Events don’t feel the same anymore — and honestly, that’s not a bad thing.
It’s not just about standing still and smiling for photos now. People want moments they can step into. Experiences they can replay, remix, and share.
One thing I keep seeing at weddings, parties, and even small corporate gatherings is how photo booths — especially 360 setups — have become part of the experience itself. Guests aren’t just posing anymore; they’re moving, laughing, being themselves, and walking away with short video memories instead of stiff photos.
There’s something interesting about how technology is quietly reshaping celebrations.
Not louder. Just more interactive.
I wrote a longer piece exploring why this shift is happening and how it’s showing up at events in places like Binghamton, NY — if you’re curious to read more.
The Art of Event Planning: Journey to Your Dream Gathering
Understanding the Event Planning Landscape
Event planning is an intricate dance that blends creativity, organization, and interpersonal skills. Whether you’re orchestrating a small family gathering or a grand corporate event, understanding the landscape of event planning is crucial for success. As you embark on your planning journey, three pivotal aspects will significantly influence your…
Successfully running events takes a wide range of skills.Here is a list of 11 important qualities that the very best event planners and event managers possess.
8 Event Trends to Consider for the Rest of 2019 (and Beyond!)
It’s all about standing out from the crowd these days, being up-to-the-minute and moving with the latest trends, so why should your events be any different?
Whether you’re a party planner, venue manager, or simply looking to throw the biggest party the world’s ever seen, there are many new and innovative methods you can use for your events and event marketing this year. From veganism to Instagrammability, 2019 may be the year of the pig in the Chinese calendar, but in the events industry, it's all about being unique.
So, how can you make sure your event is memorable for your guests? Here are some of the top event trends to think about:
Image courtesy of Time Out
Be immersive
The last thing you want when a guest comes to your event is for them to be bored and look like they’re on the point of leaving. You want them to be wowed, and the easiest way to do this is by making your event immersive. (And starting with your event entry is a perfect way!)
This can be done in a number of ways. Some people like to take people on a ‘journey’ during events, via related storytelling or décor, whereas others prefer more of an interactive approach, incorporating uniquely-designed games and activities (more on that later). Whether you take inspiration from a fun themed venue, such as Ballie Ballerson, or a slightly barmier themed event, like the well-known Gingerline, being immersive will definitely keep your event in the forefront of guests’ minds.
Image courtesy of DesignMyNight
Incorporate games
Another fun way of engaging your guests can come from incorporating games and activities into your events. You may have already noticed that more and more ping pong bars and crazy golf clubs, such as Bristol’s Kongs of King Street and London’s Plonk Golf, are popping up all over the UK, so why not take a leaf out of their book?
Everyone loves a bit of friendly competition, so adding easy-to-use games could be a great way of guaranteeing your guests have an entertaining time at your event.
Image courtesy of The Independent
Utilize the vegan food movement
Love it or hate it, veganism is a food trend that is here to stay. It seems to be pretty much everywhere these days, with over 300,000 people recently taking part in this year’s Veganuary – an event encouraging a vegan diet throughout January.
Leading news magazine The Economist also predicted late last year that 2019 would be ‘the year of the vegan’, so why not use that to your advantage for your event catering or its growing popularity within your event design?
Image courtesy of Natural History Museum
Think about health and wellbeing
Another trend that has been consistently growing year on year is the rise of events focused on health and fitness. Whether it be fitness classes like Pilates, yoga or Zumba, or healthy food and drink launches, such as Lean Cuisine’s #WeighThis campaign, the events industry loves the health and wellbeing bubble. It’s tried and tested, relevant to everyone, and highly marketable – what’s not to like?
Image courtesy of Go Dine Digital
Posting on the ‘Gram
Talking of marketability, social media is your best friend. While organising the most amazing event may be great, making sure that it’s also being seen and heard about is arguably as important. There’s no better way of doing this than through social media, and the photo-sharing app Instagram in particular. The much-loved software is a great way of spreading news and images of your event, helping it to be seen by the masses.
So, how can you use it? For starters, you want to make your event as photogenic as possible, giving your guests something worth sharing an image of. Next, you should encourage them to link their images to your brand’s Instagram account, potentially featuring a specific hashtag solely dedicated to your event. This will help ensure that your brand is clearly visible online. #greatplan
Terrific technology
Technology has come a long way over the years, so why not use it to your advantage?
Live streaming is a great option for guests who are unable to attend your event, as it still involves them in the shenanigans. It also makes it look like you’ve gone the extra mile to keep them involved, which will keep you in their good books.
