Each year, the Stadium Managers Association (SMA) hosts a four-day conference for the stadium managers of college, minor league, and professional venues across the country. For this year's big event, Bruce Schulze, treasurer for SMA, chose Dolphins Stadium for a tropical extravaganza with a nostalgic twist.
Guests walked through a long corridor complete with red carpet, fog, and strobe lights, and onto the playing field. Eric Meeks from the Boston Culinary Group, the stadium's in-house caterer, hired Hollie Altman from Engaging Events & Educational Activities to transform the field for the event with tables, bars, a perimeter of food stations, and even a beach hut to go along with the theme.
Tables and chairs were dressed in white spandex, and each table was topped with a simple palm tree centerpiece made from canvas by the Canvas Nursery. Lit from underneath, the tables and chairs glowed in different colors once day turned to night.
The Boston Culinary Group provided both the bar and the food, which was plentiful. Since the event took place on the same date the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 41 years ago, the caterer incorporated a little blast from the past into the presentation: male caterwaiters and bartenders donned shaggy wigs reminiscent of the haircuts worn by the Fab Four.
The food stations offered jumbo shrimp, crab claws, grilled lobster tails, and sushi rolls. Chefs sautéed fresh ingredients to create on-the-spot favorites like pasta and crepes. Even the beach hut created by Prager Productions, complete with sand and a bonfire, was used as more than decor—it held a buffet of cheeses, meats, and chips and salsa, and also a roasted pig carving station.
Guests mingled with Carmen Miranda, Ernest Hemingway, and Fidel Castro look-alikes. But at 8 PM the main attraction hit the stage. The event turned retro with a re-creation of the Beatles' history-making television performance. Actual clips of the show were shown on the stadium's enormous television screens before 1964 the Tribute, a Beatles tribute band called "the best Beatles tribute show on earth" by Rolling Stone, took the stage and performed classic tunes for two hours.
—Vanessa Goyanes
Guests walked through a long corridor complete with red carpet, fog, and strobe lights, and onto the playing field. Eric Meeks from the Boston Culinary Group, the stadium's in-house caterer, hired Hollie Altman from Engaging Events & Educational Activities to transform the field for the event with tables, bars, a perimeter of food stations, and even a beach hut to go along with the theme.
Tables and chairs were dressed in white spandex, and each table was topped with a simple palm tree centerpiece made from canvas by the Canvas Nursery. Lit from underneath, the tables and chairs glowed in different colors once day turned to night.
The Boston Culinary Group provided both the bar and the food, which was plentiful. Since the event took place on the same date the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 41 years ago, the caterer incorporated a little blast from the past into the presentation: male caterwaiters and bartenders donned shaggy wigs reminiscent of the haircuts worn by the Fab Four.
The food stations offered jumbo shrimp, crab claws, grilled lobster tails, and sushi rolls. Chefs sautéed fresh ingredients to create on-the-spot favorites like pasta and crepes. Even the beach hut created by Prager Productions, complete with sand and a bonfire, was used as more than decor—it held a buffet of cheeses, meats, and chips and salsa, and also a roasted pig carving station.
Guests mingled with Carmen Miranda, Ernest Hemingway, and Fidel Castro look-alikes. But at 8 PM the main attraction hit the stage. The event turned retro with a re-creation of the Beatles' history-making television performance. Actual clips of the show were shown on the stadium's enormous television screens before 1964 the Tribute, a Beatles tribute band called "the best Beatles tribute show on earth" by Rolling Stone, took the stage and performed classic tunes for two hours.
—Vanessa Goyanes