While the buzz around the convention center on Tuesday, March 3 was that this year’s Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show was smaller, less lavish and less crazy than in years past, a number of booths still provided the boozy excitement that the show is known for.
Fog machines blasted clouds into the air, light shows turned booths into mini-discos and countless shots were swallowed as nightlife industry workers from all over the country walked the trade show floor.
But even through the pink liquor-induced haze, a few booths stood out from the pack. Here, in no particular order are the Unofficial and Completely Subjective Nightclub & Bar Show Booth Awards:
Best demonstration of drunkenness: Riding a tilting, rocking, spinning red-eyed mechanical bull is challenging under the best of circumstances. Add to the equation a flea market of free alcohol samples and you’ve got one sloppy bar game. The Rodeo Bull Company’s mechanical bull set up attracted plenty of guests eager to go for a spin and proved once and for all that bull riding and drunkenness go together about as well as tequila and skim milk.
Yea, you're a rock star, baby.
Best booth to channel your inner alcohol-addicted rock star: With more and more bars having patrons provide their own musical entertainment via Rock Band and Guitar Hero tournaments, it made perfect sense for the Rock Band team to set up a small interactive stage at the 2009 NCB Show. Televisions broadcast the notes to both the volunteer musicians and the audience, so everyone could tell when one too many samples started to affect your ability to distinguish red notes from blue.
Svedka Vodka: It's a dance party. It's a trade show booth. It's both!
Sexiest: Notably missing from this year’s convention were the legions of bikini and go-go boot-clad ladies used to draw in visitors for a shot of caffeine-infused agave nectar or a demonstration of Urine Off cleaner. Svedka Vodka, however, provided plenty of eye candy at their futuristic white booth, with a DJ spinning tunes as dancers in silver bikinis gyrated above the crowd. Tickers above the DJ spelled out “#1 Vodka of 2033,” but we give Svedka’s booth the #1 sexiest of 2009.
"I'm a giant cigarette, and I want to eat your lungs!"
Most likely to give you nightmares: Walk through the far set of doors at Tuesday’s show and you were greeted by a lineup of furry mascots at the Mask Us booth, each one more terrifying than the next. While some might consider the giant monkeys, bunnies, lions and giraffes cute, we’re pretty sure those goofy smiles mean they’re hungry and you-know-who’s for dinner. This booth also provided the best anti-smoking message of the show in the form of an angry-looking cigarette shaped mascot outfit. Where are you going to wear that one, the emphysema games?
If only everything came in decorative crystal encrusted eggs.
Most luxurious: If drinking your vodka out of the bottle, glass or - heaven forbid! – Solo cup just isn’t classy enough to keep you chugging, Imperial Vodka feels your pain. Their booth not only offered samples of their premium vodkas – “What does royalty drink?” a sign on the wall asked suggestively – but also displayed their signature accessory: the Imperial Collection carafes modeled after the festooned eggs created by Karl Faberge. While a Swarovski crystal-decorated egg may not actually make your vodka taste better, you will certainly feel more like a czar or czarina as you remove your shot glasses from it.
Were the girls sliding down an inflated slide really an effective way to play bingo? Of course, not. Monster still gets props for its creative gaming.
Most creative use of scantily clad women: This one goes hands down to Monster energy drink’s enormous booth, in which a giant bingo game had been set up for visitors to enjoy. However, instead of a blue-hair calling out numbers, a group of girls in bikinis did the honors, sliding down an inflated water slide into a shallow pool where they grabbed floating, numbered balls. If your number was picked, you won, but when attractive girls are going down water slides, isn’t everybody a winner?
It's a Firestarter, twisted Firestarter.
Best use of fire safety imagery: When fire meets alcohol you get a big mess, a flaming Dr. Pepper or Firestarter vodka. The new vodka, which hails from Moldova and is sweetened with honey, comes packaged in what looks like a small fire extinguisher complete with a pin to pull out and a push top – perfect for reminding children not to play with matches while enjoying that dirty martini.
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