Being locally minded doesn’t just mean frequenting independent retailers and restaurants, though we love doing that. Being locally minded also means working to make our community better for all who live here. Since 1985, Food Bank of Central New York has been providing food to people in need and working to eliminate hunger in our area.

We have worked with Food Bank for the past 15 years on Savor Syracuse, an annual fundraiser. In honor of The Food Bank’s 30th anniversary in 2015, we have come up with something new and exciting that we hope you will join us for!

Cork Hunger: A Wine Auction to Benefit Food Bank of Central New York is a cocktail reception, multi-course wine dinner, and wine auction (both silent and live) taking place at SKY Armory on Friday, April 24, 2015. This event will be a great resource for everyday wine enthusiasts and a way for collectors to score hard-to-find bottles. 

Cork Hunger will be a key fundraising component of the Food Bank’s year-long celebration to mark their milestone anniversary.  The goal is to raise $150,000, which will directly support Food Bank’s continued efforts to alleviate hunger in central and northern New York and fund education programs, as well.

Our auction committee of fine wine aficionados is reaching out to wineries around the globe and private cellars requesting they send a single bottle or case of some of their best vintages to Syracuse. We are asking members of our community to donate wine and wine-related items with a minimum retail value of $75.00 that can be auctioned at the event.

If you have a special vintage or another wine-related item, and are interested in making a tax-deductible donation, please click here to fill out the donation form.

We are also looking for supportive organizations to help sponsor this event – there are a variety of levels to choose from.

Between now and April 24, we’ll be using #corkhunger and we look forward to unveiling the Cork Hunger logo and sharing information and updates! Stay tuned!




We and the Food Bank are committed to responsible drinking – you must be age 21 or older to attend this event, consume alcohol, or purchase alcohol.

Hard to believe, but the holidays are only a mere nine weeks away! It's not too late to start planning a holiday party you and your coworkers will talk about into next year.

The types of holiday parties we help companies plan range from cocktail-and-hors d'oeuvres receptions to full-scale family experiences. Your party can be on-site at your offices or we can help you find an appropriate venue for the kind of celebration you wish to host. 

Once you decide where and when, you can think about how: How can we WOW them? If you're thinking of a family-friendly experience, you can opt for a mood influenced heavily by holiday cheer. Last year, we created "Santa's Workshop" for a client that included games, a bouncy house, a candy bar, a Jack Frost character, and a visit from Santa. 

If you're thinking about hosting employees only (or employees and partners), any number of themes would entertain: a Casino Royale theme and an underground Speakeasy complete with a Who Dunnit mystery are two of the types of holiday parties we've done in recent years. 

And even though it's Syracuse, don't feel limited to partying indoors: We designed a Fire and Ice holiday party for one company which included outdoor activities such as dogsled races, fire and ice inspired food and beverages, and an incredible outdoor custom pool table made of carved ice!

When it comes to holiday parties, we love them, big or small; we've done festive gatherings for companies of 20 and 200. Give us a call and let us help you! 315-422-9400

We realized in talking to some of our long-time clients that there may be a little confusion about how The Events Company and SKY Armory work, both separately and together. So we'd like to help clear that up!

The Events Company (TEC), which has been in business for 18 years, is not changing. We are still your go-to for exceptional weddings, corporate meetings and events, Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, milestone birthdays and anniversaries (both social and corporate), galas, bashes, fundraisers, awards dinners, community events - you name it! We are an event planning and design company and we will help you plan your event at any location.  

Our sister company, SKY Armory, is an event venue in downtown Syracuse. SKY has its own staff, which includes a sales manager, executive chef, food & beverage manager, event planners, and kitchen, dining, and service staff.  SKY is an urban open-loft style space and it is one of the larger event venues in Central New York - SKY is able to hold up to 900 people between the two large ballrooms and has already hosted or booked many of the types of events listed above. 

The companies, both owned by Nicole and Kevin Samolis, are two separate entities with their own staffs: The Events Company event planners and production team manage events at indoor and outdoor locations all over the region (and beyond). SKY Armory's staff handles events held only at SKY Armory. 

When you come to The Events Company about your event, depending on your projected headcount, event style and vision, we may suggest SKY as a venue if we think it's right for you. If you select SKY Armory as the venue for your event, you'll still work directly with your TEC planner, who will liaise with the management staff at SKY to help schedule decor meetings and tastings. 

SKY is not only one more great local venue in our arsenal of top venues in the area, it provides a very different atmosphere than other locations where you might have held events. If you choose another location for your event, your TEC planner will guide you through the planning process and day-of management. 

