Around Town
Dreams do Come True
When the predominantly female, Asian audience entered the Hyatt Regency ballroom in Orange County, Calif., they walked into a dreamscape produced by Bravo Productions for Sunrider International, an herbal products manufacturer. To communicate the event’s “Dreams of Wealth” theme, RWB Props, 20th Century Props and Dreamworld Backdrops provided recognizable symbols of wealth and luxury, including a Rolls Royce specially secured for the event and custom-made facades dressed with faux topiary trees. An elegant dining display was created as a focal point to the stage, and each guest table was dressed in either platinum or gold lamour linens with damask napkins (BBJ Linens) and roses for centerpieces. Guests left with a medley of Sunrider products.
Fight Takes Flight
Guests at a nonprofit fundraising gala for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS stepped back in time at the McCormick Place Grand Ballroom in Chicago. Working in conjunction with the event producer Total Event Resources, Elite Communications and Kehoe Design came up with this stylized ‘60s air travel experience that paralleled the progress made by the airline industry and the fight against HIV and AIDS. Bright décor and print materials inspired by the fashion designer Pucci greeted the 800 guests who received tickets, passports, and luggage tags for invitations, programs and table assignments. The fundraiser, which included an awards presentation and a live auction, was the most successful in its
18-year history.
A Touch of Broadway
A record-breaking 2,100 leaders from business, government and academia in 80 countries gathered in the Austin Convention Center in Texas for the biennial World Congress on Information Technology. The event was produced by Richard Carlstrom (of Carlstrom Productions) who, under the aegis of lighting designer Nicholas Phillips, employed Scharff Weisberg to give the corporate event a Broadway touch — as expressed by a giant lit globe in the convention center’s upstairs ballroom. The evening entertainment venue was carved out of half of the giant exhibit hall and featured performances by Lyle Lovett and Little Feat. Speakers included luminaries such as Steve Ballmer, Michael Dell and Colin Powell.
Vegas Rocks
Rock’s biggest names came to jam in Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center for the VH1 Rock Honors — the first-ever salute to hard rock music. Working with Anne Brahic, a co-production designer, and lighting legends Roy Bennet and Stan Cocker of Upstage Lighting, Lincoln Maynard, general manager of Las Vegas-based Scenic Technologies (a division of Production Resource Group), constructed the set and the monumental stage, which featured a 60-foot turntable split down the center with a 12-foot-high, double-sided, internally lit wall. Playing a key visual role, digital effects came courtesy of Martin’s Maxedia. The night’s impressive line-up included Queen, Kiss, Judas Priest, Def Leppard and Foo Fighters, among others.