10 Best Ideas of the Week: a Shanghai Street-Inspired Cargo Bike, Allstate's Interactive Garden, a Shopping-Theme Photo Booth

The hotel brand partnered with chef Danny Bowien, creator of Mission Chinese, who served soup dumplings in bright, colorful Chinese takeout boxes that featured phrases such as “Bite me.” 

To celebrate the opening of W Shanghai—The Bund, W Hotels hosted a pop-up event at the Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center in Manhattan. The Shanghai-inspired event, which was produced by BMF Media Group, featured a massive branded photo op that involved a cargo bike piled high with purple, pink, and blue boxes inspired by Shanghai street style. 

This year’s Future of Storytelling Summit and Festival took place October 4 to 5 at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden in New York. The entrance to the event featured flags that spelled out the festival's acronym, giving the event a university feel. 

TreePeople, a Los Angeles-based environmental nonprofit that promotes sustainable urban ecosystems through education and community-based action, held its 20th annual fund-raising gala on October 7 at its Coldwater Canyon Park headquarters. A photo backdrop with greenery, on-theme props, and the organization’s logo was featured. The event raised $705,000, and was designed by TreePeople and produced by BBDR Pacific Events.

The L.A. Street Art Design Experience—a design contest in which Cort Event Furnishings asked local event designers to create vignettes inspired by Los Angeles street art—took place in August at Los Angeles Center Studios. Perfect Surroundings Inc., which designed the main event, used a street art-inspired drip technique to paint wall art, liquor bottles, and a pineapple prop.

Throughout the evening, local street artist Bandit used spray paint on a 10- by 30-foot canvas, creating a mural to promote world peace. 

American Express celebrated the launch of its new payment feature Pay It Plan It on October 3 at 207 Front Street, an event space at New York’s South Street Seaport. Experiential marketing company ExtraExtra Creative designed interactive, deconstructed art installations inspired by shopping for the event. The travel store installation featured props, including snorkels, suitcases, beach hats, and a globe. 

The home store-theme installation featured yellow chairs for guests to pose, as well as a bed, blue plates, a dresser, and neon lips. 

A shopping-inspired photo booth included hanging gift bags as a backdrop, and props such as snorkels and a suitcase. 

The Atlantic’s Washington Ideas conference took place at Sidney Harman Hall September 26 and 27. Allstate converted a large part of the venue into a "renewal garden," where guests could install plants. All of the plants were given to a local garden following the event.