.

Tribute Portfolio’s “Add Your Own Color” featured a life-size coloring book, inspired by the brand’s colorful aesthetic. The content of the coloring book design offered illustrations and names of Tribute destinations.

In the V.I.P. area, guests could pose for a photo in a booth hosted by Bai. As the photo was snapped, a spurt of cool, cloudy air shrouded the booth.

Homemade biscuits are a traditional Southern treat, and the Restoration Hotel in Charleston has created a teambuilding activity around this indulgence. Guests take a short trip to Callie’s Charleston Biscuits for a hands-on biscuit-making class.

Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, which bills itself as “the world’s largest honky tonk,” offers group workshops to learn traditional Texas line dances such as the Fort Worth Shuffle and the West Coast Swing.