Put Away the Old Podium
Cell phone maker and frequent event sponsor Motorola honored the finalists of its Motofwrd contest for college students with a futuristic-looking awards event at Newspace. KSE Productions' Kenny Eggerl designed an intimate, yet space-age-looking awards reception. Since the raw space lacked a formal presentation area with theater-style seating, Eggerl suspended a metal surface from the ceiling as an unconventional podium, and gigantic stretch fabric video screens flanked the triangular stage. More highdesign elements included fuchsia cushions on white bench seats underlit with Colorblaster LED lights in shades of pink and blue.Minimize Travel Time
For the Toy Industry Association's annual Toy of the Year awards, Paint the Town Red (PTTR) wanted to contain the awards program and pre- and postparties in one Marriott Marquis ballroom. The company reinvented the space by surrounding the awards presentation's theater-style seating with Pink Inc.'s stretch fabric walls and hosting the cocktail reception in the area outside the walls. During the cocktail hour, New City Video & Staging washed the walls with an ice blue hue that matched the event's invitations. During the ceremony, PTTR revamped the cocktail area into a sleek nightclub atmosphere replete with lounge furniture, a big dance floor, and red-lit fabric walls. Guests re-entered the room through a tunnel as twinkling electric branches beckoned them toward a whimsical dessert buffet featuring cheesecake lollipops and mini cupcakes.
Stimulate Guests' Senses
The usual awards program flashes the winners' work on projection screens for barely enough time for guests to absorb what they're seeing. Travel & Leisure solved that problem by giving attendees of its annual Design awards the entire event to peruse the award-winning work. The competition—which presents awards in categories including best public space, coolest electronics, and neatest travel gadget—had a casual, chic atmosphere that highlighted the award recipients with museum-style installations. Each display depicted one winner or an iconic item that represented the winner. For example, copper panels used on San Francisco's de Young museum represented the award-winning building.
Keep Speeches Brief
For 10 years, the Webby awards have been captivating its audience with a simple rule: acceptance speeches can be only five words long. The constraint has yielded some great quips that garner tons of press the day after the awards. Some nominees build pre-event buzz by soliciting suggestions on their blogs over what five words should make up their speeches. Arianna Huffington, who won for best political blog this year, ended up saying, "Darlings, make blogs, not war," after taking hundreds of responses. In 2005, Al Gore's speech "Please don't recount this vote," made headlines. Empire Entertainment's Adam Kahan produced the 2006 awards.
Face Forward
To hand out financial rewards to top-performing employees, a global finance group held a recognition ceremony and business meeting at the Hammerstein Ballroom during a five-day company gathering in New York. Challenged with creating a meeting space that would double as the recognition ceremony space, Empire Force Events worked with Lounge 22 to custom-design six-inch-thick brushed aluminum half-circle tables that would give all 240 seated attendees forward-facing views of the stage. The team paired white high-back leather chairs with the tables for a clean, sophisticated look that would please the international audience. "We wanted to make sure it didn't look like an American executive boardroom," said Kevin White of Empire Force.
—Suzanne Ito
Posted 08.23.06
Photos: © Empire Force Events, Zack Seckler Photography (Webbys)
Cell phone maker and frequent event sponsor Motorola honored the finalists of its Motofwrd contest for college students with a futuristic-looking awards event at Newspace. KSE Productions' Kenny Eggerl designed an intimate, yet space-age-looking awards reception. Since the raw space lacked a formal presentation area with theater-style seating, Eggerl suspended a metal surface from the ceiling as an unconventional podium, and gigantic stretch fabric video screens flanked the triangular stage. More highdesign elements included fuchsia cushions on white bench seats underlit with Colorblaster LED lights in shades of pink and blue.Minimize Travel Time
For the Toy Industry Association's annual Toy of the Year awards, Paint the Town Red (PTTR) wanted to contain the awards program and pre- and postparties in one Marriott Marquis ballroom. The company reinvented the space by surrounding the awards presentation's theater-style seating with Pink Inc.'s stretch fabric walls and hosting the cocktail reception in the area outside the walls. During the cocktail hour, New City Video & Staging washed the walls with an ice blue hue that matched the event's invitations. During the ceremony, PTTR revamped the cocktail area into a sleek nightclub atmosphere replete with lounge furniture, a big dance floor, and red-lit fabric walls. Guests re-entered the room through a tunnel as twinkling electric branches beckoned them toward a whimsical dessert buffet featuring cheesecake lollipops and mini cupcakes.
Stimulate Guests' Senses
The usual awards program flashes the winners' work on projection screens for barely enough time for guests to absorb what they're seeing. Travel & Leisure solved that problem by giving attendees of its annual Design awards the entire event to peruse the award-winning work. The competition—which presents awards in categories including best public space, coolest electronics, and neatest travel gadget—had a casual, chic atmosphere that highlighted the award recipients with museum-style installations. Each display depicted one winner or an iconic item that represented the winner. For example, copper panels used on San Francisco's de Young museum represented the award-winning building.
Keep Speeches Brief
For 10 years, the Webby awards have been captivating its audience with a simple rule: acceptance speeches can be only five words long. The constraint has yielded some great quips that garner tons of press the day after the awards. Some nominees build pre-event buzz by soliciting suggestions on their blogs over what five words should make up their speeches. Arianna Huffington, who won for best political blog this year, ended up saying, "Darlings, make blogs, not war," after taking hundreds of responses. In 2005, Al Gore's speech "Please don't recount this vote," made headlines. Empire Entertainment's Adam Kahan produced the 2006 awards.
Face Forward
To hand out financial rewards to top-performing employees, a global finance group held a recognition ceremony and business meeting at the Hammerstein Ballroom during a five-day company gathering in New York. Challenged with creating a meeting space that would double as the recognition ceremony space, Empire Force Events worked with Lounge 22 to custom-design six-inch-thick brushed aluminum half-circle tables that would give all 240 seated attendees forward-facing views of the stage. The team paired white high-back leather chairs with the tables for a clean, sophisticated look that would please the international audience. "We wanted to make sure it didn't look like an American executive boardroom," said Kevin White of Empire Force.
—Suzanne Ito
Posted 08.23.06
Photos: © Empire Force Events, Zack Seckler Photography (Webbys)
A podium suspended from the ceiling gave Motorola's awards a futuristic, high-tech look.
Stretch fabric walls created three separate environments in one ballroom at the Toy of the Year awards.
Travel & Leisure displayed award winners with smart installations throughout the venue.
Prince said: "Everything you think is true," before singing "Don't Play Me" at the Webby awards in June.
Empire Force Events allowed all attendees to face the stage with half-circle tables.
