LOS ANGELES—The 13th annual edition of the BizBash Live: Los Angeles trade show and conference took place at the California Market Center on July 24. During the daylong event, speakers including Kristin Banta, Judy Levy, Kelly Helfman, and Jeff Consoletti shared insights on guest experiences, fund-raising strategies, Instagrammable moments, and much more. (See some of their top insights here.)
The show was also highlighted by an exhibit hall packed with new rental options; catering, entertainment, and teambuilding ideas; and design trends. Here are some products, companies, and ideas that grabbed our attention.
Blueprint Studios showcased a variety of design ideas and rental options on the show floor, including a pretty-in-pink wedding vignette. The space featured the company's white and gold chrome Xavier dining table surrounded by blush pink velvet and gold chrome Chloe chairs. Blueprint Studios has offices in Northern and Southern California and Las Vegas and offers event design and production, rentals, floral design, and more.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Blueprint Studios also created a holiday vignette, which featured the velvet Paladin sofa in shades of emerald green and rouge. (The product also comes in light taupe and blue, all accented with gold chrome.) Gold Le Cirque accent tables completed the look.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Art of Everyone turns the audience into the artist. Essentially, a "conductor" stands behind a large canvas and begins outlining an image using a laser pointer. Participants stand on the other side of the canvas and apply paint by following the laser. The result is a high-quality work of art crowd-sourced by attendees. Art styles can range from portraits to abstract to landscapes and still lifes. Art of Everyone has appeared at events such as the World Business Forum and Content Marketing World, and has also created public activations for brands around the U.S.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
The Dirty Cookie offers dessert catering, notably milk and cookie shots—which is exactly what it sounds like, with milk inside of a cup made from a cookie. The company offers a variety of flavors, as well as cookie butters with dairy-free options and milkshakes. Cookies can be personalized with company logos or other graphics such as birthday and graduation messages, emojis, and more. The Dirty Cookie is located in Irvine, California, and offers shipping nationwide.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Los Angeles-based Gifts for Good sells corporate gifts where a portion of proceeds go to charity. The company's gifts—which include everything from water bottles and candles to wood chess sets and headphones—support the work of more than 40 nonprofits in 19 U.S. states and 65 countries. Gifts can be customized with company logos and can benefit causes related to children in need, the environment, homelessness, and health.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
To Be Designed (TBD)—a San Diego-based rental, production, and floral design firm with clients including Coca-Cola, Macy's, and the San Diego Natural History Museum—designed the event's networking luncheon at the California Market Center. The colorful, summery tables featured linens by Creative Coverings.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
The lunch was catered by Good Gracious Events, a Los Angeles-based catering and production firm. The first course was a "Secret Vegetable Garden"—a cauliflower fennel panna cotta covered with a "soil" of sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and smoked paprika. It was topped with a garden of baby vegetables, including tomato, yellow squash, green zucchini, red radish, carrots, red beet, broccoli, and cauliflower florets.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Champagne Creative Group showcased its Augmented Reality Wall on the show floor. The life-size, interactive LED wall allows guests to create live video game graphics with their dance moves. The Las Vegas-based company provides entertainment and production for brands, retail environments, product launches, and more, and has worked with clients that include MGM Resorts, Virgin Atlantic, and the N.F.L. Other interactive options include giant street games and digital graffiti.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Champagne Creative Group also showcased its "Mystery Tattoo Wall" on the show floor. Guests could stick their arms into a hole in the wall to receive a tattoo made from electronic ink. The tattoos last three days, or can be washed off with soap and water; tattoos can be customized with company logos or other messages.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
MixerSeater is a mobile-based platform that provides seating charts for speed-networking events. Attendee names, plus interests or industries, are imported into the program, along with the number of chairs, tables, and sessions titles. MixerSeater then generates a seating chart based on that information. The tool can create multiple seating layouts and speed-networking rotation schedules and send the info to attendees' phones so they know where to sit for each round. Pricing starts at $59 for a single event, or $99 for a yearly subscription.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Atom Geld—otherwise known as Atom, the World's Fastest Painter—is a unique entertainment option for events. In a four-hour performance heavy on comedy and crowd interaction, Atom can create approximately 40 paintings live in front of guests using only spray paint and a knife. He specializes in futuristic space settings, and guests can take the paintings home as a souvenir. Atom has previously worked with clients including Warner Bros. and the city of Phoenix.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Altered Decor is a furniture store based in San Diego. For events, the company offers an alternative to fresh-cut flowers with customizable preserved rose hatbox arrangements and modern faux floral and succulent designs. A line of preserved rose reed diffusers (pictured) are available as corporate gifts, and the company also offers its furniture boutique as a venue for small events.
Photo: Courtesy of Altered Decor
Woops is a Culver City-based bakery that serves artisanal macarons with flavors including raspberry pistachio, espresso macchiato, mojito, and strawberry milkshake. The company specializes in corporate gifts; boxes can be created with more than 20 different flavors of macarons and branded with company logos, taglines, or images. (The macarons themselves can also accommodate logos.) Woops can cater events and weddings, offering colorful, eye-catching macaron pyramids and branded party favors.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
The Kitchen for Exploring Foods, based in Pasadena, offers event catering throughout Los Angeles, Orange County, Palm Springs, and Santa Barbara. Dishes emphasis local produce from area farmers and farmers' markets, plus infused olive oils, rare herbs, and international sodas and waters. The company also has a "Gourmet-to-Go" option that offers boxed lunches and dinners for outdoor events of as many as 50 people.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
Balloonzilla once again created an eye-catching balloon display in the lobby of the California Market Center. The Orange County, California-based company, which can travel nationwide, creates custom balloon art for events, including balloon arches, bouquets, structures, walls, and more. The company also offers do-it-yourself kits and helium tanks for rent.
Photo: Haute Media Photography & Videography
