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Trends & Ideas

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Diffa's 10 Most-Steal-Able Ideas

Diffa to Bring Tabletop Design Fund-Raiser to L.A. This Fall

Diffa Showcases Big Tabletop Designs in Smaller Venue

Diffa's Place Settings That Popped

Diffa's Color Trend: Yellow

Diffa's Sparkling Chandeliers

Diffa's Paint Swatch Decor
 

DECOR AND RENTAL IDEAS

8 Fashion-Forward Plaid Table Linens

A New Take on Fancy Draping

An Iconic Modern Chair, Now for Rent

Gnome-Shaped Stools—or Tables

10 Fancy Forks

10 Innovative Lighting Ideas

New Illuminated Gaming Tables

6 Sleek Cocktail Tables
 

FOOD AND DRINK IDEAS

New Alternatives to Mini Burgers

An Attention-Grabbing Cupcake Server

Afternoon Delights: 5 Springtime Lunch Entrees

Sandwich Box Opens Uptown Location

The Latest Place to Find Gifts for Chocolate Lovers

What Are Some Creative Cocktails for Non-Drinkers?
 

GIFT IDEAS

7 Noteworthy Pad-and-Pen Sets for Meetings

A Gift to Motivate Staffers

Eco-Friendly Gift Bags

An Antioxidant-Packed Gift for Tea Lovers

Planners' Picks From the New York International Gift Fair

Travel-Friendly Gift Ideas
 
 

THE SCOUT

   05.14.08 9:30 AM

How to Entertain Interns and Associates This Summer
Yang Zhenzhong's
Yang Zhenzhong's "Light and Easy II" video work
Photo: Courtesy of Yang Zhenzhong and Shangart Gallery
A Day at the Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum's “Shanghai Kaleidoscope” exhibition showcases the culture, architecture, contemporary art, and fashion of the Chinese metropolis. Guests can experience paintings, runway videos, architectural models, and digital simulations. Guided tours are available for a minimum of 10, with rates based on a fee of $20 per person. The museum’s corporate packages include group menus at C5, the new fine-dining spot in the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.

A Waterside Retreat
The newly renovated Atlantis Pavilions—which formerly housed two restaurants, a nightclub, and an event space—now features four new ballrooms with chocolate-brown and gold decor; its floor-to-ceiling windows offer panoramic views of the skyline. Groups of 150 can fill the Skyline Room for a private dinner, or for as many as 500, there is the Metropolitan Ballroom, where guests can enjoy cocktails on a private mezzanine. Executive chef David Copperthwaite offers several corporate packages with set menus for breakfast and lunch meetings, cocktail receptions, and seated dinners. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Entertaining Summer Associates

ASK BIZBASH

   05.12.08 11:05 AM

How Do You Ensure That Staffers Treat Guests Well?
Waiters from Great Performances
Waiters from Great Performances
Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
An event could have exquisite flowers, food prepared by a world-famous chef, and Oscar-presenter-worthy gift bags, but if a check-in person is less than friendly or the caterwaiters are standing around chatting, that’s what guests will remember. So how do you make sure service is up to par when there are so many people performing so many different tasks?

Gregory Boroff, senior vice president of external relations for the Food Bank for New York City, says a thorough interview process for volunteers is a big part of how the nonprofit keeps its quality of service (and proceeds from events) high. “We don’t send out mass emails asking who would like to volunteer for an event. Everyone is hand-picked. When people say they want to volunteer, we meet them first to see if it’s a good fit between the person and the organization,” he says. “We make sure they are friendly, that they understand what our organization is about and what we try to accomplish. Are they are there to help [us], or to further a personal agenda?” While many volunteers want to work the celebrity-studded Can-Do Awards dinner, Boroff says those jobs are often reserved for people who have proven themselves in other positions, like working in the office, or at another event. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Food Bank for New York City, Grammys, Luminato

THE SCOUT

   05.09.08 11:32 AM

An Affordable Source for Invitations
An array of Fabulous Stationery's offerings
An array of Fabulous Stationery's offerings
Photo: Courtesy of Fabulous Stationery
For stylish thank-you notes or invites on a budget, Fabulous Stationery has a wide range of cards that can be personalized. The Philadelphia-based company, owned by three advertising-agency veterans, offers more than 300 designs, including Pop Art prints, masculine stripes, and organic shapes. For bulk orders of 10 or more sets of 25 cards and envelopes, the designers can tailor both the text and the look of the cards and add a company logo. Corporate clients include Marie Claire and the Hyatt Regency Boston. Individual sets range from $35 to $55; bulk orders receive 15 percent off. The company ships worldwide.   —Lisa Cericola

THE SCOUT

   05.07.08 9:15 AM

Getting Guests on Film—and an Event on YouTube
A movie in the making
A movie in the making
Photo: BizBash
Toronto-based event management firm Event Marrin is offering a new take on interactive events—and it doubles as a viral marketing tool. The concept, called a Movie in the Making (M.I.T.M.), incorporates the shooting of a short film into an event's proceedings. A product launch might include the new offering in a '50s-style comedy, for example.

Marrin consults with clients to create a script and sends professional actors, a director, and a producer to the event. Guests receive their lines as they arrive (or they can choose not to appear on film—Marrin with alter the script depending on the number of interested participants). The movie is shot throughout the course of the event, and within three days, a copy of the final cut is emailed to everyone who attended. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Building Buzz With Online Videos

THE SCOUT

   05.05.08 10:20 AM

Evening Corporate Picnics on the Rise
The Toronto Botanical Garden is experiencing a rise in evening company outings.
The Toronto Botanical Garden is experiencing a rise in evening company outings.
Photo: Henry Lin
To most people's minds, the summer company outing involves a barbecue of some sort, perhaps a friendly game of softball between colleagues, and—with any luck—a sunny day. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, picture an early-evening outdoor cocktail hour followed by dinner on a weekday in August, or a family picnic that kicks off at 5 p.m. on a summer Saturday. More and more companies are hosting their annual staff get-togethers during evening hours.

