“Another event idea that I really loved came from the inaugural Teen Vogue Summit. In an effort to make the content available to a wide range of people, the brand hosted a series of meet-ups in various cities, leading up to the summit in Los Angeles this past weekend. Upon entering the meet-ups, attendees were encouraged to 'grab a card, start a conversation' as an icebreaker. Questions included 'What would you do if you were not afraid?' and 'How do you practice self-acceptance in your life?' It was just a simple reminder of the power—and importance—of face-to-face events, and really helped set the tone for the events’ introspective and activism-focused vibe.” —Claire Hoffman, west coast bureau chief
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories
The Snow Cap cocktail kit, $122, from artisanal food purveyor Mouth includes three bottles of booze—Amaro delle Sirene, Alander spiced rum, and King’s County chocolate whiskey—along with recipes to mix up spiked coffee drinks.
Photo: Courtesy of Mouth
PBteen created comfortable seating vignettes for themed conversations and mentoring sessions. Areas were dubbed "Innovator Lounge," "Activist Lounge," "Woke Lounge," and more.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories
On-theme buttons were also available at several places throughout the event, providing a fun—and social-media-friendly—keepsake of the day.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories
2. Create productive and energizing meeting breaks.
Use session breaks to energize and refresh guests with options such as Wolfgang Puck Catering's spa-water hydration station. Fresh fruit and herbs can be added to water, and combinations include orange, mint, and lemon for an immunity boost; blueberry, apple, and raspberry for an antioxidant boost; and cinnamon and strawberry for a metabolism boost.
Photo: Jessica Lynne Photography for Wolfgang Puck Catering
Wolfgang Puck Catering also offers a variety of energizing snack options with brain-boosting foods such as almonds, walnuts, and flax seeds. Options include a customizable trail-mix bar, a build-your-own parfait bar, and a build-your-own oatmeal bar (pictured).
Photo: Jessica Lynne Photography for Wolfgang Puck Catering
At the ASU GSV Summit, held in Salt Lake City in May, the main stage had an interesting three-dimensional design. Pieces of vinyl-wrapped foam hung from the ceiling and were mounted to the flat vinyl backdrop to give it the effect. AgencyEA designed and produced the event.
Photo: Courtesy of AgencyEA
Adventure Associates' “GeoTrek” activity is based on the recreational sport of geocaching—using GPS devices to locate containers, known as “caches.” The company has courses in 75 locations around the country, including one at Walt Disney World that requires participants to use the monorail, boats, and walking between resorts to locate each cache. Organizers provide a brief lesson on how to use GPS, and then teams of about four people each choose which caches they will attempt to locate based on point values, distances, and strategy. When teams reconvene, the company’s facilitators can lead participants in a discussion of what they learned followed by a tallying of each team’s scores.
Photo: Courtesy of Adventure Associates
Add a bit of Hollywood to a teambuilding event with TeamBonding's Make-A-Movie experience. The company’s facilitators begin the event with a short skit and then challenge each team of employees to make their own movie around a specific theme. TeamBonding provides digital video cameras and all editing services. The groups reconvene to screen each of the movies and vote on categories such as best actor and best director. The organizer also receives a DVD with all of the movies on it.
Photo: Courtesy of TeamBonding
Smartphone cameras drive the fun in Corporate Games Team Building's Paparazzi game. Organizers divide participants into groups of about eight people each and give them a list of photographs and a bag of costumes and props. Teams then have a set amount of time to travel around a venue or within a designated part of the city, to capture as many of the photos as possible. Examples include a photo of team members posing as celebrities dining alfresco or a photo of team members hosting a cooking show. Organizers score the photos as they come in and put them into a slide show which can be viewed by everyone at the end of the event.
Photo: Courtesy of Corporate Games Team Building
Classic game shows get a new twist in Wildly Different's iPlay event. The company provides iPads that teams use to complete challenges modeled after traditional game show activities. In “Survey Says,” participants must rank the answers provided from most popular to least popular in categories such as “top-selling candy bars” and “favorite pastimes.” In “What’s the Tune,” players hear snippets of music and must name the song or artist. The iPads automatically tally each team’s points, and at the end members of the winning team join the M.C. on stage to receive their awards.
