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It’s the party that people always talk about, and is definitely one of our favorites to plan…

This year’s Gasparilla Int’l Film Festival Closing Night Party was off the chain – as usual. Thankfully, we were able to use the S.H. Kress & Co. Building in downtown Tampa again. The historically designated building has been vacant since the early 80s, and offers no electricity, running water or working restrooms. Pre event, we once again had to make some structural changes to the building to bring it up to conditions set in place by Tampa Fire Rescue.

Being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we decided to take the task on again – including the ordering of generators, restroom trailers, and enough decor to fill an empty 10,000 square-foot lobby. It was important for us to create a new feel to the party, especially since it’s the same venue as last year’s Closing Night. We decided on an indie/glam-rock theme, which we stuck with throughout the entire experience.

In the interest of keeping it industrial, the walls of the building, while beautiful and ‘historic’, were lined with chain-link fence panels from end to end, and bike-rack barricades were used to separate the VIP seating areas. LED uplighting warmed the space, but probably the coolest piece of equipment was Bay Stage Lighting’s new LED-wall panels, which allowed us to project images, patterns – pretty much anything behind the stage (see the pictures, it’s cool!).

We finished off the stage with some very neat chain drape we saw at The Special Event convention earlier this year in Tampa. We prefer to have a DJ as entertainment for these types of events, but having him set up on stage was just too simple. Since the building boasts 28′ ceilings, we decided to rent a scissor lift for the DJ to spin from, which further added to the grit and style that we were looking for.

Aside from the standard decor that we chose, our friends Matt & Amanda from MMD Events, did an excellent job decorating with furniture and floral arrangements. They wove flowers throughout the fence, giving the industrial feel a touch of softness while adding the special touches that MMD is famous for. Their gorgeous lounge furniture also came in useful for filling up our VIP seating areas. Rounding off the special touches were artist Dawn Hunt, who sketched and painted festival sponsor’s logos on a portion of the walls, as well as Stephen Palladino, who used his tagging skills to graffiti on walls and the entrance doors. Food stations featured a pad-thai inspired noodle dish, a nacho bar, and a fantastic desert spread provided by Good Food Catering.

Guests danced the night away to the spinnings of DJ Fresh, and also enjoyed their complimentary GIFF laser pointers, which became beneficial when special effect smoke began to fill the room, giving a hazy – yet very cool added sense of mystery…

After all was said and done, we were thrilled at the outcome of 2012′s Closing Night Party. Our guests had a great time, as did our festival staff and volunteers whom were invited as a ‘thank you’. We couldn’t have done it without the film festival volunteers, as well as our vendors and partners on the event.

Client: The Gasparilla International Film Festival

Event Planner: Elan Event Studio

Venue: S.H. Kress & Co.

Lighting: Bay Stage Lighting

Decor: MMD Events, Rent National, Dawn Hunt, Stephen Palladino

Entertainment: DJ Fresh, Event Show Productions

Photography: K&K Photography

Restrooms: Royal Restrooms of Florida

Beverages: Sobieski Vodka, Stella Artois, Red Bull