“Summer 2006 was the first time we tried an evening picnic, and I have to say it turned out better than imagined,” says Stacey J. Milch, senior human resources coordinator in the Chicago office of engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti. “You’re not in the heat of high noon. It’s the perfect time.” That year’s location was the University of Illinois’s Chicago campus; the event was produced by Windy City Fieldhouse, a teambuilding and entertainment company. “Our employees loved it so much that they insisted we do it again this past summer, even though we usually don’t do the same thing two years in a row.” READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Corporate Summer Picnics, Thornton Tomasetti, Combe Incorporated, Alcon Laboratories, Publicis

THE SCOUT

   05.01.08 1:35 AM

Brooklyn Design Firm Takes a Hands-On Approach to Invitations
A custom invitation by Melangerie Inc.
A custom invitation by Melangerie Inc.
Photo: Courtesy of Melangerie Inc.
FROM NEW YORK Brooklyn-based graphic design firm Mélangerie Inc. offers a wide range of services for events, including decor, invites, and favors. Since opening their business last October, co-owners (and School of Visual Arts alums) Elana Dweck and Julie Tinker have worked on private and corporate projects including a Marie Antoinette-themed table with Chestnuts in the Tuileries for the recent Horticultural Society of New York gala and a three-dimensional invitation for an event at Nike’s 2008 Women in Sports Media summit in Los Angeles. Although the designers tailor the look of each project to fit their clients' needs, Dweck describes their aesthetic as “whimsical yet refined.” The team does most of its work in house, by hand, but offers design consultation for events throughout the U.S. and Canada and ships its paper goods and favors.   —Lisa Cericola


RELATED TOPICS Nike

INFLUENCES

   04.30.08 9:40 AM

Photo Festival Features Italian Architecture, Toronto Streets
A shot from
A shot from "Memory Is an Ancient City"
Photo: Courtesy of Jason T. Ramsay
The annual Contact Toronto Photography Festival starts tomorrow, with more than 500 artists showing their work across the city under the umbrella theme of "Between Memory and History." Reading the exhibition guide can be overwhelming—Contact is dubbed the largest photography event in the world—but there's some comfort knowing the festival runs through the whole month of May. It's also a great opportunity to check out venues, because along with galleries, exhibitions are shown at cafés, bars, stores, museums, and hotels across the city.

Lynn Huntley Wyczolkowski's photos in "Fragrance" (curated by Monica Vaes) are a series of brightly coloured, close-up floral compositions that use natural light and are meant to evoke a multisensory experience. Jason Ramsay's "Memory Is an Ancient City" exhibition can be viewed with cappuccino in hand at B Espresso Bar and features photos of Venice that explore and question the nature of memory. READ MORE

THE SCOUT

   04.28.08 9:50 AM

8 Fashion-Forward Plaid Table Linens
Around the Table's Burberry-style fuschia pattern
Around the Table's Burberry-style fuschia pattern
Photo: BizBash
Plaid was popular with designers Alexandre Herchcovitz, Peter Som, and Diane von Furstenberg (and a slew of others) during New York Fashion Week in February. Here's a sampling of table linens with the gridlike motif.   —Mark Mavrigian

FRESH FACE

   04.23.08 9:50 AM

New Firm Turns Dancers Into Event Staffers
Icing recruits dancers to be event staffers.
Icing recruits dancers to be event staffers.
Photo: Craig Boyko Photography
Camera Ready: After traveling the country to interview musicians and report on events as a producer and host at Country Music Television, Tiffany Richardson found she was spending more time on the road than at home. When her contract ended, she decided it was time for a change and plunged into her own business: an event staffing company called Icing, which she launched in September. “There seemed to be a hole in the market, and over the years I’d been in contact with many beautiful, talented women,” she says. “So I thought, Why not use them to better a product or an event?”

Big Break: Richardson’s role as the coordinator of the Toronto Rock dance team—a group she joined in her second year of university—led to a call from the organizers of November’s Grey Cup and, consequently, a big gig for her new company. “It was the first time the Canadian Football League hired hospitality teams [for the tournament], and for us to work an event that size was unbelievable,” she says. “All things considered, it went really well.” Richardson’s 85 staff members helped rev up the crowd, acted as hostesses at the bar, and danced on the field during Lenny Kravitz’s halftime performance. READ MORE

THE SCOUT

   04.23.08 9:25 AM

A New Personalized Take on a Classic Notebook
Engrave Your Book's embellished Moleskine notebooks
Engrave Your Book's embellished Moleskine notebooks
Photo: Courtesy of Engrave Your Book
Lightweight Moleskine notebooks are classic choices for jotting down notes or sketching on the go. Making them even more gift-worthy, they can now be customized by Engrave Your Book. Designer Joe Mansfield uses a laser to engrave the book covers and spines with a photograph, company logo, employee name, or original art by himself or other artists. Each pocket-size book costs $20, and the larger notebook costs $32; customization is $5 extra for the spine of the book and $5 for custom images. Bulk discounts are available. The company ships internationally, and completion time ranges from five days to three weeks, depending on the order size.   —Lourdes Branch
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