When Ford’s zippy Fiesta hits American streets this year, to the casual observer it will look like a fun, affordable ride. With a sticker price of less than $15,000, some models come with a message center and trip computer on the dashboard, a floor console with a USB port and other amenities designed to appeal to hip, urban drivers and even some segments of the boomer crowd. They’re pretty easy on the gas, too.

To drive excitement and leads for the North American launch of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, Ford has launched a multi-tiered program of events in four Northeast markets—New England, Philadelphia, the New York/Tri-state area and Washington, D.C. The Fiesta Northeast tour, which launched in June and runs through the end of October, follows on the heels of the Fiesta Movement, the award-winning national campaign that put 100 agents behind the wheel of their own Fiesta for six months and had them document the experience on their social networks.

When it comes to launching event programs in a market still stinging from the effects of the recession, some brand marketers feel more comfortable taking calculated risks than trying new ideas. That’s why more and more brands are testing the value of their event strategies in small doses before rolling them out to the masses. The test components can be as simple as trying out email subject lines to see which are more effective in driving registrations for conferences, like Intel did for its annual Developer’s Forum, or as complicated as road-testing an entire event.

Several sponsoring brands skipped the custom activations and lent their names to a series of full-scale baseball challenges set up throughout the fan experience:

It’s only been around for a few months, but it’s already kicking apps and taking names. Apple has sold more than three million units of its new iPad tablet since it launched in April, racking up about one sale every 2.3 seconds. And among those lining up to buy are event marketers and their industry partners who are using the devices to enhance their event programs. Whether the iPad is used for data collection and consumer interaction, or to boost sales and productivity behind the scenes, its impact on events shows no signs of slowing down.