Ideas

When using tables in a silent auction layout, planners often face the challenge of how to use them after the items are cleared away. Windows Catering turned the tables to dessert buffets throughout the room within 15 minutes of the auction closing.

A picnic combines an alternative to traditional meal service with a networking activity. And when held indoors, a picnic can take place year-round. Organizers of the TED Conference, which was held in Vancouver in February, provided blankets and baskets filled with food for six people and invited attendees to find others to share it inside the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Relate is a new conference series from software company Zendesk that is focused on exploring relationships and customer service. To tie to that theme, organizers offered a thank-you note station at the May event in San Francisco. The company’s in-house creative team designed witty cards and invited attendees to personalize them with a hand-written note expressing their appreciation to their colleagues. More than 300 cards were stamped and then mailed by Zendesk staff, and attendees took home an additional 1,000 cards and envelopes.

For the Whitney Museum of American Art’s final gala in the historic Breuer Building in 2014, dining room decor included hanging paper lanterns with the names of honorees.