Everyone wants their meeting or conference to be engaging and interactive. According to SuccessfulMeetings.com, there are 5 trends that can bring your event to the forefront.
 
1) Utilizing interactive mobile meeting apps and 2) Infusing meetings with social media
 
It likely comes as no surprise to anyone that mobile technology and social media are two big components of forward-thinking events. Apps now exist to help meeting planners register guests, share itineraries, follow social media discussions, and provide a wealth of information. The WISE Symposium utilized an app called EventBoard. It was inexpensive and easy to set up (though we weren’t the ones who input the info into the app).
 
The app included the full itinerary of all the speakers and breakout sessions and if you clicked into each entry, you could access the bio(s) of whoever was leading each discussion.  There were different ways to filter the sessions so attendees could easily find what they were looking for. A News tab included articles of interest to our entrepreneurially-minded crowd and a Sponsors tab allowed the conference sponsors to be recognized along with links to their websites. A Resources tab included an overview of the conference, floor plans to the Oncenter where the event was held, and links to the website and Facebook page of the conference.

Additionally, the app included a Twitter tab so attendees could easily follow along with the conversation hosted by @WISEWBC and Twitter Party held around the hashtag #WISE2014. This lets us segue nicely into the second trend of incorporating social media into your meetings. If you’re hosting an event, come up with a memorable and short relevant hashtag that participants can use in their tweets and also have them include your company’s Twitter handle. WISE is another great example for this trend as well. The organizers created a Twitter party, as I mentioned, and encouraged participants to tweet as much as possible about the event and the talks they were attending. Incentives like a free iPad, a free headshot session, and other prizes for top tweeters got people motivated to interact. On the Expo floor of WISE there was a screen where each tweet popped up in real time so everyone could see the conversation emerging. The #WISE2014 hashtag trended nationally three times and had an ultimate reach of over 7.1 million people! People are likely to tweet or engage on social media during your event anyway, so why not tie it to your company and increase brand awareness?

3) Designing once-in-a-lifetime, multi-sensory meetings
 
This is our bread and butter and where we love to shine. We want to help you inspire and motivate your attendees and WOW them. But what is WOW? We define it as an experience of sight and sound. Each year we help a local real estate company produce their annual sales meeting and awards event. Developing a concept — Knocking Out the Competition — based on the meeting’s message, our team created a boxing-themed event complete with a ring (borrowed from a local boxing club) that both Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield had fought on. Employees suited up and had a great time. The focus was on being totally committed and fully engaged in the company’s goals. To drive that home, we thought about what seems nearly impossible: a truly physical, emotional, and mental challenge. We brought in a man who completed the Iditarod dog sled race. He gave a motivational speech on a stage that was enhanced by wooden models of Siberian Huskies and a dog sled, and our team built a finish line structure and designed a backdrop depicting snowy terrain. 

4) Opting for extraordinary offsite venues
 
We think that any offsite venue can be made extraordinary with a little ingenuity, creativity, décor and lighting. For one local company’s leadership retreat, which was all about communication, we held the event in a local TV station and set up right on the studio floor where broadcasts are filmed. A camera panned around the event on a jib and the footage appeared on screens so attendees could view the band from other parts of the room. Here’s what the space looks like usually and a shot from the retreat.

5) Giving customized corporate gifts
 
I love the high end examples of gifts in this article: chic bespoke suits, a spa retreat, or finely crafted Italian footwear. If any companies have the budget for gifts like that, give us a call now for your next event! While I’m sure no one would turn down appreciation gifts like those, you don’t have to go quite that big to make your employees or team feel valued. For the aforementioned company retreat, attendees received bowling bag-style lunch totes. Speakers at the WISE conference received Jolt chargers to keep their mobile devices charged on the go. And, at a bridal shower we helped design and plan at a winery, the guests were given a wine glass and customized tumbled marble coaster. A gift like that could easily translate into a corporate gift.  Gifting your employees or attendees something creative with a little thought behind it is a great way to WOW them.

We have designed weddings both indoors and outdoors and in some non-traditional or unconventional locations. Couples who aren’t particularly religious or do not want to have their ceremony in a house of worship still need to designate a place where they will stand and exchange their vows. So if you aren’t starting with an existing altar, how can you create a space that feels special?
 
Sometimes structures exist like a pergola or archway that can be adapted for nuptial purposes. Jewish weddings have chuppahs which are freestanding and can be in other indoor locations, backyards, or on beaches.

Depending on your ceremony site, you could stand in front of a variety of backdrops that can help carve out that space: a fireplace, a couple of trees, a window or interesting wall, or a fountain. We always do a lot of fabric draping for our events. Or, you can get creative and create something totally custom (or we can build it for you).
 
Last May, I went to my friend’s wedding and her brother, who is a blacksmith, created a beautiful archway for her and her groom to stand in front of for their outdoor wedding at a local art park.
 
Plus once you create a basic structure, the personalization options are nearly endless using flowers, fabric, or other kinds of materials. Here are a few gorgeous ideas we’ve seen online that can serve as inspiration.

Last week was the 12th annual WISE (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) Symposium. Together with the WISE Women’s Business Center and the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, we produced the day-long event attended by nearly 1000 local entrepreneurs and business people.

The keynote speeches were inspiring and practical, particularly Melinda Emerson’s: The Small Biz Lady got everyone on their feet early and entertained the crowd with humorous stories and practical tips. The various breakout sessions included a lot of useful information and allowed attendees to tailor the day’s program to their own interests and needs. Our president, Nicole Samolis, participated in a very affirming panel on aspiring higher to grow your business. The big takeaway was that women should not feel guilty, as they often do, about succeeding and making money. Men don’t feel guilty about succeeding, paying themselves a salary, or upgrading to a nicer car, and neither should women. In fact, the more successful you appear, the more people will come to you with their business because they’ll see you’re a proven success. 

