As the event industry embraces the growing trend of personalized experiences, guests increasingly have a new role at events: as chefs and mixologists creating their own food and cocktails. The activity serves as a way for attendees to customize their own experience in consideration of food allergies, dietary restrictions, and taste preferences, and also allows for meaningful and extended brand engagement and interaction. Here's a look at ideas from events hosted by Samsung, Captain Morgan, PatrĂłn, and others, where guests made their own meals or drinks.
At the long-term pop-up Samsung Studio L.A., hosts Bill and Giuliana Rancic partnered with Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron to lead guests through a cooking experience. The chef used Samsung appliances in the pop-up kitchen for the cooking demo, and attendees followed along using appliances at their own long tables arranged classroom-style.
Photo: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Samsung
As guests arrived at Samsung's event, they borrowed Galaxy S6 devices for the evening, which they could use to capture photos of themselves in action. Then staff prepared and sent guests home with customized cookbooks using snaps from their experience on the same night and featuring the recipes they helped make.
Photo: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Samsung
![Spirits brand Patrón has held dozens of interactive cocktail events around the country, including mojito and margarita making. “A lot of my events are not my own, so I have to come alive [as a sponsor] in someone else’s event. So how do I get people talking about my brand?” said Patrón planner Pam Dzierzanowski. She said these experiential programs are the answer: “I’ve done these all over the country for years. People will stand in line for 45 minutes—I’ve never seen anything like it.'](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2015/07/muddle_bar.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Spirits brand Patrón has held dozens of interactive cocktail events around the country, including mojito and margarita making. “A lot of my events are not my own, so I have to come alive [as a sponsor] in someone else’s event. So how do I get people talking about my brand?” said Patrón planner Pam Dzierzanowski. She said these experiential programs are the answer: “I’ve done these all over the country for years. People will stand in line for 45 minutes—I’ve never seen anything like it."
Photo: Courtesy of Patron
Among the components of PatrĂłn's cocktail-making experiences is a personalized takeaway of a muddler, juice squeezer, or other bar tool guests used to make their drinks at the event.
Photo: Courtesy of Patron
To kick off the summer season right before Memorial Day weekend this year, Captain Morgan hosted an event in Los Angeles where guests formed three teams for a mixology competition using an array of available ingredients as well as the brand's spirits.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
At the Captain Morgan event, the three teams each got a name that corresponded with a flavor of the brand's spirits: grapefruit, coconut, or pineapple. Corresponding fruits held flowers at each team's table.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
For a back-to-school event in New York last year, Pottery Barn brought in a professional chef to lead attendees in making healthy brown-bag-style lunches.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
At the Pottery Barn event, guests assembled their own sandwiches on the spot using various popular ingredients to suit their personal tastes.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
The format at the Barilla Interactive Dinner at this year’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival included a chef demonstration on how to make various dishes, while guests followed along at their tables.
Photo: Dylan Rives/Getty Images For SBWFF
Using electric appliances, guests in logo chef hats participated in the Barilla cooking experience.
Photo: Dylan Rives/Getty Images For SBWFF
Last February in Toronto, Giada de Laurentiis and five Canadian chefs lead teams through a three-course cook-off for the fourth annual Chef’s Challenge: the Ultimate Battle for a Cure, which raises money for cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital. In order to cook alongside the pros, participants registered online and collected donations in the months leading up to the event.
Photo: Nick Lee/BestOfToronto.net
Attendees in the audience were not left out of the cooking challenge: They could also participate in a competition such as a doughnut-decorating battle.
Photo: Nick Lee/BestOfToronto.net
The winning team left with a whimsical trophy decorated appropriately with cooking utensils.
Photo: Nick Lee/BestOfToronto.net