Event management and on-demand entry solutions, like Boomset, also make it much easier for you to plan a great event - before, during and after it takes place. Beyond session and schedule management, see who’s coming, and avoid check-in queues from forming, while adding a more engaging AND time-saving experience.
Image courtesy of Best Venues London
Party all day, sleep all night
Source: Best Venues London (Image caption: Warehouse 89 in East London is close to two tube stations, making it easy for guests to commute to and back from.)
Ease is another big thing to consider when organising an event. You have to think about it practically from a guest’s point of view: are they really going to want to come to an event that’s difficult to get to transport-wise and location-wise? Or, is there anything you could do to make it easier for them, such as arranging transport or accommodation options?
Just because you have to combine a place to party with a place to stay doesn’t mean you have to hold back on style. Take a look at The Royal Court Hotel in London for instance. It’s a fabulous venue for all sorts of events, with hotel rooms available right above the event function rooms. It’s a perfect place for ensuring your guests can have a great time, without the need for a night-time curfew.
Image courtesy of Oxfam Apps
Get sustainable and eco-friendly
Another big trend for this year is sustainability, which goes hand-in-hand with being eco-friendly. It’s all about keeping that carbon footprint as low as possible, whether that be through waste management, using local produce, reducing guest transport fees or sending digital invites.
With research finding that over a third of all food produced globally goes to waste, events with initiatives to combat food waste are also a big win-win. Think about partnering up with a food donation program to help your event reduce what’s being thrown away.
Guest Author Bio: Dakota Murphey has been working as a professional content writer for over 10 years. She enjoys writing extensively about anything event and business-related, and has done so for a number of established companies in the industry.
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How to Design a Conference Room for a Better Event Experience
Photo by Jakob Dalbjörn on Unsplash
You should never underestimate the importance of a well-designed conference room. In order to realize why, you only need to stop for a moment to consider just some of its many functions. Here, you greet your clients so by achieving a sense of awe and grandeur while there, you might just be able to make a much better first impression. On the other hand, make a place too ornate and flashy and you’ll distract everyone from the topic at hand. This is particularly harmful to micro-events and office meetings, that an average office worker attends more than 60 each month.
Nonetheless, hosting a closed-door meeting is a simple matter that doesn’t require a conference room. An in-house conference, on the other hand, is a different thing altogether. That being said, here are several tips on how to design a conference room for a better even experience.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT ROOM
The first thing you have to do is pick the right place for your conference room. While sometimes you may already get a lease on the place with a designed conference room, most of the time this won’t be the case. Even if you get the section that seems ideal, you’ll still have to furnish it to the best of your abilities.
You see, while your company or corporate gathering may be fairly small, the need for a larger conference room is fairly realistic. Why? Because you A) need to plan for growth and B) need to consider the prospect of hosting others. This is why it’s a smart move to pick a bit different office and conference room, then further manipulate the space with the help of accessories like Screenflex room dividers.
CREATE AMBIANCE WITH EVENT LIGHTING
The next thing you need to take care of is the issue of light, which is one of the most important issues that you need to tend to. First of all, you should take this approach from the pragmatic point of view and invest in LED lights. First of all, they generate less heat, which could make all the difference in the world when it comes to an overcrowded room (like your conference room during an event). Second, they spend less power. As for the walls, you need to pick a non-reflective surface, due to the fact that the screen may play a vital part in the event in question. Don’t forget that you might also come to benefit from natural light, in a scenario where you host an event during the daytime.
Most importantly, overhead lighting is not necessarily the thing you’re aiming for. This is mostly due to the fact that every conference room has its focal point. For large events, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) are also a viable option.
THINK ABOUT AMENITIES
One more thing you need to take into consideration is the fact that the in-house event isn’t a half-hour long meeting where everyone goes back to their desk afterward. No, it’s still a social event (even if it is a formal one), which means that you need to meet certain expectations, as a host. Install a refrigerator in the room, place some snacks on the conference room table and make sure that there is more than one recycling bin in the room. (Sustainability is so important!)
TRY IT OUT IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
Even though hosting an event costs a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort, it might still be worth your while to run a trial and see what happens. Simply make a mock-event, gather your crew and try seeing what it would all look like once the time finally comes. This can help you unveil some pressing issues that can be effortlessly resolved preemptively but would ruin the event otherwise. An hour before the meeting, you should also check if everything is plugged in correctly and if the remotely controlled devices are experiencing any issues.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
By following just these several simple steps, you’ll help provide a much better experience for your audience. In a scenario where this audience consists of potential investors, partners and suppliers, the future of your company may be closely intertwined with the success of this event. This is why it deserves your full and undivided attention.
