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Themes We Love: Corporate Meetings & Events

Every meeting or event you plan has a purpose and a reason for being held. Having a theme helps to relay the message of the event to the attendees, helps you focus on the elements you need for a successful meeting, and helps you control what you do with the meetings. Need some inspiration? Learn how we brainstorm themes.

Whether you plan events for corporations or small businesses, these five event themes are sure to be a huge hit with both your client and their guests:

1. Charting a New Course

Best used when an organization is changing directions or launching a new product. Charting a new course can be water, compass, or map theme.

2. Mission Possible

This is a pretty obvious theme and contains a lot of fun ideas to incorporate.

Your VIPs enter in black suits, hats and brief cases. They appear on stage and can even repel from the ceiling or make other Tom Cruise-esque entrances. This theme is great for launching a new product or to encourage team work in reaching a grand company goal!

3. The Power of One

This is a longtime favorite. Use this theme when you want to encourage individuality, need to empower your attendees or move them to action. Think of ways to express how one person can make a difference or how an individual can be a hero.

4. Picture the Possibilities

This theme can be used for a variety of purposes. From creating new ideas or releasing new products to changing how a company functions or producing an award show, this theme is perfect for brainstorming new products and revised company procedures.

5. Everyday Heroes

Of course we love this one, because it has our favorite word in it! This is a great theme for recognizing those who have gone above and beyond in their positions or careers. Whether they have created exceptional outcomes, provided valuable service to their community, or advanced the company or organization in a big way, this is a great theme to use to acknowledge excellence within a company or organization. Think of the pink Cadillac award given to Mary Kay makeup distributors when they achieve a certain number of sales.

These are five of our favorites! Share what your favorite theme is or what theme you’d like to see.

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Five Reasons to Theme Your Next Event

Take a moment and think about the last event you attended. If you can vividly remember the handwritten invitations, the elegant entryway, gourmet foods and classy décor, chances are, you got themed. Themes help drive the vision and also create a seamless flow during any event.

Whether you choose something fun or funky, fantastical or serious, theming will ensure attendees are engaged and relaxed.  Here are five more reasons you should theme your next event:

1) Clear, Concise Messaging: When your theme ties into the message your client is trying to convey, the event is more influential and impactful.  For example, let’s say you’ve been hired by an organization that will be opening new offices all across the U.S. A great theme for a company’s journey to expand is the historic Route 66 theme.  You could also use this theme for a venue along old Route 66. See other themes we love.

2) Setting the Mood: Theming enhances the atmosphere of any event. From the time attendees receive their save the date cards to the end of the event; theming sets the tone and makes the difference between a good event and an event attendees will remember forever.

3) Cohesiveness and Connection: Nothing says professional as much as seamless elements flowing as one. When the food choices, the entertainment, lighting and room arrangement all work together, attendees feel connected and in tune with all the combined elements.

4) Manageability: By using a theme, every single element becomes easy to manage and deliver – which means success for you and your client looks like the hero!

5) An Event They’ll Remember: The best reason to use a theme is that your client and the attendees will remember and recall your event – taking delight in how everything flowed and how every element made them feel connected and a part of something bigger.

Don’t know where to get started? Read our blog on 8 Steps for Creating a Theme or How to Choose a Theme

Instead of relying on a broad vision, choosing a theme for your next event can guide you as you plan, alleviating any chance for missing an important detail. The focus that comes from theming your event will benefit you as an event planner, and will delight your client and their guests. And don’t even get us started about how much time and money you’ll save –that’s a whole other blog! Find more great resources, tips and tricks for being an Event Hero at www.eventheroes.com/vip-membership

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Centerpieces Have Gone Digital

We live in an age where technology is King. So, does it surprise anyone when events start to take advantage of all the great technology out there!? From digital sponsorships to live streaming, digital centerpieces are becoming increasingly popular.


Photo Source: Event Vision

The idea of a digital centerpiece has multiple uses and the ability to reach and interact with everyone at the event! We listed the top uses for this technology, but the ideas and endless:

1. Live streaming:

At large events people may not always hear or see the main stage as well as they would like. Having a tablet at their table will allow them to focus more on the event!

2. Audience input:

Not only will your audience be able to see & hear the stage, they have the ability to ask questions directly from their table or vote/bid on something happening! This allows them to feel more a part of the event and interact with the people on stage!

3. Photos:

For events such as weddings or large family events, the sentiment of photographs resonates well with guests. Streaming old family photos or young pictures of the happy couple let the guests feel more connected to the couple.

Photo Source: BizBash

4. Sponsorships/promotional activities:

Sponsors will love the idea of people being able to see their product up close and personal. This also allows them to interact with the sponsor using a game or entering a contest on the tablet at the table. The possibilities are endless and the guests will enjoy it!

