CAALA

In early April, attendees were sent a pre-arrival package that included a welcome note and a metal luggage tag.

At the hotel, the registration area was set up to resemble a boutique, displaying the items included in the welcome totes on shelves. “At the previous Engage! conference, we found out that some people didn’t open their welcome bag until they got home, but it included a lot of items meant to be used at the conference,” says Arak-Kanofsky. “So we wanted to make sure people knew what was inside. The merchandise walls created by Bob Gail Special Events allowed guests to see what they were getting.”

After picking up their totes, attendees headed to an area to be assigned their groups for the lunch roundtable and dinner dine-around. They selected a poker chip at random; each chip was printed with the name of one of the dinner locations.

Continuing with the gambling theme, guests also selected a playing card (designed by Tricia Hay) that revealed the number of the table at which they’d be seated for the luncheon and which speaker would be hosting the table. “Like at any meeting, people tend to want to stick with who they know,” says Rebecca Grinalls. “So doing a blind pull like this helps create organic opportunities for networking with new people without making it feel forced.”

Guests received a minibar kit that included recipes for three cocktails and the ingredients needed to make them, like Red Bull, Goldschlager, and candy drink stirrers.

The welcome totes also included a trifold vanity kit. Each day of the conference had its own corresponding pouch of items. The “Get Ready” section included bath salts, an aromatherapy candle, and a box of matches. The “Engage” pouch had a tube of mints, lip balm, and massage cream. The “Glow” pouch featured items intended for use at the gala event, like nail polish, a mirror, and a portable kit with Band-Aids, blotting papers, and fashion tape.

At the end of the first night’s poolside welcome party, everyone was given a “Hydrate and Chill” kit designed to help them beat the Vegas heat. The package included a fan, a water mister, a bottle of sleep-inducing Dream Water, and an insulated cup.

In the presentation room, each seat held a “Bento Box” of items intended to optimize their experience.

The boxes included pencils, sticky notes, a journal, mints and candy, and “Thinking Putty," a Silly Putty-like product to keep guests’ hands engaged. “We wanted to make all of the gifts as lightweight as possible so that people would be able to take them home in their luggage,” says Susan Arak-Turnock. To that end, the boxes were made from thick paper board.

Flexible branded paper cubes served as easy decor throughout the conference. Custom USB cards included event information as well as all 250 attendees’ contact information, which avoided the need to pass out business cards.

Name badges doubled as an icebreaker: the number of crystal charms on the tag identified how many times the badge-wearer had attended an Engage! conference. Veteran attendees had nine balls, while first-timers had only one.

Kristy Rice of Momental Designs created programs featuring watercolor illustrations detailing the conference's various events.

On the last evening, an “After Glow” kit was placed on guests’ pillows during turndown service. The pouch included a gel eye mask, a foot soak, and a box of hangover remedies like Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, eye drops, and ear plugs.

After the conference, Engaging Concepts sent every attendee a thank-you gift of fortune cookies; the fortunes inside were printed with quotes from conference speakers.

There was also a post-conference Twitter contest that asked guests to write a haiku that summed up their experience at Engage!12. Winners received a “Withdrawal Kit” that included detox drinks, candies, and a countdown calendar to the next conference. (The lid of the container was printed with the winning tweets.)