Atlas.

Atlas is curious. Atlas is opinionated. Atlas will, given the chance, investigate your bar cart. We don't recommend leaving him unsupervised near the cake — he has opinions about cake, and we have learned this the hard way.

He is, however, the single best icebreaker we have ever worked with. Guests who walk in stiff leave the cocktail hour holding a phone full of donkey photos and a softer mood. There is a science to it — there is a softening that happens when a small donkey in a knit bowtie noses your knee — and Atlas is the science.

He works best at festivals, brand activations, and any event where you want guests laughing within ninety seconds of arriving. He travels with his bonded partner Cypress; the two are inseparable from sunrise to sundown and a quiet wonder to watch when no one's looking.