When an event winds down, most guests just grab a gift bag and head for the exits. But if you’re not giving people anything (or if you are and want to end an experience on an extra-high note), here are some ways to keep attendees talking the next day.
Standing in a long cab or valet line can be a buzzkill. Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium’s 2008 gala had eight kinds of entertainment throughout the night, including drummers from Rhythm Revolution and fire dancers from Pyrotechniq, who performed for guests waiting for their cars after the event. “This is something we do at Shedd Aquarium on a daily basis—engage guests while they are waiting for something, to make the time go faster and the wait not seem so long,” says Jennifer Baryl, senior director of the institution.
After a long evening (especially with an open bar), a caffeine boost can be a much-needed parting gift. In April, Depeche Mode performed a show in Los Angeles to promote a new W Hollywood property. Event sponsor Coca-Cola handed out bottles of soda to concertgoers on their way out, giving them a pick-me-up for the drive home. And at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association Dinner party in Washington this June, guests got $50 Starbucks gift cards on their way out—after consuming late-night mini breakfast foods like challah French toast and hash browns served in wooden cones by Occasions Caterers.
For an open house at Chicago’s Gallery 1028, Katie Hall, the gallery’s venue manager and a producer for XA Scenes, a division of XA, the Experiential Agency, played up the space’s urban, industrial feel with hip-hop music and live graffiti art. Instead of passing out folders or gift bags stuffed with venue information at the end of the event, XA Scenes had valet staff attach small cards to guests’ key chains with “thank you” written in graffiti, and practical details for the space listed on the flip side.
Ideally, end-of-night surprises should keep guests moving toward the door. At the Women in Film’s Crystal and Lucy Awards in Los Angeles in June, design and production company Caravents positioned tables of cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop near the exits, giving attendees a reason to leave. “What would have been a stampede to the gift bag station, with hundreds rushing at the volunteers at once, ended up being a breeze, because when the ballroom doors opened, the guests were greeted by mountains of beautiful cupcakes,” says Gayle Nachlis, Women in Film’s executive director. Some of the treats were in to-go boxes, and others were piled on cake stands, giving guests the option to eat dessert in the valet line or save it for later.
A fireworks display is a traditional grand finale. To give this approach a new and cost-effective edge, New York’s Levy Lighting projected exploding fireworks on the walls of a private event in May as a cue to mark the end of the night.
