Launching this fall, the Hilton New Orleans Riverside will be offering hands-on mixology classes in Public Belt, the speakeasy-style piano lounge on the hotel’s second floor. The crash course begins with a cocktail history lesson, followed by an interactive demonstration of the city’s signature drink: the old-fashioned. Participants receive recipe cards and a Public Belt T-shirt. The fee is based on group size, with a maximum of 20 meeting attendees. And across the Mississippi at Whiskey and Rye at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel in Texas, groups learn how to make a local favorite: the Depot. The cocktail is served with Texas whiskey, muddled blackberries, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, and sugar.
On Wednesday, DoubleDutch released four updates to its Live Engagement Platform. The new features are intended to help planners use content more effectively to improve the attendee experience. The new capabilities include an option for planners to personalize in-app content and its visibility to specific subsets of attendees. The revenue manager makes it easy for planners capture new revenue streams by offering exhibitors and sponsors a way to distribute content, promote live meetings, and maximize ROI. There’s also a feature to help attendees navigate complex agendas and identify topics of interest.
Interact is a feature that launched on Wednesday in all Guidebook app paid plans. Interact allows attendees, sponsors, and planners to connect using Facebook-like social engagement strategies. Users can tag people, tag sessions, and track likes and comments. Each session has a dedicated discussion tab so attendees can share their thoughts on speakers and topics. Sponsor posts, which can include images or links, are integrated into the feed to maximize sponsors’ visibility. Planners can also use the system to track attendee feedback and to provide updates to everyone or to individual attendees.
In early August, Tactify launched a new option for cloud-based interaction at events. Tappcards are like credit cards that come pre-programmed with content, such as a direct link to download an event app, exhibitor information, digital brochures, PDFs, and more. Users access the content by either tapping the card to an NFC-enabled phone, scanning the QR code on the card, or typing in a short URL. Planners can create a custom design on the card to reflect their event’s brand, and they have access to an online dashboard to track interactions and change content instantly.
Meshfire uses artificial intelligence to help planners find influencers, conversations, and marketing opportunities around their events. Users create a set of goals known as a mission, tied to a Twitter handle. Meshfire filters conversations and prioritizes them in a task board. It can also create smart lists to add people automatically based on keywords. In late July, the company launched a mobile app so users can work on task boards and get alerts on the go.
EventGeek is a new system to plan events and to track their success at driving sales, site traffic, social mentions, and more. Planners can use EventGeek to track everything related to event marketing in one place: budgets, expenses, itineraries, venues, guests, and sales. It’s integrated with other tools, such as Salesforce, Twitter, and Google Analytics, to make it easier for hosts to understand outcomes. The system also has a schedule feature that allows planners to put together a minute-by-minute agenda that can be printed, shared with a link, or sent to someone else’s calendar.
Rendezville is an app that launched in April, targeted to small-to-medium-size festivals, conferences, and events. The system operates as a Web app, meaning users don’t have to download it to their phones. Instead, they choose “add to home screen” and a link to the app will reside there. Planners can customize the look of the app so it matches their events. Content can include schedules, maps, bios, photos, and links to SoundCloud, YouTube, and social media. Organizers can test the interface for free, and only pay if they decide to publish.
The 10-camera Array from StudioBooth captures one moment from multiple angles to create dynamic 3-D gifs. It’s easy to set up and fits in a 10- by 10-foot space. The gifs can be shared immediately on social networks and via email.
Kiehl’s teamed up with Brooklyn-based artist, product designer, and animator Jeremyville for its new holiday gift sets ($30). The festive packages feature classic products from the beauty brand, including cleanser, facial cream, hand salve, and lip balm. Kiehl’s can also create custom gift sets with mix-and-match items (with a minimum of two and a maximum of five products).
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey-based entertainment provider Bounce Music and Entertainment recently debuted “The Coolest Most Amazing New York Candy Table in the Whole Word!” The custom New York City-theme tablescape features eight branding opportunities on the subway tiles, in addition to interactive branding or animation on the screens in mini Times Square. An attendant is also available to hand out customized candy bags to guests.
Inspired by the fashion magazine’s futuristic light tunnel-style photo booth at the Met Gala, which was held in May in New York, Coco Events allows guests to strike a pose and rock out to music during their photo session. The booth is approximately 8 feet deep and 6 feet wide, and rents for as many as five hours for $2,500. Guests receive a print and video via email.
Using a special polish and printing process, Nail Printing Events creates custom nail art, including emojis, logos, and even selfies. The designs are printed directly onto guests’ nails and can be removed with nail polish remover.
Franco Vitella Catered Affairs served up “dragon’s breath” popcorn made with liquid nitrogen. Flavored popcorn is tossed with and frozen by liquid nitrogen and then when the ice-cold popcorn is warmed up (thanks to body heat), clouds of cold air are released through guests’ mouth and nose.
This multi-camera photo experience from Pixperience surrounds guests, taking photos from 360-degree angles simultaneously and stitching them together to make the moment appear to rotate in space. Guests can share the image on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The setup can also be fully customized to match an event’s branding and theme.
Selffee’s technology uses edible food coloring to print directly onto coffee, cold drinks, cupcakes, cookies, and more. After guests take a selfie, their high-quality image is printed on the treat and is available to eat almost immediately. Selffee is available in the New York City area for social or corporate events.
Mixologist Jason Kindness offers boozy teambuilding activities such as Mixology 101, in which teams create an original cocktail in 10 minutes and then present it to judges. In addition, his Newport, Rhode Island-based company also provides cocktail-making lessons for groups, as well as serving private events. Plus, the Kind Spirits offers cocktail consulting services to venues.
In addition to professional bartending services, New York-based cocktail caterer Bar Club also provides a handcrafted mobile bar that’s customizable to any space and is available for rent alone or with accompanying staff.
