On the last Saturday in January, pirates invaded the port city of Tampa as part of the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival. The roots of this celebration go back to 1904, and has since evolved into a full day of festivities attended by almost 500,000 people per year. The day begins with the sailing of the Gasparilla Pirate Ship into Downtown Tampa. This is followed by a parade of Pirate Krewes up Bayshore Boulavard and into the heart of the city. Following the parade there is also a series of concerts at the newly built Curtis Hixon Park. Fortunately, we happened to be right in the midst of the action following The Special Event; view some pictures from this unique celebration below . . .

This is the first of a series of bi-weekly posts that will come out on Friday’s showcasing different uses for Pink Powered by Moss products where we will touch upon topics such as stage sets, room decor, entryways, and more! For the first post we are showing some of our costumes such as our Divas, Ribbons, and Hooplas, as well as a few other popular looks. More information on individual costumes can be found here and be sure to check out some other photos of performance pieces throughout our gallery.

The installation began with projection surfaces integrating into the existing playground poles, creating a corridor. As the installation came along, we worked with Chikaia and created the textures on site using several different methods to otherwise ordinary fabric. Once the sun set and our lights were in place it was showtime. The installation was a huge hit for those who came out to Bring to Light Festival in Green Point, and it was great seeing all of the different ways that people would interact making this a true sculptural performance environment. Groups gathered on the side of the fabric opposite the light source watching live projection theater provided by eager participants.  Many people even came around multiple times finding different props to add intrigue to their moment in the spotlight. View some pictures from both the installation and the festival below as well as a video of the Shadows installation . . .

Shadows

For some more images browse the gallery and be sure to come to us next Halloween to help make your wildest imaginations possible!

Check out the site for The Village Halloween Parade! and next year if your in NYC for Halloween come on by!

The Awards – The Event Solutions Spotlight Awards – was a great mix of an informal/formal awards ceremony. BeEvents Ryan Hanson produced the show and included live entertainment, funny video clips and of course awards! At the brand new CityCenter’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the ballroom was set up in lounge style seating allowing mingling and tastings of yummy savory foods, drinks and desserts. And just in case you did not know my favorite part is Pink Inc. won the award in the category of Event Supplier of the Year 2010.  I love our trophy. And I must thank my entire team, our clients and the industry for selecting Pink Inc. for this great honor! And Pink Inc’s Circle Surround was the backdrop for photographing all the winners.

The Event Solutions TweetUp - As I was saying earlier – us twitter adopters are having so much fun meeting and learning about all kinds of new things.  The #eventprofs group came out strong for Event Solutions in Las Vegas and I got to spend time with Jeff Hurt, Lara McCulloch, Glenn Thayer, Ruth Moyte, Liese Garnder and Elizabeth Beskin to name just a few! The connections that are built through our online relationships translate very well into real life meetings and our dialog continues long after we leave one another.  I look forward to our F2F meetings and our ongoing conversations!  #escs2010  (read more and see great pictures on Lara McCulloch’s Ready2Spark)

The Education – Highly entertaining, the Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman opened the Event Solutions State of the Industry.  Used as a forum this panel of event professionals moderated by Laura Schwartz of White House Strategies (who was the White House events manager under the Clinton Administration) was informative. Other panelists – included perspectives from the Grammy’s, a Social Media expert and the sassy Steve Kemble! The points that were exposed in this meeting include – the message that President Obama needed to retract about the Luxury events industry, the comings on of the Virtual world of extending and reaching more people at your events before, during and after, and the idea of making your events the best ever so that people are compelled to come because of the fantastic experience that you offer them.

Trade Show - Trade Show and over all impressions – The trade show itself was primarily a CaterSource show with a small part for the Event Solutions.  I ate my way through it, tasting all kinds of great food from Mussels from New Zealand to Cajun food.  My favorite was the special Pink Drink Sorbet that the fresh ice cream maker Three 2OH! presented at Pink Inc.’s happy hour in the booth we designed for them.

Anthology Event - The events at events for event pros are often set to impress and these evenings were no exception. The Anthology party was designed for fun and to excite the senses with new and interesting techniques for food, décor and atmosphere.  Champaign Creative out did themselves with many performers including live “painting” tableaus framed at the entry, hanging gals serving Champaign and Pink Inc.’s own Petal Pushers in a living centerpiece! The layout of the room made you explore every nook and cranny to see all of the creative ideas! The food and drink kept flowing and as you know it is hard to satisfy a crowd of event professionals at an event! – and the Event Solutions team of producers did a great job.  Congrats you guys!  (read more on Ready2Spark) All in all a great Event Solutions was had by all! Event Solutions own recap!

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I have lost count on how many years we have been involved in the Mermaid Parade. It is a New York, Coney Island tradition. This year, we joined the parade with all the Mermaids and Neptune with our signature Sea Creature designs, and introduced our newest creature – the Electric Eel. Our designs are a mainstay of this wonderful annual parade hosted by Dick Zigun and Coney Island USA, and they can be exceptional designs for you too. Think fun and family and Pink Inc. costumes. They are easy to wear, lightweight and comfortable and truly make an impact! My family and friends wear them
to Coney Island each year and have a blast. To see the Cyclone, the Wonderwheel and the Parachute jump all in one form or another is Great American History! Come out and join us next year! And in the meantime – find your inner fun self and put on a costume!