There are many different options on how to use digital centerpieces. The best part about this technology is that it is controllable. Not only as a whole, but also by table or specific tablet! This allows a more targeted reach to individuals.


Photo Source: Event Vision

Having these tablets as centerpieces also allows easy access for guests to post on social media. Some services can take pictures from the digital centerpiece and send them straight to the guest! Using similar features like Snapchat will allow you to showcase your event or a title sponsor.

Let us know what you think about this event technology and if you would consider using this for your next event!

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Event Technology Inspired by the Super Bowl

As the biggest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl 51 did not disappoint! It is a great event, for both sports and non-sports fans to watch. It has something for everyone from the game, to the year’s most anticipated advertisements, and the musical guests. After watching the Super Bowl, I was inspired with all the new possibilities of event technology!

Drones:

During the halftime show, you may have noticed the use of drones above Lady GaGa! I searched and found that it was several hundred drones creating the light display by her. Specifically, they were Tiny Shooting Star quadcopters by Intel. It is amazing what the team who managed the drone display did!

The use of drones is one thing that I have always wanted to do. There are so many innovative ways to use these, including lighting, video and photo, as well as an aerial display. I expect the use of drones to be used more and more during events.

180-degree projection:

Another technology that I forecast will be a big hit with events this year and was used at the SuperBowl is the 180-degree room with projection screens. This year, Hyundai brought the Super Bowl to our service men and women overseas while they sat them down surrounded in a 180-degree projection while their families were watching Super Bowl 51. Watch it here to see the technology for yourself!

Using this type of technology pulls your audience in and gives them the full effect of being somewhere else. Ideas of this could be for an ‘Under the Seas’ theme or a ‘Space’ theme. The possibilities are endless! Giving a similar experience as Virtual Reality.

Work to give your audience an experience, something that they will never forget. I think we will be seeing more of these technologies in the event space! Talk to your AV team when considering this for an event!

After watching the Super Bowl, I am very excited to see how these technology takeaways will be applied to the event world! Keep an eye out for these innovative event technologies, and let us know what you think!

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2017 Wedding Trends

Welcome to 2017, it’s event season and wedding planners are getting ready for the busy season.So wedding planners, here are a few of the trends we see for 2017!

Using unconventional spaces

Finding unique spaces for your brides to hold their weddings is key to helping them create the unique event they are looking for. Think old buildings with brick walls – instead of covering the walls with drape (so 2016) leave them raw and add the accents of beautiful flowers, lighting elements hanging from the ceiling and using the existing elements as part of the design.

Giving to a charity

One of the most touching weddings I’ve planned asked attendees to donate to their favorite charity. The charity they chose had a very personal feel for them and this was a wonderful way for everyone to feel great about their gift and the bride and groom to give back.

Entertainment beyond the DJ or band

Listen planners, there is that time frame between the wedding and the reception where guests are waiting for the Bride and Groom to show up and are bored and hungry. Why not create an entertainment distraction that fills that space. Try a game show based on the Bride and grooms new life or past events from their childhood.

Creating installations

This is another trend I love! Whether this is thousands of paper birds hanging from the ceiling, flowers or any other large installations of art that will really WOW! your guests when they walk through the door.

Pops of color

Color is coming back! In the last couple of years the color palate has been tans and whites. This year a pop of color, like bright pinks or oranges, are what a lot of brides are going for. Think of anything that will make the wedding different by adding bright colors. This could include flowers, or paper flowers hanging from the ceiling to form an installation!

We want to know what trends you are seeing for this years wedding. Add your comments below, we can’t wait to see what you have to say!

Want more ideas, tips and tricks? Join our VIP Membership Program

Happy Planning!

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Creating a Thrilling New Year’s Party

The Holidays are quickly approaching, which means events and gatherings of all kinds for you to either host or attend. One holiday in particular is New Year’s Eve, which is always accompanied by the year’s biggest parties. New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate the past year’s successes and new beginnings of the upcoming year.

As a host, you always want to put your best foot forward. Have fun brainstorming fun ideas, but most importantly make sure you are prepared for the task at hand. Whether you are hosting a celebration for friends and family or having a huge blowout party with celebrity performers, we have some ideas on how to create a thrilling New Year’s Eve party!

Whether you want to WOW! your guests with festive food, interactive games or a themed atmosphere, we came up with ideas to make your guests leave in awe:

Light Up the Night with an Interactive Activity

Instead of fireworks, surprise your guests with Chinese lanterns! This subtle, yet beautiful custom is a great interactive entertainment option. Guests will enjoy being this hands on activity where they can write their wishes for the year on the lantern and watch them float into the sky. Make sure that this activity is legal in your state, as several have acted to ban it.

