Esprit Award Series: Best Design / Decor
Thursday, January 24, 2019
The ILEA Esprit Awards program is a dynamic industry awards programs, attracting an exceptional range, depth and quality of entries from all areas of live and special events. The 2018 Esprit Awards Gala was held at ILEA Live on Friday, 17 August, 2018, in Denver. There were 36 different categories and over 45 winners. Over the next few months, ILEA Experience will showcase these recipients and their award-winning events.
Best Event Design/Décor (under $25,000 USD)
The Food You Bake Is Equal to the Love You Make
Recipient: Kevin Molesworth, CSEP, Brass Tacks Events and Marcela Bogado Dhar, TMFA, Malleret Designs
On 23 Aug., 2017, from 5-8 p.m., 200 guests gathered at a chic and modern rooftop venue above a museum of contemporary art in downtown Austin, Texas, to celebrate the newest venture of a renowned restaurateur: the launch of a full-service catering company. Our company provided creative direction, strategic planning and production of the entire event. The primary function of this event was to introduce the city’s leading event professionals to our client’s new, opulent brand and invite them to enjoy a lavish array of sumptuous cuisine. Along with providing delectable culinary delights, our client wanted to fully immerse their invited guests in a lively, sensual environment with just the right balance of edginess and provocative flair to ensure an unforgettable evening. We were extremely fortunate to work with a client that gave us an unprecedented level of autonomy in creating this amazing event. In our earliest conversations, we encouraged the client to do something daring, that would leave even the most jaded, veteran event professionals wide-eyed and wanting more.
Best Event Design/Décor ($25,000 - $75,000 USD)
A Christmas Carol Celebration
Recipient: Sharon Bonner, Bright Ideas Events
With over 20,000 square feet of event space, we designed and custom built our own European Village to support the Christmas Carol Celebration theme. The theme was chosen by our client for their annual holiday staff party because he loved the movie and thought that it was a classic traditional Christmas story that exhibited compassion and forgiveness as Scrooge discovers the true meaning of Christmas. Our client wanted the event to focus on the traditional aspects of Christmas, and we wove them into our seating plan, decor design, menu planning, activities and entertainment. Each decision was carefully scrutinized to ensure that it was in line with the festive generosity of the spirit of Christmas. We needed to create, from scratch, a décor setting that would engulf guests immediately into the joyful feeling of Christmas and all that is good. We established our event design incorporating the important elements of the event goals, and then set about delivering it in a way that was fun, imaginative and inviting, so that guests would be drawn into exploring all sections of the village. Scrooge and his flock of actors perfectly added just the right touches of the movie entwined with Christmas traditions and woven together with core values from our client. We had created a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the guests so that they really did feel like they were with friends at Christmas.
Best Event Design/Décor (over $75,000 USD)
MAPFRE China
Recipient: Lenny Talarico, CSEP, MGM Resorts Event Productions
This awards gala was produced for an international insurance company, MAPFRE (the client), and was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in China’s most vibrant city, Shanghai, on May 10, 2017. The celebration was an incentive event for top performers and senior executives, and coincided with the client’s expansion in the Far East as they unveiled their newest location, broadening their presence to 49 countries worldwide. The 2,150 special guests from around the globe were treated to an authentic environment replete in traditional Chinese ambiance and culture. We developed a design philosophy for the event that was simple and specific: to provide the well-traveled VIP attendees with an unforgettable experience that accurately emphasized the historic, cultural and aesthetic significance of the host country. The event design showcased our fluency in developing a well-researched and expertly crafted concept. By utilizing a customary palette of crimson red and glimmering gold — symbolizing wealth, property, passion, and love — the event design transformed the space allocated in the world’s largest conference and expo venue into a setting that would make an ancient Chinese Emperor beam with pride. The event design involved six months of international site visits and fieldwork immersing us into the world of traditional Chinese customs and aesthetics. It was imperative that all designs retained an authentic appearance, but built to suit the client’s high expectations of opulence and grandeur.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Esprit Recipient Reviews!
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