One of the most important parts of the conference, for us, was ensuring that attendees spent time in the Expo area where a mix of local and regional businesses present their goods and services, and a plethora of resources are available. For those in need of business advice or specific services, the Expo hooks attendees up with companies who can help with branding or web design, financial advice, or information on how to get started in social media among other areas. Additionally, the Expo is a great way to get to know local small businesses that you may not have heard of before, which is especially important if you support the Buy Local movement as we do. The Expo also included WISE Talks stages which were modeled after TED talks. Three stages – focusing on business, social, and life – had a revolving group of experts who each spoke for 15 minutes on topics related to sales strategies, networking and communication, and making your health a priority. WISE Reads was an area of the Expo set up as a bookstore featuring business and motivational publications for sale.
 

The WISE Women’s Business Center Connections Cafe offered attendees the opportunity to have a one-on-one session with a trained business counselor. Above all, the WISE Symposium is an excellent and uplifting place to network, learn from other local entrepreneurs, and to remember that you’re not alone in the business world and that many local experts and businesses are here to help you succeed. If you have questions about WISE or if you might be interested in exhibiting next year, give us a call!

Creating a wedding guest list is often a source of stress even when you know every single person coming, but add boyfriends and girlfriends you may have never met or don’t know as well, and you might not be sure how to make it work.  While etiquette used to dictate that all guests over 18 should be invited with a guest, couples now often only want to be surrounded by people they know.
 
I’ll admit, when I got married at 21, I was adamant that I wanted to personally know everyone that was going to be at my wedding. Because I got married so young, very few friends were in long-term relationships. I had sort of a mixed policy on guests. People who I knew had significant others were invited to bring that person (and I invited them by name, not “and guest”). All of our wedding party members were invited to bring a guest regardless of relationship status, and half of them took us up on it.  We invited the rest of our “single” guests alone.  Two of our cousins called specifically to say that they had significant others and could they bring them? I said yes immediately. Enough people had RSVP’d that they couldn’t come so it wasn’t a financial issue, and by then I had loosened up a little. One single friend RSVP’d that he was bringing a date without asking. I was a little annoyed by the assumption, but I knew his date well and he was a very close friend of mine – I wanted him there so I let it go.
 
Weddings are a couple-centric event by definition. Engaged and married friends obviously are invited with their partners, but what about friends in shorter or newer relationships? Often those friends feel slighted or as though you think their relationship is not as valid just because it’s newer or they haven’t been together over a year.  If someone is in a relationship, they’re technically not single, so their significant other isn’t quite the same as a +1.
 
Single people often like to bring a date so they have someone to talk and dance with, especially if they aren’t going to know other people at your wedding. Some friends are extroverts and can make new friends with anyone, but some aren’t. For a destination wedding or for someone who is traveling a great distance to attend your wedding, it’s a nice gesture to invite them to bring a guest so they can be sure they will know someone there.
 
I once went as my best friend’s date to his coworker’s wedding. His girlfriend couldn’t get off work and he’d been invited with a date, so he asked me to go instead. He wanted to go to the wedding to support his coworker but really didn’t want to attend alone. It was a little awkward for me because the bride and groom didn’t know me at all, and I knew absolutely no one but my friend. But, we had a good time: the bride and groom were very gracious to me, my friend had someone to talk and dance with, and even though I didn’t know them, I still cried at the videos of the bride and groom growing up.
 
Ultimately you have to think about your guests’ comfort level: as the newlyweds, you will be splitting your time between photo ops and mingling with everyone. Your guests won’t really be spending that much time with you specifically, so who are they going to sit with, talk with, and dance with?
 
Sometimes there are space and financial restrictions, which of course you have to consider. If you have a clearly outlined policy, and politely enforce it, your friends will either understand or send their regrets.  And guests: being invited alone isn’t necessarily purposeful snub. You can politely and tactfully ask whether you may bring a guest if you’re uncomfortable attending alone, but know that for various reasons, the answer may still be no.
 
Our overall recommendation is a the-more-the-merrier policy:  if you can afford to, it’s a wonderful and inclusive gesture to invite friends in relationships with their significant others and your single guests with a +1.

It’s now April, so your almost-graduate’s senioritis has probably kicked into full gear. While they’re finishing papers and projects, have you thought about the kind of graduation party you’ll throw to celebrate all their achievements?
 
In May, we’re producing a tented graduation brunch for a young man earning his degree from Colgate. It will be a lively outdoor party with great food, live music, and fun lawn games. Colgate’s burgundy and charcoal colors are the starting point for the decor elements; we’re even customizing a game of cornhole to feature the university’s logo. Plus, the family’s guests will get to try out our brand new giant Jenga game! As if that weren’t enough, there will also be a craps table and a strolling illusionist to keep everyone entertained.

The invitations and the signs that will be displayed around the party all have a chalkboard design.

Guests will be greeted with mimosas and champagne, and as they celebrate, they will get to feast on an array of delicious food. They’ll start with fresh fruit and pastries such as maple-pecan braids and lemon poppy loaf. The brunch buffet includes French toast with Bananas Foster Topping and a grilled island chicken salad with mangoes, papayas, strawberries, pineapple, and toasted almonds tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. A chef will also be on hand to make custom fritattas!

When the party ends, each guest will take home an individually packaged graduation cupcake.
 
Your graduate worked hard get to this point and would probably love a party where he or she can blow off a little steam and celebrate with friends and family before heading on to college, grad school, or the workforce.
 
Whether your party is for a large number of people or something more intimate, we can help you come up with themes and entertainment ideas that will be a hit!