Photo: Courtesy of Wildly Different
In Corporate Games Team Building's Amazing Journey activity, teams must decipher clues using their smartphones and complete physical and mental challenges provided by facilitators stationed in various locations. Each completed task helps team members figure out the 10 cities in the world that comprise their “race route,” and the first team to complete the route wins. The event can take place anywhere, inside a hotel or conference center or around a few city blocks, and the clues can be customized to align with an event’s theme or goals.
Photo: Courtesy of Corporate Games Team Building
In the Spy Game, from the Go Game, participants work in teams to complete a series of activities and solve clues provided via smartphone, all based on the premise that someone from their company has been kidnapped and they need to solve the crime. Missions may include having to spell a word without writing, creating videos, and engaging with actors they may encounter throughout the designated course. Each game takes about two hours and combines some high-tech activities with more campy elements such as disguises and cracking codes.
Photo: Courtesy of the Go Game
Cocktail Courier offers cocktail kits stocked with all the ingredients necessary to prepare mixologist-designed drink recipes. Optional add-ons include mint julep silver cups or champagne flutes. Each box—which can be delivered to hotels or offices—makes several cocktails, and prices typically range from $5.99 to $7.99 per drink. The packages are available in New York and Chicago and in other states through interstate delivery.
Photo: Jeff Schear
The design-your-own party mix Snack Trough station from Creative Edge Parties allows eventgoers to grab a bag and fill it with sweet and savory goodies, including spiced almonds, Turkish apricots, sesame sticks, dark chocolate bites, banana chips, caramel popcorn, candied ginger, mini grahams, and more. Pricing for the station varies depending on the size of the event, the variety of the menu, and the length of the event.
Photo: Courtesy of Creative Edge Parties
The Pavilion served as a networking hub and site for mini-seminars such as Millennial Mimosas, Females Entrepreneur Meetup, Makers’ Bazaar, Bookkeeping Buds, and more.
Photo: Clint Brewer
The greenery-filled Park was another space for attendees to meet. Design details such as swingset-like seats at a table added a playful touch.
Photo: Clint Brewer
A social-media wall aggregated conversations with the conference hashtag #QBConnect.
Photo: Clint Brewer
The event, which took place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, set the tone at the entrance.
Photo: Clint Brewer
In addition to traditional seating, the main space offered couches and oversize chairs.
Photo: Clint Brewer
Crowd-sourced content collected via a hashtag was used in a mural in the conference space.
Photo: Clint Brewer
Attendees were offered complimentary rides in pedicabs that featured conference branding.
Photo: Clint Brewer
Attendees took part in a virtual-reality demo at the Emerging Tech Showcase.
Photo: Clint Brewer
Beachside BBQ
Operation BBQ Relief served cherrywood-smoked pork belly burnt end sliders with artisan red slaw on Martin’s Potato Rolls at the Beachside BBQ.
Photo: Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com
Grand Tasting
Dewar’s Whisky Emporium incorporated games like chicken bingo to engage guests at the Grand Tasting.
Photo: Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com
Illustration: Carolyn Bouchard for BizBash
The Frost Museum of Science’s Big Bang: Sonic Odyssey
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami hosted nearly 900 guests at its fund-raiser, the Big Bang: Sonic Odyssey, in January. At the end of the evening, the dance floor lit up with a performance by DJ Irie and LED robots provided by Light Up The Night.
Photo: Julian Castro
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.
Photo: Readyluck
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.”
Photo: Readyluck
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.
Photo: Readyluck
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.
Photo: Courtesy of Gifts for the Good Life
In the presentation room, each seat held a “Bento Box” of items intended to optimize their experience.
Photo: Readyluck
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.
Photo: Readyluck
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.
