10 Best Ideas of the Week: Miami's Pop-Up Pool, Watermill's Plastic-Bag Chandelier, and Ravinia's Custom Tree Canopy Entrance

On Saturday, some 1,200 guests headed out to the Watermill Center in the Hamptons for the art organization’s annual benefit, one of the season’s biggest draws for philanthropists. Titled the “Big Bang,” this year’s event included wild performance art scattered around the campus as well as a chandelier in the dinner tent—devised by artists Angelos Tsourapas and Vassilis Zidianakis of Atopos CVC—that was made up of plastic recycling bags and pink fabric streamers.

The Summer Games in London opened July 27 with a ceremony dreamed up by filmmaker Danny Boyle. One of the highlights of the show was an impressive pyrotechnic display designed to simulate the forging of five oversize rings, the iconic symbol of the Olympics.

Launching the "It's So Miami" branding campaign, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau erected a pop-up poolscape in New York's Union Square. The event, which TH Productions assisted with, included swimwear show, cooking demonstrations, and hotel-stay giveaways.

Ravinia music festival celebrated its women's board's 50th anniversary at a black-tie gala in late July near Chicago. After a performance from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and singers including Patti Lupone, guests had dinner in a tent lavishly decorated by Event Creative. At the entrance, designer Jeffrey Foster created a custom wooden canopy of trees inspired by Ravinia's logo.

The Global Business Travel Association hosted its annual conference in Boston in July, and participating company Carlson Wagonlit Travel hosted an after-party at Symphony Hall on a Tuesday night. Benefiting Project Step, the event was produced by Kuoni Destination Management and had a "Thrive in Retro" theme inspired by Mad Men. Served in spoons, on square plates, and in decorative bowls, menu items included assorted deviled eggs, Caesar-salad spring rolls, and BLT-stuffed tomatoes.

For Miami Spice restaurant week, Kung Fu Kitchen & Sushi at the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club took the familiar "naked sushi" model concept in a new direction. Instead of the standard prix fixe meal, groups of up to 10 people can order the $500 human platter of sushi arrayed on a male or female model.

At the annual tennis tournament in Washington, which started July 28, new title sponsor Citi offered cardholders radio transmitters at the company's tent to listen to commentary throughout the matches.

The associate ambassador board of the American Cancer Society hosted its Skyline Soiree at Chicago's River East Art Center last Friday. Playing off the society's tagline—"the official sponsor of birthdays"—the whimsical event had a birthday-party theme replete with giant balloons floating above bars and in place of floral centerpieces on tables.

On Saturday, Nintendo promoted its portable gaming console at the 15th annual Super Saturday fund-raising garage sale in the Hamptons. Stocked with a candy bar and plenty of Nintendo 3DS devices, the set up in Nova’s Ark Project was decorated with three-dimensional elements from Super Mario, including warp pipes, mushroom caps, and gold coins.

Monday saw the second installment of Pepsi and Billboard’s summer concert series, an event that took place at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville and included performances by Jana Kramer, Randy Houser, and country music trio Gloriana. The brands streamed the bash live on pepsi.com, allowing the online viewers to influence elements of the staging in real time.