Have your say in our Design Inspiration!

As executive producer for the 2010 Spotlight/CATIE Awards, it was critical to me to be able to provide opportunities to work with Social Media technology and to outstretch a hand to the greater event community by trying new thing and crazy ideas. One of those crazy ideas is to let our audience have their say in aspects of the event. The Spotlight/CATIE awards recognize excellence in the event industry and Catered Arts. We are the event experts, so why should these experts get to have some input into the experience they want to have!

Well with big thanks to Clinton Bonner (@clintonbon) and the crew over at the Social Collective has turned there tool CrowdCampaign.com into our crowdsourcing solution.

Starting now through March 5, we will put forth three elements of the event for popular vote: tabletop Decor, Desert, and Drinks.

With three ideas presented by the talented crew at MGM MIRAGE Events under the leadership of King Dahl (@kingdahl) and with the help of three very cool linens from Wildflower Linens we present three ideas on tabletop for the Awards event March 8, 2010 at the incredible Mandarin Oriental.

Photos by: Kelly McKeon

Style #1 The Nido Glass - “Beautiful Hand-blown glass vase with intertwined dwarf callas perched on a Tiffany Sunset Fortuny Crushed Linen”

Style #2 The Milano - “Gilded Vase filled with Cymbidiums, Imported Roses, and Callas nestled on Iridescent Taffeta topped with a Chiffon Velvet Blue Topaz overlay”

Style #3 Cascading Callas - Custom designed, multi-tiered, Lucite stand specifically crafted to hold small, delectable treats brought out by waitstaff. This piece proudly stands atop a Golden Paillette Overlay”

To vote for your favorite, visit: http://escs10awards.crowdcampaign.com/

Get Your 2010 Spotlight/CATIE Awards Badge

This year's Spotlight/CATIE Awards for Event Solutions Magazine and the International Catering Association have gone viral. As we continue to experiment with new ways to engage social media into tour awards program we are excited to release the following badges for attendees and for finalists to proudly wear on their websites, blogs, Facebook Pages, Twitter Pages, email signatures and your other social media profiles.

Simply right click the image you want to use and save it to your desktop. Upload it to the site.

Floorsquare Anyone?

I have been playing on Foursquare for the last two months and I admit it is a fun concept: being able to geo-position yourself, check-in, insta-tweet where you are, find others there all while competing with your friends to rack up points, earn Mayor-ships, and unlock badges (though I wish someone would tell me how to unlock those darn badges!). And lets not forget - there are some fantastic deals on Foursquare: free food and drink when you show up at your local establishment and show them that you have checked in or are the mayor. You bet I've saved $10 or $20 bucks off the bill! (And you bet it makes me go back.)

But I am much more excited about what I foresee as the event-take on this technology: Floorsquare! The next great innovation for the Tradeshow Business. (And trademarked by BeEvents, right now.)

Think about it - attendees download a customized version of the application for your conference or tradeshow event and are able to check-in at various points throughout the room. As show producers, secret badges, special prizes and unique add-on experiences could be built into the floorplan. Add in and RFID chip and attendees can find one another, connect, and connect with vendors. Why let someone scan your badge or name tag and waiting for a vendor to send you information. Why not let that information be selected by the customer to access when they return home and log into your personalized Floorsquare homepage.

But it is more interesting to think how vendors could have a field-day with the technology as they try to woo and connect with customers - through special offers, badges, rewards, and freebies. At a time when sponsorship in general is old, boring and down, whoever can capitalize on this sort of interactive sponsorship could rake in the funding to cover the cost of implementation and then some.

I am sure there needs to be advances in the ability of mobile devices to geo-locate within a confined space. Then there is the lack in service at most convention centers in the country (they still believe they can charge ridiculously for access/mobile companies have not seen the value in investing in the repeaters necessary for the concrete masses that are most convention centers.) And sure this is an idea most likely rolled-out by some uber-fantastic show like the annual Consumer Electronic Show. But the concept is so simple, easy to adapt, conceptually, easy to understand, and I think would be just a LOT of Fun.

