Accolades

Accolades

Blue Circular Badge which reads 'Special Events Gala Award Winner 2020'

View recent coverage of our award winning events, team, and unique venues!

Awards & Recognition

Discovery Ball registration staff working on laptops to check-in guests while sitting at long clear, acrylic table filled with hundreds of LEGO bricks in standard LEGO colors.
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

Finalist: 2020 Event Style Awards

BizBash Magazine
Best Nonprofit Event Concept

 

Stylized text on peach colored background reads 'The 2020 Bizbash Event Style Awards powered by MeetingPlay Finalist #bizbashawards'
Clear trophy award for Best Fundraising Event sits in front of black box labeled Special Events 2020 Gala Awards
Image attribution
Aurelia D'Amore Photography
Sara Carson lays on her back on astroturf stage, while Hero, The Super Collie balances atop her feet as Discovery Ball guests look on

Winner: 2020 Gala Award

Special Events Magazine
Best Fundraising Event

 

BizBash: Top 100 Events in Southern California

An empty banquet table dressed with green linens and glassware sits in front of an empty stage featuring a large dog prop which sits on an astroturfed stage decorated with greenery and gates for a fundraising gala
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

2019 BB Top 100 Winner
2018 BB Top 100 Winner
2017 BB Top 100 Winner
2016 BB Top 100 Winner
2015 BB Top 100 Winner
2014 BB Top 100 Winner
2013 BB Top 100 Winner
2012 BB Top 100 Winner
2011 BB Top 100 Winner

portrait of staff member Chris, Sion VP Food & Event Services
Image attribution
Leroy Hamilton

BizBash: Top 50 Innovative Event Pros 2013

Christina Sion, VP of Food & Event Services

Press

Bizbash Magazine Fall 2020 cover featuring a a drive up theater
Image attribution
BizBash

BizBash Magazine: Event Reports

Summer 2020

Special Events Magazine Summer 2020 cover featuring a performer with gloves and feathers in her hair winking
Image attribution
Special Events Magazine

Special Events: The Last Word with Chris Sion

Summer 2020

Guests seated at rounds for a gala with Angkor Wat temple projected on Edgerton Court wall with sunset tones and leaf patterns on the ceiling
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

BizBash: Why This Long-Running Gala Shook Up Its Format This Year

23rd Annual Discovery Ball featuring Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia
July 2022

Amber hued Samuel Oschin Pavilion with starry accents for a seated dinner fundraising gala
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

BizBash: How This Annual Gala Used Eclectic Decor to Keep Things Fresh

22nd Annual Discovery Ball featuring Art of the Brick
April 2020

Past BizBash Coverage

"See a Black-Tie Take on a Dog Theme"
21st Annual Discovery Ball featuring Dogs: A Science Tail

"How This Gala Hosted Dinner Inside King Tut's Tomb"
20th Anniversary Discovery Ball featuring King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh

"How a Museum Turned Gore Into Glamour for Its Annual Gala"
19th Annual Discovery Ball featuring Body Worlds: Pulse

"See How a Museum Celebrated an Over-the-Top Acquisition"
18th Annual Discovery Ball welcoming the arrival of ET-94

"This Ancient Jerusalem-Inspired Gala Set a Fund-Raising Record"
17th Annual Discovery Ball featuring Dead Sea Scrolls

"Museum Gala Channels Ancient Pompeii"
16th Annual Discovery Ball featuring Pompeii: The Exhibition

"Need to Boost Gala Attendance? Get a Space Shuttle"
15th Annual Discovery Ball Celebrating the Arrival of Space Shuttle Endeavour

"Cleopatra's Life and Times Inspire California Science Center Gala, Complete With Live Camel"
14th Annual Discovery Ball featuring Cleopatra: the Exhibition

"Science Center Ball Embraces California Theme With a Mock Orange Grove and Beachfront Pier"
13th Annual Discovery Ball: Savor California

Discovery Ball cocktail party in the Wallis Annenberg Building adorned with elevated red balloon sculpture and BodyWorlds inspired dancers
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography
Edgerton Court seated dinner with blue hued night projection mapping of Jerusalem
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography
Tented after party lounge filled with ottomans near outdoor dance floor underneath F/A-18A Hornet
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography
Guests are seated at gold adorned banquet rounds in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion under the space shuttle Endeavour which has an image of King Tut's sarcophagus dramatically projected onto its side using videomapping technology
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

Special Events: Fit for a Pharaoh

California Science Center's 20th Anniversary Discovery Ball Honors Tut Exhibit

August 2019

Two male costumed entertainers stand cross armed overlooking Discovery Ball after party. Shirtless entertainers are lit in blue and wearing Egyptian inspired headwear and clothing.
Image attribution
Leroy Hamilton

Los Angeles Times: King Tut-themed Discovery Ball Breaks Records

March 2018

Blue Hued Dinner Gala in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion
Image attribution
Nadine Froger Photography

Jewish Journal: Unique LA Venues for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

July 2017

Blog Posts

Event Planner Holly Gray wearing bright red cardigan and planet pin stands in front of SKETCH Foundation Air and Space signage featuring image of space
Image attribution
Aurelia D'Amore Photography

Anything But Gray Events Blog

Out of this World Event Spaces at the California Science Center

Summer 2020

Next Up

Three US astronaut plastic toys on light tabletop
Image attribution
Debby Hudson
Meet the team behind the press
Our Event Services Team is Here to Help
Learn More
Reach Out

Contact our Events team today!

Email: eventservices@californiasciencecenter.org
Call: 213-744-7523
or submit your inquiry online

 

Inquire here
Empty Lorsch Family Pavilion, California Science Center front entrance, dramatically lit at night