With all the glittering casinos on the Strip—which can literally be seen from space—Las Vegas is not commonly known for under-the-radar event venues. So when rental company 4Wall hosted a party at its warehouse on Friday during the LDI lighting expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it gave guests a surprising late-night destination after a day on the trade show floor. The party, which started at 8 p.m. and didn't wrap until 2 a.m., gathered steam late into the night as guests left the industry's Parnelli Awards at the Rio.
4Wall C.O.O. Kathy Torjman handled the logistics and planning, marketing director Wes Bailey the marketing and promotion, and vice president of rental development Craig Caserta oversaw the stage and bar rig design for the event, for which the team anticipated about 1,000 guests. In all, about 1,500 people came through the doors of the warehouse space on West Post Road, which 4Wall acquired when it purchased the Cinelease theatrical lighting department earlier this year.
"The main thing is letting people get away from the show floor and have fun," said Bailey. "It was good to have one place that you can go where there are no enemies, no rivalry." He explained that 4Wall has hosted the party during the trade show in past years, and it's developed a reputation. People asked about it as the show approached, and his group promoted it through social media, as well as on the show floor.
In the past, the party has had a bit more of a formal feel, with traditional catering. But in keeping with the warehouse-party character of this year's event, the host brought in food truck Slidin' Thru for sliders and casual bites. A pair of hired showgirls posed for pictures with guests, and the band Swinging Johnsons, comprised of industry people, performed for the crowd. (The band's bass player works for 4Wall.)
The lighting—a focus, naturally—rigged from a 40-foot truss circle, showed off products in 4Wall's rental inventory. Except, that is, for the skytracker, which the hosts rented from Grofts Searchlight. "It was a last-minute addition, because when you tell a cab driver where you're going they say, 'Wow, there's nothing out there,'" said Bailey of guests' experience getting to the out-of-the-way location, which sent cabbies scrambling for their navigation devices. "At the end of the night, the cab drivers were telling people, 'Hey, this new club opened way out there.'"