My Next Great Crowdsourcing Experiment

I was sharing dinner the other day with a fantastic colleague and leader in the events and tradeshow industry and we spent the evening discussing a new product venture he is excited to be launching. Without getting too specific in this moment, leave it to say that the subject of the launch is an over-time proven product re-polished and ready to roll-out around the country. The problem is - big surprise - the tight economy is making it nearly impossible to get the funding to get the product on its feet and out the door.

There is little doubt that the downside to the economic slide of 08-09 is a massive constriction of the tunnel of funding accessible by small business entrepreneurs who have a passion for their creations and want to build success. But without the ability to gain cash or credit holds these creative seeds in a semi-permanent germination process, prohibited from growing into vibrant successes, unless discovered by accident or supported by some "angle" investor. Banks have not been a good way for my friend to go (and don't even get me started on credit!) Even for well established companies with demonstrated success, it has surprised me at the apparent lack of innovation, creation, and perfecting of products by suppliers for me to take to clients for events. Unless I pay for custom builds, I am stuck re-renting the same goods again and again... And I (if anyone) is someone who needs to be inspired! (i.e. I custom build a lot!).

The conversation got me thinking. Perhaps this individuals issue lives in the fact that his proposition is not falling on the right ears. As an every-day-increasing-fan of my social media networks and a new experimentor in the proposition of crowdsourcing, it struck me to try a little experiment. What is we posed this "new product in search of investor" to the great masses to try and generator a solution or find the perfect match? Could crowdsourcing be the perfect way to get this product off the ground? Well, I will give it a try.

Granted of course to be successful we have to find first a community (I have some) of correct potential listeners (I have to figure out). But if anything I hope this experiment will teach me more about the power of crowdsourcing and help hone my skills at building a social network of solution drivers!

So here goes:

I have posted this blog and will now tweet it to the world. (hopefully they will retweet it too).

If you are an investor who likes promising new ideas, brands, approaches and products with a proven track record and you have some or any interest in the event or tradeshow business, respond to this post (or email info@beeventsdesign.com) and I will contact you with more information.

OR

If you know someone who likes to invest in promising new ideas, approaches and products related to the event and tradeshow business, pass the message on.

Who knows if I can lend a hand and help my colleague out. I am excited to see if this experiment works - to see how wide a net we might be able to cast in my next great attempt at crowdsourcing. Results of the experiment to hopefully be posted soon.

Are you going to The Spotlight/Catie Awards at the Catersource Show?

It is official: BeEvents has been tapped to design and executive produce the 2010 Spotlight/Catie Awards for the 2010 Event Solutions/Catersource in Las Vegas, March 8, 2010. Beyond an honor, BeEvents is excited to put together an incredible team of sponsors and partners to deliver an awards event which celebrates the work of all of the incredible finalists and showcases new ideas every event professional can use.

Most exciting, this year's event will be hosted at the spectacular new Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Opening Night Party at Eve the Nightclub in the new City Center.

As is the case with events across the country, Social Media will have a role in this year's event. In the coming weeks we will be crowd-sourcing input on various aspects of the event, allowing guests to have their say and contribute to making this years Gala a complete success. The hashtag #escs10 is being used to communicate updates engage participation and announce the winners online all night long!

We need some help! Are you Social Media savvy and attending the conference? If so, we are giving away 4 individual tickets to the 2010 Spotlight Awards Gala/Opening Night Las Vegas party to bloggers, video bloggers and tweeters who will come and help share the event with the greater event community. We will let you in on secrets and get you backstage so you can communicate the scoop to all those following along.

To get your Social Media Pass to the Gala:

1. Email info@beeventsdesign.com with the subject: I wanna blog at the Awards!
- include all the pertinent info: your name, company, email address, blog, twitter handle, and how you would be able to help us spread the word about the event!

2. If you haven't already, make sure you are registered to attend the Event Solutions/Catersource Conference in Las Vegas, March 8-11, 2010.