Use a Bubbly Twist on Decor

Champagne is a MUST for NYE parties. Since you’ll already have bought champagne for the party, use empty or full bottles for decorations as well. Add glitter and decorate them for centerpieces or place them around the room! Pinterest has some great ideas on how to repurpose the bottles.Have Bite-sized SweetsAs midnight nears, guests will likely be standing and walking around more than before as the party comes into full swing. For dessert, try festive Cake Pops! These are easy to grab and are hard to resist.

 Photo Source: Celebrations.com

Another great option for a late-night snack is personal popcorn boxes. Make this easy and loveable snack pop at your party by placing them in a printable box, perfect for sponsorship at large parties or a personal message for more intimate gatherings.

 Photo Source: Celebrations.com

Theme It Up

For those looking for a unique NYE party theme consider a ‘Black and White Ball’ or a ‘One Last Hurrah’. Check out the details here! Other popular options include prohibition parties, masquerade mystique, or even black light. Just be sure that your theme aligns with interests of the guests you are inviting.

Share the Year’s Highlights

NYE is also about reflecting on the past year. For smaller parties, have guests write their favorite memory of the year on fun colored paper and place them in a mason jar. Read these aloud to relive great memories. For large parties, have guests tweet or share a post on Instagram and portray them on a screen inside. Guests will love to see themselves on a big screen!

Make it Memorable with Photo Opportunities

At any fabulous party people are going to want pictures. Who doesn’t love capturing a memory of when they are dressed to the nines or having a blast with friends? Set up a photo booth or create a space with a festive backdrop. Encourage guests to strike a pose by having fun props to pose with. Include props with the upcoming and past year, fancy glasses (stars, sparkles, & funky spectacles), mustaches & lips, and printed phrases like the one below!

 Photo Source: Uncommon Designs Online

These are just a few ideas to get your NYE party started! Anything with glitter, champagne and finger foods are always a hit, but try to think outside of the box for your party this year! What unique twist are you planning on using or have you seen in the past? We’d love to hear!

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Creative Venue Spaces

We’ve all been to great events in standard venues like hotels, convention centers, churches, event halls but the events that really stand out in our memories are the ones that are held in non-traditional venues.

When you begin planning your event and you want to make sure you add that WOW factor, start by thinking about a creative and unusual venue that will give your event a fresh and exciting bang right from the start.

Some possible options you might consider are:

  • Museums
  • Art Galleries
  • Country Clubs
  • Private Yachts
  • Wineries
  • Tents
  • Libraries
  • Airplanes
  • Restaurants
  • Airport Lounges
  • Theme Parks
  • Aquariums
  • Entertainment Complexes
  • Covered Swimming Pools
  • Theatre Stages
  • Retail or Specialty Stores
  • Soundstages
  • Sports Stadiums
  • Practice Fields
  • Rooftops
  • Private Clubs
  • Equestrian Clubs
  • Golf Clubs
  • Spas

Don’t let traditional spaces limit your imagination, but do take into consideration your event needs when booking your space. Some questions to ask yourself are, Do you need IT capabilities? Are restrooms readily available and suitable to your attendees? Will your attendees be comfortable in the space? Will the weather be appropriate for the event in the space you are choosing?Be creative with your event space choice, but make sure it fits with your event objectives and meets all of your clients and attendee needs.

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Event Technology: Instagram Stories

If you stay up to date with social media apps, you may have noticed a new feature in Instagram. The photo-sharing app recently added a ‘story’ option for users. Similar to Snapchat, a user can now upload a picture or short video for followers. Unlike regular posts, these only last 24 hours.

This is an unexpected change for Instagram, which seems to take this idea from another popular social media tool, Snapchat. So how does this effect the event world?

We all know that live feeds are becoming popular, and that Snapchat is great for communicating directly with attendees. However, Instagram is still more popular and has double the users Snapchat does (around 300 million!).

For events and event planners, who already have a good following on Instagram, and may struggle with Snapchat, this is your golden ticket! Now you can tease your audience with behind-the-scenes peaks, your planning process and more!

It is more common to post multiple times on Snapchat than compared to Instagram, so use these stories to give you more exposure to your followers! Use it to your advantage, because stories appear at the top of the screen, every time a user opens the phone app.

For those not familiar with Snapchat, but want to get the most out of the Instagram stories, know that these can range a lot of different topics! Tease guests with previews of your next event, or if the theme is a secret give them hints. Show off your event team and your work area. The possibilities are endless!

With new updates to social media apps coming in lightning fast, it is crucial that you stay updated; especially if you are targeting millennia’s who are tech-savvy. Just think of this as one more opportunity to reach out to your audience and gain potential attendees!

