This week's roundup includes hors d'oeuvres presented on logs at a fund-raiser in Chicago, a back-to-school promotion for Kate Spade New York that was heavy on the doughnuts, a pool party in Toronto that required no water—or pool—and the quirky social media marketing stunt for the Video Music Awards.
Tru was one of the restaurants to present a dish at Chicago's Taste of the Nation event, held on August 14 at the Navy Pier Ballroom. Chef Anthony Martin served maitake mushroom crunch with maitake puree and oxtails. The bites were presented on the same type of logs on which the mushrooms grew.
Benefiting Epilepsy Toronto, the BuskerBall kicked off the Scotiabank BuskerFest, which runs through Sunday throughout the Yonge Downtown neighborhood in Toronto. The Tuesday-night event at the Mattamy Athletic Centre featured avant garde performers such as the "CandyMan" (pictured). With a slick, plastic aesthetic—and surreal contact lenses to complete his look—the performer greeted guests by giving them lollipops from the concession box he carried. He moved slowly, with motions that recalled a living doll.
Teen Vogue hosted Back-to-School Saturday, a nationwide shopping initiative, on August 10. An August 9 kickoff (pictured) took place at the Grove in Los Angeles. Approximately 12,000 guests made it out to the event, which was produced by Caravents. Kate Spade New York promoted its new doughnut-shaped accessories line with—you guessed it— a bright doughnut truck. Guests could purchase T-shirts, coin purses, and more at the truck and also nab a free glazed dessert. TH Productions handled the Kate Spade activation.
To introduce consumers to its new Paceman model, Mini teamed up with UrbanDaddy to provide concierge and chauffeur services in four major cities during the month of August. The event tour, dubbed Mini Night Out, kicked off in Chicago during Lollapalooza and traveled to San Francisco before hitting Miami August 16 and 17. Central to the initiative is the nightlife "adventure" curated by UrbanDaddy editors, which takes guests on a tour of local hot spots where exclusive menus and offerings are provided.
On August 15, Delvinia celebrated its 15th anniversary with an event that evoked 1950s Havana. In the Loft at Andrew Richard Designs in Toronto, the so-called "Hotel Delvinia" evoked the tropical country with cigar rollers, freely flowing rum, and a swimming pool—with no water. Made from an 8- by 18-foot decal, the shiny blue pool area was enhanced with lounge chairs, beach balls, and models in retro swimwear. Mary Pallattella of Capital C acted as the event's creative director, and Devan provided decor.
On August 12, Sears showcased its back-to-school denim selection at the Jean Scene Experience in New York's Central Park. Since Sears has 1,000 styles of jeans, the event's decor included a giant mock-up of the number 1,000, made out of shelves filled with jeans. LDC Design handled production.
To celebrate the opening of the Windows Store at Best Buy in West Los Angeles, Major League Soccer teamed up with the retailer to host a sporty activation on August 7. Produced and designed by Shiraz Events, the event included a custom tent, where an "App Bar" let consumers test out health and fitness apps on new Windows devices. Hanging above the bar were three four-foot weather balloons painted to look like soccer balls.
This year's Romance Novel Convention was held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas August 7 to 11. For an appropriately lavish—and bookish—prop, Romantic Victorian Home Collection designed a dress using the covers and pages of damaged books that had been marked for disposal by the local library.
MTV's #RoadtotheVMAs social media campaign included posting Instagram shots of the Video Music Awards' Moonman statue traveling from last year's venue, the Staples Center, to this year's home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The campaign serves as a promotion for the August 25 event.
On August 11, as a kickoff to DC Beer Week, Washington City Paper partnered with Brewery Ommegang to host the D.C. portion of its nationwide "Hop Chef" competition. Local chefs competed against one another to create a dish that used one of Ommegang’s brews as an ingredient. Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge chef Jeff Eng, who took home the People's Choice honor, used the Hennepin beer in his braised pork belly served on chanterelle fried rice with a sunny-side-up quail egg. The innovative dish was accompanied by a spicy lobster summer roll.