Photo: Readyluck
Crafthouse Cocktails offers pre-batched cocktails, $19.95, in recyclable bottles. The mixologist-created drinks come in flavors such as Moscow Mule; they’re also gluten-free and made with natural ingredients.
Photo: Eric Kleinberg Photography
Attendees who signed up to participate in the conference’s pub crawl were assigned to numbered groups that visited a variety of bars on the opening night. The pub crawl activity is a tradition that began at Web Summit in Dublin.
Photo: Courtesy of Collision
Organizers mounted signs outside each of the venues participating in Collision's opening night pub crawl to help participants find their way.
Photo: Courtesy of Collision
One of three stage areas—dubbed Hustle Hall—was designed as a theater in the round, allowing guests to get closer to the speakers. In the front row were couches and lounge chairs. "It’s really inviting; people wanted to hang out there for hours," said Balestrieri.
Photo: Ben Draper
The main speaker area—a.k.a. the Baller Room—had a colorful stage designed with architectural elements. As the only room to hold all 850 attendees, organizers added several video screens so everyone had a good view.
Photo: Chris Swoszowski
One of the video booths was built around a new lipstick called “Lady Business.” Guests sat at a desk and faced a mirror to record their stories, which were then shared on social media.
Photo: Chris Swoszowski
Vulture Festival
The fifth edition of New York magazine’s pop culture festival took place May 18-19 at Milk Studios. A retro-inspired lounge, which was designed in house, featured a Lite Brite-style sign that spelled out “Vulture.”
Photo: Ian Zelaya/BizBash
1. Break the ice.
One of the primary functions of a name badge is to increase conversations and networking. For the ninth iteration of the Engage! luxury-wedding business summit, held in Las Vegas in 2012, name badges served 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 one.
Photo: Readyluck
For the inaugural Teen Vogue Summit, held in Los Angeles in December, badges also aimed to spark conversation: Each one included the attendees’ social handle and a cause they were most passionate about. Guests could also customize the badges—which were adorned with the hashtag #Goals—with fun, on-theme buttons throughout the day.
Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Teen Vogue
Another way to let guests express their personalities is through badge ribbons, which hang at the bottom of the badge. While ribbons often are used to designate event roles—speaker, alumni, etc.—they can also be used to break the ice. PC/Nametag offers seven themed “fun packs” of ribbons that can be customized with items such as emoji.
Photo: Courtesy of PC/Nametag
2. Kill two birds with one stone.
Badges are also an opportunity to give attendees necessary information—without making them carry around a heavy event program. At C2 Montréal last month, attendees wore klik name badges from Montreal-based technology company PixMob. In addition to displaying guest credentials in a large, easy-to-read format, the badges connected them to the klik technology—an audience engagement solution that can be used for ticketing and registration, data and analytics, event communication, and much more. The LED wearable can light up in 16-million different colors in response to remote control commands. In addition to badges, the klik technology can be used in wristbands and in buttons on lanyards; event organizers can rent or buy the wearables.
Photo: Mateo Casis
For Etsy’s first New York conference in 2013, organizers demonstrated simple changes to enhance sustainability. The conference program and badge were combined into one item to minimize waste and to keep attendees' hands free.
Photo: The Photo Booth Party
Another way badges can increase effectiveness is through the addition of a Poken. The device attaches to a badge's lanyard and comes in dozens of conversation-starting designs such as a panda bear, a ninja, and a bumblebee (as well as a simple black-and-white model). The device uses near-field communication, so simply tapping two together exchanges the information stored on them, such as contact information, social network profiles, documents, videos, and Web sites. After the event, users plug the Poken into their computer's USB port to see all the people and information collected.
Photo: Courtesy of Poken
3. Complement the decor.
If every attendee is going to be wearing a badge, it's a good chance to enhance an event's decor. For the 2016 edition of Engage!, held in Palm Beach, Florida, Vanessa Kreckel of Two Paper Dolls designed the colorful leather name tags, which tied into the event’s tropical theme.
