2018 Off-Site

August 17, 2018

CasaBubble rents inflatable, modular spheres for events. Envisioned by French designers Frédéric Richard and Pierre-Stéphane Dumas, the transparent, pressurized bubbles can be used as V.I.P. areas, pop-up shops, dining spaces, and more in outdoor environments. There are five different models and the structures come with a wooden floor. Solar cells and battery equipment are also available.

Photo: Courtesy of CasaBubble

The teepee-style tents can hold as many as 400 people.

Photo: Carl Sadd

Secret Summer

The fourth annual Secret Summer, a farm-to-bar cocktail festival, took place August 12 at the Foundry in Long Island City in New York. Hangar 1 Vodka featured a hanging herb wall, inviting guests to garnish their lavender lemonade cocktails. The festival was produced by Tyler Hollinger of HighLife Productions, Andrew Maturana of hospitality company Rapt NY, and Alison DuVal of the Foundry.

Photo: Travis W Keyes

Elements Music and Art Festival

The fifth annual Elements Music and Art Festival, a Burning Man-inspired music and immersive art festival, took place August 11 at the industrial waterfront location Hunts Point in the Bronx. Bassnectar headlined the festival, with a performance that featured a massive laser show from the "Earth" stage. The laser show was created by audiovisual rental company Gateway Productions. Nightlife event production company BangOn produced the festival.

Photo: Andrew Rauner

Elements Music and Art Festival

Festival activities included a sound healing session, a wellness activity that uses instruments and vibrations to slow down brainwaves. Wellness brand Temple Turmeric hosted the session in a room that featured psychedelic decor. The festival's decor was helmed by event producer and art director Julianne Irene, in collaboration with 30 artists.

Photo: Tony Colasurdo Photography

HBO’s Insecure Fest

Ahead of the season three premiere of comedy series Insecure, HBO hosted a carnival-inspired music festival July 21 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. The event, which was produced by Team Epiphany, featured classic carnival games with cheeky twists, such as "friend zone"-theme cornhole. There was also larger-than-life Connect 4, Pop-A-Shot basketball, and more.

Photo: Dorothy Hong

HBO’s Insecure Fest

Stadium vendors offered food and drinks inspired by the show. The different areas had names such as "Tasty-Like," and "Thirsty-Like," as a reference to season three's episode titles.

Photo: Dorothy Hong

L.L. Bean Be an Outsider at Work

For its “Be an Outsider at Work” campaign, L.L. Bean partnered with co-working space Industrious to create pop-up work stations for people to work outside. The pop-up debuted at Madison Square Park in New York this summer. Jack Morton Worldwide designed and produced the activation, which included fabricating the custom workspace pods in its Princeton, New Jersey, facility.

Photo: Amy Sussman/AP Images for L.L.Bean

L.L. Bean Be an Outsider at Work

The pop-up featured cycling desks to provide a more active seating option. A variety of seating was meant to encourage different ways of working.

Photo: Amy Sussman/AP Images for L.L.Bean

Bacardi Sound of Rum

Bacardi celebrated the first day of summer with its Sound of Rum kick-off event with Major Laser, which celebrated the music of the Caribbean islands and featured rum cocktails and on-theme installations by local artists. The event, which was produced by Mosaic, displayed a fresh fruit stand with Bacardi branding, inspired by Caribbean street markets. The event took place at Hubbard’s Cave in Chicago.

Photo: Jeff Schear/Getty Images for Bacardi

Maison St-Germain

Elderflower liqueur brand St-Germain held its second annual summer soiree July 10 at Little Beach House Malibu. Production designer Marla Weinhoff created 1,000 LED “flowers,” meant to resemble the 1,000 elderflowers used in every bottle of St-Germain.

Photo: Sansho Scott/BFA.com

Aperol Spritz Soiree

Italian aperitif Aperol hosted an event celebrating the first day of summer in June at Bocce restaurant at Union Square Pavilion in New York. Attendees could play bocce ball on an orange court. The event was produced by Swell.

Photo: Courtesy of Aperol

In one area, a robot bartender creates and serves drinks. (Don't worry, a human bartender is on hand to interact with the robot and make sure nothing goes wrong.)

Photo: Claire Hoffman/BizBash

The French Polynesia Hilton properties in Moorea and Bora Bora offer sandcastle contests as site-specific teambuilding activities for groups.

Photo: Robert Voets/CBS

The Four Seasons Punta Mita offers a traditional sun ceremony as part of its culturally minded options for meeting groups.

Photo: Courtesy of Four Seasos Punta Mita

Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes offers unconventional spins on typical golf outings. Designed as conference breakout sessions, options include Foot Golf, which combines golf and soccer; Glow Golf (pictured), where groups play the glow-in-the-dark course at night; and the Full-Swing Golf Studio, which has a state-of-the-art Foresights Sports GC2 Golf Simulator and software that provides real-time statistics. The 102-acre oceanfront resort offers 60,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Photo: Casey Figlewicz

Rage Ground opened in the Garment District downtown last summer. The venue allows guests to take out their anger on a variety of inanimate objects, such as glassware, household appliances, and piñatas. Rage Ground is available for groups and corporate teambuilding, and accommodates as many as 25 people at a time. The venue provides coveralls, a face shield, gloves, and a vest, as well as tools such as bats and sledgehammers.

