Activations

The Friday portion of the summit started and ended at the TOMS headquarters in Los Angeles (pictured). In addition to a series of workplace immersions, the day included a celebration of Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 list and live karaoke with castmembers from Pitch Perfect 3. TOMS was chosen because its spaces matched the day's creative, entrepreneurial vibe.

During the Saturday event at 72andSunny's headquarters, guests were greeted by signage saying "Hello, are you ready to change the world?" that immediately set the tone for the day. At check-in was an inspiring quote from poet and artist Cleo Wade, who was also a speaker at the conference. All signage was designed by 23 Stories and produced by Premier Displays & Exhibits.

The overall event, which was held mostly outdoors at the 72andSunny campus in Playa Vista, had a white, yellow, and orange color scheme, creating a clean, sunny vibe. In the main-stage seating area, fuzzy bean-bag chairs were scattered throughout, and a larger-than-life Teen Vogue sign provided a popular photo op. Most furniture rentals were provided by PBteen, and supplemental rentals were by AFR Event Furnishings and Town & Country Event Rentals.

For the opening keynote session on Saturday, 17-year-old actress and activist Yara Shahidi interviewed Hillary Clinton. Clinton repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting young people to vote in the 2018 midterm elections. “We are facing a concerted effort to turn back progress. … This is not some abstract civic engagement. This is a burning house,” she said. “The fire’s not that big yet and there still is a lot of time to put it out. It will only be put out by people standing up, claiming their rights and their values again—and getting out to vote.”

Near the main stage, a step-and-repeat evoked buttons with phrases such as "Women's rights are human rights" and "Love wins."

Erica Boeke, the vice president of experiences for 23 Stories, said it was important to Teen Vogue to find like-minded, socially conscious sponsors, and to integrate them in a way that felt natural. The result was various stations set up throughout the event’s main walkway, marked “Style,” “Create,” “Read Up,” “Play,” and more. Each area had activities and merchandise from sponsors including Facebook Messenger, LifeWtr, Juicy Couture, and more.

PBteen created comfortable seating vignettes for themed conversations and mentoring sessions. Areas were dubbed "Innovator Lounge," "Activist Lounge," "Woke Lounge," and more.

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."

On-theme buttons were also available at several places throughout the event, providing a fun—and social-media-friendly—keepsake of the day.

Attendees could add the buttons to their name tags, which were adorned with the hashtag #Goals.

Several photo ops throughout the summit reinforced the event's vibe of activism—and encouraged social-media sharing.

Playstation hosted a gaming lounge to promote the “Girls Make Games” initiative, a series of international summer camps and workshops designed to inspire the next generation of game designers and creators.

Sponsor Facebook Messenger created a wall where attendees could "send a message that matters" by leaving notes of encouragement and love.