As always, our goal is to ease the stress and pain of event planning for you and help you create a memorable event that people talk about long after they depart. 

We often help organizations of all kinds produce fundraising events.  When you're producing an event that benefits a cause or a charity, getting attendees and potential donors to feel as passionately about the issue as you do is key. Creating an emotional connection means that you could potentially raise more money for the organization, and you may earn new supporters who continue efforts to raise awareness and funds beyond the event itself.

Having something tangible makes the challenges others face seem more real. In Brooklyn, past-its-prime food and a scrubbed-down garbage dumpster have become the foundation for Salvage Supperclubs. Conceptualized by designer Josh Treuhaft for his recent master's thesis, the idea is to create a six-course meal from food that is imperfect or about to be thrown away. Guests pay $50 (suggested donation) to attend the dinner and the goal is to raise awareness about how much food is actually wasted unnecessarily. The proceeds from the dinners go to various charities dealing with hunger relief, healthy food access, and other food-related concerns. 

A Huffington Post article on the supper clubs stated this: "According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, American families throw out about 25 percent of their groceries each year, often because they don't maximize the food's full use -- for example, some people throw away broccoli stems and only use the florets -- or they don't know how to store perishable items correctly. What's more, according to the World Resources Institute, about one-third of all food produced worldwide gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems annually."

Having guests sit in a dumpster eating food that was nearly wasted creates a much bigger impact than having them listen to speeches, however impassioned. 

Another great example of this strategy is from charity: water. Most of us have likely seen pictures of African villagers carrying large jugs of water back to their homes. You see the image and you understand that getting clean water is hardship in many places, but you don't necessarily connect with the reality of it. Charity: water held an event where guests were encouraged to carry a standard 40-pound jerry can of water about 50 yards. The guests couldn't believe how heavy the cans were and how hard it is to move the cans even a short distance. Guests were able to more fully realize the difficulty many people face in accessing a basic human right and felt more passionately that something must be done. 

For another clever example, see this article from Event Solutions. Creative ideas like these create a physical and emotional experience that garner a much larger investment from guests and benefit the cause in a more meaningful way.


Photos: The Huffington Post, Event Solutions

To design this event, we used Agrana’s brand colors of a cheerful berry red, bright blue and white. We kept the look open and fresh and evoked the idea of a farm or orchard with a large wood table and fruit baskets as part of the decor around the tent and in table centerpieces. We worked with Karen’s Catering to customize a buffet lunch incorporating fresh fruit, yogurt, and local favorites to welcome the company to the area: Fruit bruschetta on toasted wheat baguette, Lively Run goat cheese, watermelon, and arugula salad, chicken spiedies, and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que were all on the menu.

Here are some highlights from the event: (slideshow below)

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!

This year marks the 150th Anniversary of both the Onondaga Historical Association and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. To celebrate, we coordinated the kick-off reception with “A Page Out of History” in the Carnegie Library.

Guests were greeted by costumed actors donning Civil War era threads and escorted up the marble staircase into the Library to the sounds of the eight-piece Excelsior Cornet Band. The band was featured in the recent flick, Lincoln.

Once inside, guests could visit Mary Elizabeth’s Chocolate Shoppe and exchange their wooden nickles for a piece of chocolate made exactly to Mary Elizabeth’s 1863 recipe by Lune Chocolat, a confectionery based in Manlius (if you missed the event and are looking for some of the chocolates, visit the OHA gift shoppe!) Exhibits were set up in a room overlooking The Mission Restaurant, which many people don’t know was the site of the Emancipation Jubilee, an 1863 celebration of the signing of the Proclamation. The former Syracuse Wesleyan Methodist Church was also a stop along the Underground Railroad.

Tapas by Parisa (one of our new favorite downtown eateries) were served on tables made from vintage doors, and the citron and navy decor gave a modern feel to the historical event. Our “Page Out of History” centerpieces tied in the theme of the event, while the fun mini vases added a sassy, modern pop. Later in the evening guests ventured to the dance floor and showed off their 2013 dance moves to the smooth sounds of  Soft Spoken.


For more photos of the event visit us on Facebook!

Venues and caterers create standard menu offerings to select from. This makes their life easier, but it may not fit your need.

Make note that you do not need to choose from this limited offering. Request to work with the chef to create a customized menu to fit your event – whether to fit the theme of your event or the palates of your guests.

To see more culinary tips, follow us on Facebook.