Guest Author Bio: Leila Dorari is an entrepreneur, freelance writer and business-improvement enthusiast from Sydney. Currently, she is consulting companies on various effects different marketing solutions can have on their business. In her spare time, you can usually find her hiking with her furry four-legged friend.
The first touchpoint of your event, branded into one easy, convenient experience for your attendees (and event management team):
Your 7 Step Plan to get Management Buy-In for Your Event Ideas
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
Have you been tasked with organizing an event for your company? And have you forged ahead, full of enthusiasm, and succeeded in coming up with the most brilliant idea, only to be met with skepticism from your superiors?
While it can sometimes be hard for executives who aren’t quite as invested as you are or simply don’t have the creative vision to see the value of your fabulous event concept, you need to learn how to ‘sell’ your event idea to your manager(s). With this in mind, here’s your 7 step plan to help you get buy-in from any stakeholder and see your event planning efforts brought to life.
1. Present a solution to a problem.
Before management can be receptive to your specific event ideas, it’s a good idea to lay the groundwork first. You should prepare everyone to be on the same page – the ‘bull in a china shop’ approach is not often successful. Start by finding a common business problem and then use your event solution to overcome it.
For instance, if there is resistance to making budget available to find a venue in London, your argument could be that holding the event in-house would result in space restrictions, which could impact attendance and engagement levels, meaning fewer people asking questions, taking pictures or sharing the event on social media.
To give the event the best chances of success, the business solution for this particular scenario would be to find a competitively priced external venue that offers sufficient space for your event needs – but you may not be able to tell them that just yet.
2. Ask for management input.
Once you’ve explained the problem, ask your manager to suggest a way forward. Perhaps a short brainstorming session will throw up some interesting solutions and will broaden their receptiveness to different options – with any luck, they may even come up with the same idea as you’re about to suggest.
In the context, present your idea as one sensible option, so that the other stakeholders feel included in the decision making and hopefully reach the right conclusion: they’ll choose the solution and/or ideas you have presented to them.
3. Be guided by the event goals.
Creative ideas are all well and good but do they meet the objectives of the event? Make sure you’re clear about what the event is supposed to achieve and check with your line manager about the purpose, goal, and agenda for the upcoming event. If your visions are aligned, you’re much more likely to get managerial backing for your ideas.
Teamwork is key – your ego shouldn’t be dominating the proceedings. Let go of the concept of wanting praise for ‘your’ ideas or of the whole project somehow being ‘your baby’. If other people come up with great ideas too, make sure you can be flexible enough to take these on board, show enthusiasm and proceed to implement them where appropriate.
4. Get a second opinion.
Positive feedback is key – but you may have more than a single hurdle to overcome and you may have to tweak your idea a few times before it’s likely to be positively received. If you think you’ve hit upon a brilliant idea for, say, a networking event, make sure you run it past more than one person to gauge popularity.
An informal ‘dry run’ to other executives and colleagues in your company may help you to tease out the pros and cons of your idea, which you can then work on and incorporate into a strong final pitch to the decision makers, for the best chance of a positive outcome.
5. Tailor your communications.
It’s important to communicate your event ideas in a way that chimes with your boss’ (or company's) personality. Are they the quiet, analytical type – in which case a carefully constructed report sent via email may be the best way to engage them? Or do they have little time or patience, where a short but persuasive ‘elevator pitch’ may be more successful?
Perhaps a full PowerPoint presentation is required or a Dragon’s Den style business pitch, complete with a video of the venue and even actual food samples or technology demos to try? However you decide to play it, make sure that you engage on a level that reflects the decision maker’s mindset, and not your own.
6 Choose the best time.
If you want to maximize your chances of a positive outcome, the right timing is everything. Set a meeting for later in the week when people are generally more relaxed than on a Monday or Tuesday – but gauge the mood carefully before you go into the meeting.
If you can sense that management is preoccupied with other things, stressed, feeling poorly and generally not in a receptive mood for your suggestions, you’re better off postponing the meeting until the indicators are more positive.
7. Show the value.
Perhaps the most important point. Whatever budget you require for your event plans, it’s important that you can demonstrate a return on this investment. Even if the payback is hard to measure in numbers, make the business case to back up your budget.
Outline the benefits of your ideas in terms of value to the business. There may not be any direct financial rewards to woo your decision makers with, but likely returns in terms of, say, heightened brand awareness, improved business reputation, better customer engagement, greater market visibility etc, may be just as important to your executives.
Guest Author Bio: Dakota Murphey has been working as a professional content writer for over 10 years. She enjoys writing extensively about anything event and business related, and has done so for a number of established companies in the industry.
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