Photo: Jeremie Barlow
National badge-design company PC/Nametag offers a variety of attractive options for events, including colorful badges printed on metallic silver. The lanyard colors can be matched to the badge to create an eye-catching tag that can complement an event’s decor.
Photo: Courtesy of PC/Nametag
Summer Brand Camp—an annual conference in Dallas for foodservice industry professionals working in human resources, marketing, and operations—incorporates camp-style elements every year. For the 2015 conference, organizers evoked a craft station at a kids’ camp, inviting guests to decorate their name badges with colored beads.
Photo: Jill Harper/Summer Brand Camp
For Be Inspired PR’s Tassels and Tastemakers networking event, held in Los Angeles in 2016, name badges added to the event’s simple yet upscale design. The multicolored tags, which simply listed attendees’ first name and social-media handle, were displayed on a wall designed by Couture Events.
Photo: Anna Delores Photography
4. Sometimes, less is more.
For smaller events, name tags don’t have to break the budget—or stick to a standard format. Artist marketplace Minted suggests a D.I.Y. option for event hosts using a simple button maker. The colorful round buttons are a simple, unobtrusive way to share guest names plus a small fun fact about them—which encourages conversation. Read more about the process on Minted’s Julep blog.
Photo: Melanie Blodgett for Julep
For New York Fashion Week in 2009, sponsor YKK—a zipper manufacturer—created unique lanyards for the badges every attendee needed to access the tent. Instead of a branded fabric strap, YKK supplied an oversize, functioning zipper, which gave attendees something to fiddle with while waiting for shows to start.
Photo: BizBash
TEDActive in Palm Springs, California, in 2013, had a similar idea: Buttons with blank fields labeled "Talk to Me About ... " invited guests to write a short list of topics they love or are knowledgeable about, to encourage meaningful mingling. Attendees could attach the buttons to their existing badges. The independent TED-style event TEDxWaterloo in Canada, takes it a step further, leaving titles and company names off of name badges. Instead, organizers leave 40 characters on the badges for attendees to finish the phrase “I'm chasing … ,” which gets conversations started among attendees on a deeper level.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
The colorful room—a purposeful contrast to the bright, all-white subway platform room—featured branded Skee-Ball, a Zoltar fortune-telling machine, and a giant clown mask.
Photo: Daniel Salemi
Another section of the room displayed neon pretzel decor, wheel-of-fortunes, a rainbow carnival high striker, and a photo booth with props.
Photo: Daniel Salemi
The on-site Codelabs allowed attendees to get hands-on coding experience at kiosks. The event also included Sandboxes, which were dedicated spaces to learn about and test Google’s latest products and platforms.
Photo: Courtesy of Google
As in previous years, the conference incorporated music-festival-inspired elements, such as oversize Jenga and Checkers games.
Photo: Courtesy of Google
One evening event featured a cereal station as an out-of-the-box dessert.
Photo: Courtesy of Google
For Refinery29’s 29Rooms, which took place in September in a warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Square Design fabricated over two-thirds of the rooms, including this space, which featured the music of rapper-singer Lizzo, plus 71 disco balls and headphones for a silent dance party. The production of the event took more than six months.
Photo: Taylor McIntyre/BizBash
The Morning After
Guests can recover from one too many cocktails with the Original HangOver Kit Kup. The 22-ounce reusable cup contains mini packs of brand-name remedies like Pepto-Bismol, Propel drink mix, Drinkwel multivitamins, Alka-Seltzer, Bayer aspirin, Colgate toothpaste and toothbrush, LA Fresh travel wipes, and breath mints. The kits are sold in cases of 6 ($50) or 12 ($90).
Photo: Courtesy of Distinct Impressions
Recovery Remedies
Similar to the hangover cup, Gifts for the Good Life's Good Night/Good Morning Kit includes bedtime treats and morning must-haves such as effervescent tablets, eye drops, and mints, plus popcorn for a midnight snack.
Photo: Courtesy of Gifts for the Good Life