Photo: Courtesy of Rage Ground

The Hollywood Entertainment District launched a new public tour earlier this year. The Old Hollywood Walking Tour covers the years 1886 to 1960, telling the story of how Hollywood transformed from a small town into the entertainment capital of the world in fewer than 50 years. Stops include Hollywood’s first movie theaters, the longest continuously operating restaurant in the neighborhood, and architecturally significant buildings. Tickets cost $25 per person, and customized tours are available for groups.

Photo: Lara Sumera

Bulletproof 360, the brainchild of biohacker and author Dave Asprey, opened its Upgrade Labs venue in June. Billed as the “world’s first human upgrade facility,” the Santa Monica lab features out-of-the-box treatment options including cryotherapy, virtual float tanks, bone trainers, and more services usually only available for elite athletes or celebrities. Groups as large as 30 can host private, two-hour experiences where guests can experience the full range of treatments; private events cost $250 per person for the first two hours, and $100 per person for every additional hour. Services such as IVs, vitamin boosts, and snacks such as collagen bars can be added, as well as catering from the Bulletproof Cafe and wine from Dry Farm Wines.

Photo: Courtesy of Bulletproof Labs

Southern California’s largest escape room, Escape Room L.A., opened a new experience called the Pyramid in November. Inspired by the secrets and rituals of the ancient Mayans, groups work their way through an "undiscovered" Mayan pyramid, solving puzzles involving cryptic Aztec calendars and fighting indigenous creatures. The room holds eight people for 60 minutes; tickets cost $32 per person on weekdays and $37 per person on weekends, though group rates are available. Escape Room L.A., which is located downtown, has four additional themed rooms, and can accommodate private events and teambuilding activities.

Photo: Courtesy of Escape Room L.A.

The new BMW Performance Center, located in the Palm Desert a few hours east of Los Angeles, offers driving schools for a fast-paced teambuilding option. Groups of five to 250 can be accommodated for two-hour, half-day, full-day, or two-day classes; prices start at $299 per person. Classes are taught by BMW professional driving instructors on a private, 5.1-mile course with mountain views. The center itself has a conference room, a coffee bar, and Wi-Fi, so work can be done throughout the day.

Photo: Chris Tedesco

Ziplines at Pacific Crest offers high-flying group adventures in the San Gabriel Mountains, 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The company has two zip line courses ranging from 200 to 1,500 feet in length; tours are entirely tree-based, and designed to minimize environmental impact. Regular tours cost $109 per person and last two-and-a-half hours. For more experienced participants, the company offers Full Moon Tours at night, followed by outdoor refreshments. Each tour can hold as many as eight people; for larger groups, multiple customized tours can be booked back-to-back. The company offers a discount for groups of six or more; parties should call ahead to make reservations.

Photo: Courtesy of Ziplines at Pacific Crest

In June, Catalina Island Company launched a new line of guided adventures at Two Islands, a community located on the island’s more rustic, less crowded west end. The tours aim to give the experience of a local, with opportunities for groups to hike, kayak, paddle board, and snorkel. Adventures are limited to groups of eight people, and pricing varies; for example, a 1.5-mile hike to Ballast Point costs $30 per person, while a kayaking trip to the island’s Blue Caverns is $40 per person. A new Cyclone powerboat can bring visitors from Avalon—the island’s more popular tourist destination—to Two Harbors in 40 minutes, making it possible to visit both sides of the island in one day.

Photo: Courtesy of Catalina Island Company

Host an upscale event—with a competitive twist—at the Hotel Palomar Los Angeles—Beverly Hills, which debuted a $12 million renovation last year that brought its total event space to 5,000 square feet spread over eight versatile rooms. A new addition was Double Take, a full-service restaurant, bar, lounge, and activity venue. The stylish space is designed to resemble a Hollywood backlot, with exposed ceilings and movie-theme touches. The highlight of the venue, though, is the 934-square-foot gaming lounge, which holds 35 guests and features Skeeball, darts, pool, and other games for some friendly competition. Double Take’s main dining room holds 55, while a lounge seats 50 or holds 60 for receptions. The three interconnected areas can be rented together for a large event.

Photo: Courtesy of Hotel Palomar

Co-founded by Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., Scratch DJ Academy is a professional DJ school that offers teambuilding events at its New York, Miami, and Los Angeles locations for groups of six to 50. The customizable workshops range from one-hour basic teambuilding exercises to eight-hour events that include activities, DJ lessons, and a mixer. Prices start at $75 per person for a two-hour event.

Photo: David Richards Photography

Dancers and instructors from contemporary dance company Chicago Dance Crash are available for high-energy instructional events teaching various street-dance styles, including hip-hop, funk, break-dancing, krump, and more. Activities culminate in freestyle performances by the ensemble. Prices range from $50 to $200 per hour per dancer or instructor; discounts are available based on the nature of a company’s contributions to the city of Chicago.

Photo: Courtesy of Chicago Dance Crash

David Fishof created Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in 1997 to give ordinary folks a chance to play music with rock legends like Slash from Guns n’ Roses. The company’s corporate division gives businesses the opportunity to re-energize employees with teambuilding workshops designed to encourage creativity, communication, and collaboration. Participants work with rock stars to rewrite lyrics to a song and then perform it onstage. Sessions can last one to two days and end with an all-star concert. Prices range from $35,000 to $60,000 for groups of 100 to 200.

Photo: Courtesy of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp

In New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, street-art tourism company Graff Tours offers tours and learning experiences that explore graffiti culture. Teambuilding activities include 90-minute lessons led by graffiti artists and construction of a collaborative mural. Ninety-minute tours start at $15 per person, and workshops start at $45.

Photo: Courtesy of Graff Tours

Bud Light Dive Bar