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Event Trends Based On Movies In 2017

Movies are definitely a trend setter for event themes. If you think we’re wrong, let us just say these two words “Great Gatsby”. Yep – so as you can see knowing the upcoming movie releases and staying on top of the most popular movies can definitely help you get ahead of the curve with your clients and their theme parties.

2016 was definitely a big year for highly anticipated movies and remakes. For example, this year’s Tarzan might not be the most popular of movies released, but you still can’t go wrong with a jungle theme. Waiters dressed as jungle guides sporting pith helmets will be sure to add that memorable touch to the jungle theme. 2017 also has some promising excitement for those who love movie series. So we looked to the biggest movie releases to determine hot event themes that you’ll likely begin planning now and sharing a fun element that you can add in.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

AYE! What’s better than a pirate-themed party? We love decorating for this type of party and even have the pirate statues to prove it! To add a unique element to this theme have netting hanging through the entry walkway for guests to walk under as they enter. Place “treasures”, fake sea creatures, and imitation seaweed in the net to look like a catch from the bottom of the sea. Don’t forget to hire a “Jack Sparrow” to greet guests!

Star Wars: Episode VIII

Everybody who was around in the 80s had a heyday when Star Wars: Episode VII came out – so you can only imagine that this movie will also gain some attention. Food is always a fun way to get creative with themed events. Find creative ways to make the oh so popular red and green light sabers – one way we’ve seen is with dipped pretzels. What would you use to create light sabers?

Wonder Woman

Everybody loves Event Heroes – I mean, super heroes 😉 This is one theme that will not die out no matter what the year. Super hero theme parties are great for hiring local models or actors to dress as the super heroes and welcome guests. This would be a great woman-empowering theme. For a fun touch, have wonder woman props for a fun photo shoot.

Resident Evil: The final chapter

Although you won’t find many zombie themed corporate events, zombies are the perfect setting for Halloween parties. Zombie themed everything has taken off the last couple of years from zombie food joints to zombie runs. For a scarier theme party, hire actors decked out as zombies to walk around the party aimlessly. If you’re looking for something low key, have zombified appetizers. We suggest a venue for this theme that is dark and bare with cement floors. Something fashioned to look post-apocalyptic would be perfect for this theme.

Avatar

When Avatar was first released, it blew audiences’ minds. Nobody had used that quality of CG yet. Not only was the cinematography amazing, but people loved dressing up as Avatar characters soon after. For a unique spin on this event theme use lighting to recreate the glowing grass, shrubs, and trees. You want guests to feel like they are visiting another world with this theme party.

While upcoming movies are a great way to determine event themes, some will stick around longer than others. Be sure to keep an eye out for the hype leading up to them and watch if they are trending on different social media platforms.

Need a full theme party with entertainment and decorations? Click on over to Event Heroes theme pages and pick a party with all the elements and suppliers you need to throw a party to be remembered for years to come.

What would be your favorite theme party to throw? Let us know and share what you would do to make it unique!

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Event Technology: Snapchat

Social media has become so important to events that some would flop without it. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram capture important event moments and let people know details at the drop of a hat. But what about Snapchat?

Most people think of snapchat as an app that features a disappearing picture, solely used by young adults and teenagers. However, some fail to see the significance snapchat can bring to an event!

According to an article written by Nick Borelli on EventMB “Having a platform that pushes people to watch the content they initially signed up for or forever losing the chance to see it has made Snapchat second only to Facebook in average time spent on the platform by users”.

Snapchat updates can be posted in seconds, in many different forms, including pictures and videos with unique features. This allows events to showcase many different points of view: from other attendees, the band, the event planner and everyone else at the event!

Snapchats can be sent to individuals or the masses! Blast out your event every step of the way and show guests things they normally wouldn’t see! This can be used pre-event, during and post-event.

Use exclusivity to your advantage, only send certain content to VIP guests and let them know it! Unlike a Facebook event, others will never know, and those receiving it will feel extra special.

If you plan far enough ahead, make your own snapchat filter and encourage others to use it. This will be uniquely yours and anyone in the area will be able to use it! Talk about capitalizing on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – only those who attended the event are able to use the filter to share with their followers.

A filter is an extension of the photo or video. For instance once the picture is taken different features can be added. From a black a white photo to the time you took it! Locations or event names can also be added and show where/what that person is doing. The branding opportunities using these filters are not to be missed and can spread very fast!

The best part about Snapchat is that once your event gets enough attention, the attendees will be doing all the work! They will be sharing your event with everyone and you can sit back and admire a job well done!

Snapchat is still underrated in some circles, but you can use this as an opportunity to show the amazing experiences you create for attendees at your events!

Share your thoughts and experiences with snapchat with us as well!

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