We are looking for four distinct voices, so only one ticket per company/person. We will contact reach out to our 4 winners with further instructions and distribute your Social Media Pass!

Bubbles on the Surface

My conceptual mind is a tinkering away today. The analogy is not yet right, but the question is firm and good:

Will the "Community" surpass the "Event" as the thing? So that events are simply bubbles on the surface of things?

I was re-reading an article this by @samueljsmith in the e-book Social Media for Events by @ready2spark and two specific points leaped off the page at me:

"Attendees will expect to connect with other delegates before, during, and after the event." & "New Events will emerge from online communities."

I am a strong believer in both of these statements (as well as the other 8 great points Samuel makes in the article) and have for a while been articulating the change in the event atmosphere and the understanding of event design and event education. But today a new thought happened! Forever, I have thought about events as "the event" - it is that which we prepare for, which attendees get excited about. The Event has always been the thing. And communities occurred as a result of the event; that is to say that people would meet at a conference or event and then stay in touch as new contacts in a Rolodex-version-of-community. But with a changing understanding of how adult learning occurs, more and more focus has been placed on conversation before, during and after the event. The explosive growth of Social Media continues to demonstrate that the power of the community to shape dialogue and make change is vast.

So what if the Community is really the thing, and not the event? What happens if we re-envision events as momentarily emergences from the conversations within a community that occur over the course of time. What if we consider first the community and its dialogues as the primary experience and like the warming lava inside lamp, at given periods of time portions of the population become excited and bubble up into gatherings on a certain topic, around a specific discussion, or for a special need of the community. As the accomplish their task, they fall back into the community and the conversation continues.

Perhaps a lava-lamp is not the best visual image here, but it gets at the point. Or maybe it is more like that plasma light I used to love to play with as a kid - lots of particles (=people) flying around inside a defined space (=community) in and amongst low pressure gases which makes them excited and visibly functional (=brand, organization, conversation, interest) and act on the sphere by touching your finger to the outside (=action of putting on an event) you cause some of those electrons to get hyper excited and come together to form potent streams of lights.

ReClaiming (and ReDefining) my job as a Designer

I hate the response:

"What do you do"
"I'm an event designer"
"Oh, so you make parties pretty."

No. I am a Designer. I am not a decorator. Yes, I do create, design and provide decor for events, but that is only one small component of the responsibilities our clients task and trust us with as the designer of their meeting or event.

And yet as an industry and community, we do not necessarily celebrate the role or work of the designer the way we celebrate the decor at an event. So many times we offer awards and print in magazines beautiful pictures of stunning events without ever thinking about or asking how that event came to be; without examining the design process which did (or did not) make that beautiful event successful. And yet it is in the process of the art of design, not in the product of that design that the reality of our contributions lives.

Now note! In NO WAY is this a value judgment about the role of a designer or the work of event decorators. There is not a value judgment to be made. Both are required, but one is much better understood (and exposed) and the other is not. So I am making it my job to change that.

I have been reading the fine blog, The Business of Being Creative by @seanlow for the last eight months and his graceful words have motivated me to put a stake in the ground. Sean discusses the art of the creative business as being something each artist must define for themselves and stick to, as their art is their contribution, their art is their value. And how true. The gift we bring is an understanding of the process of creating an event. We understand the role of strategy and the important need for everyone to conceptualize the purpose of their projects, identify their audience and articulate the message of their brand or organization or of the individual celebrating. Only after this significant thoughtful energy has been spent can one really create a successful event which actually functions to serve a purpose.

It is these purpose-driven events which by design grow brands, change behavior, commemorate the past, the present or the future and create cause for celebration through the articulation of a defined set of values shared in a live, virtual or hybrid experience. It is not that these events are not "pretty" - but they are first purposeful. They are beautiful creations because they know why they exist, not because we put a bunch of beautiful things together. They are events which tell great stories - because that is our art, as true storytellers on the stage of the lived experience.

There will always be pretty events. But we don't make these. Because we are designers. And it is through our design that we make events matter.