Tall signs showed the names of the chefs and their dishes at Citymeals-on-Wheels' tasting benefit, decorated as an Italian street fair.
Time Out New York's signage included capsule reviews.
Ciroc sponsored a lounge where diners could relax between courses at New York magazine's feeding frenzy.
Covalence Specialty Products' Party Pal plate can help guests balance their food and drink without spilling.
Current dining trends leave room to take the focus off traditional (and expensive) cuts of meat for the main course.
Photo: Jamie Davis
Blogshop events are filled with decor elements such as cheerful flower arrangments and balloons.
Photo: Angela Kohler
Bri Emery (left) and Angela Kohler
Photo: Angela Kohler
'Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design' by Eric de Groot and Mike van der Vijver
"This provides a wonderful introduction to meeting design," says Adrian Segar of Vermont's Conferences That Work. "Unlike the many books on the profession that emphasize logistics, Eric and Mike's book delves into core questions about meeting design, such as uncovering desired outcomes, working with meeting owners, and what to do to create truly innovative meetings that deliver results. In addition, the wealth of real-life examples included make this a fascinating and thought-provoking read."
Photo: Courtesy of MindMeeting.org
'Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work and In Your Life' by Spencer Johnson
Howard Givner, executive director of the Event Leadership Institute, says that this book is "broadly applicable, and short and easy to read. It provides a great parable for learning how to take curve balls in stride and not dwelling or complaining about what's happened to you. The proactive, 'let's move forward' approach is one that every planner should adopt, as things rarely go as planned in live events, and it's important to be able to roll with the punches. It helps you go into an event with the mindset that unexpected changes will happen, so when they do you're not thrown off guard."
Photo: Courtesy of G.P. Putnam's Sons
'Marketing Your Event Planning Business: A Creative Approach to Gaining the Competitive Edge' by Judy Allen
"I enjoyed reading this book by Judy Allen," says Eva Gouldbourne, a wedding and event planner at Chicago's Diamond Events. "This book has many specific examples of how to get the kind of business you want and avoid doing things that will make you stand out negatively."
Photo: Courtesy of John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd
'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking' by Susan Cain
A self-proclaimed introvert, Adam Sloyer is the managing director of New York's Sequence Events and president-elect of ISES New York's Metro Chapter. Of this Susan Cain book, he says: "I found this to be a fascinating read, regardless of whether you consider yourself to be an introvert or an extrovert—and after reading this, you may have a different opinion. Quiet dispels many of the standard biases against introverts and also showcases some of the competitive advantages. Yes, events is a 'people business,' but I found this book to reinforce how introverts can be just as successful."
Photo: Courtesy of Broadway Paperbacks
'Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business' by Danny Meyer
David Beahm of New York's David Beahm Design recommends Setting the Table by Danny Meyer. "I was having problems justifying one of my managers' style of management. He wasn't very nice and I didn't like it," Beahm says. "I found Mr. Meyer's concept of fear-based versus trust-based control very validating as to how I want to run my business. If you trust and empower people to do a good job, they will."
Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers
'Corporate Excellence: How to Maximize Long-term Productivity & Profits by Aligning Purpose, Culture & People' by Jim Harris
France Langan, sales director of Chicago's Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, recommends checking out this title. "It's an easy read, designed for the busy executive," says Langan. "I think for me, it validated how I try to motivate and work. It also reminded me of how easy business can be if you focus on the individual goals at hand. And, get the right people involved to help. Never do it alone."
Photo: Courtesy of AGR Press
'The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day' by Mindy Weiss
Susan Berg Gladstone, director of the Miami Wine and Food Festival, says: "I am not even a social event planner. But this book covers numerous crucial elements of event planning for any type of event."
Photo: Courtesy of Workman Publishing Company
'How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day' by Michael Gelb
Tahira Endean, the director of creative and production at Cantrav Services Inc. in Vancouver, says that all of Michael Gelb's books are must-reads, including this one about Leonardo da Vinci, which "includes a great story about catering in that century." Gelb, she says "truly is a Renaissance man, and I am always inspired by these books. I've read each more than once, and I've given them out to friends between 14 and 70 years of age. I consider these mandatory reading if you want to consider how to live and create better."
Photo: Courtesy of Dell
'Think and Grow Rich: Your Key to Financial Wealth and Power' by Napoleon Hill
Junou Bernadin, a projects administrator at Food for the Poor in Florida, says that this book by Napoleon Hill is a "must-read for any professional." The lessons it contains are more complex than the title suggests, she says, explaining that it covers the process of overcoming limitations and "striving for the very best. This is what all event planners do. We strive for the best the overall 'wow' factor."
Photo: Courtesy of Success Co.
'Rework' by Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson
Kristen Kaza, principal at No Small Plans Productions in Chicago, says that this "is a brilliant book from Chicago's 37Signals that gave me the encouragement to start my own company. It has chapters like 'Meetings are Toxic,' 'Fire the Workaholics,' and 'Planning is Guessing.' It's a great, short read with messages that make sense and stick. Everyone should read it."
Photo: Courtesy of Crown Business
'The Wiley Event Management Series' Special Events: A New Generation and the Next Frontier' by Joe Goldblatt
Julie Ramirez, a production intern at Jonny Stax Presents in Chicago, recommends this title for her peers just getting started in the industry. "The author takes you step-by-step through every process of event managing," she says. "I found this book so helpful when I took my first classes for event management during college, and I still use it as reference from time to time."
Photo: Courtesy of Wiley
'The Accidental Creative: How to be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice' by Todd Henry
The book "provides guidance on how to make adjustments in your daily routines to facilitate and increase your creativity, which is a vital asset when your profession requires creativity on demand," says Christina Mihalek, corporate events and meeting planner at Western & Southern Financial Group in Cincinnati.
Photo: Courtesy of Portfolio Hardcover
'The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work' by Shawn Achor
"This book should be titled Want Your Staff to Make Better Impressions on Your Clients, and Get a Free 15% Productivity Boost?" says Jason Harmer, who works in sales and development at Vancouver's GetWorkers. "Even if your boss is only concerned with the bottom line, this will give you a compelling argument to improve the happiness of your support staff."
Photo: Courtesy of Crown Business
'Meeting Architecture, a Manifesto (Volume 1)' by Maarten Vanneste
"This is where meeting planning is headed, I believe," says Dan Cormany, a faculty member at Florida International University. "I use it in my graduate class on convention management.
Photo: Courtesy of Meeting Support Institute
'StrengthsFinder 2.0' by Tom Rath
Every staffer from Reiventing Events in San Francisco is required to read this book to learn more about teamwork. "It's so important to know each person's strengths when working together" to execute a flawless event, says a company rep.
Photo: Courtesy of Gallup Press
'Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity' by David Allen
Taylor McQuiston, the marketing manager at San Diego's Portable Bar Company, says that this book provides "the best organization and productivity system I've found to date."
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Books
'Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life' by Andrea Michaels
"You probably know who she is, but just in case, Michaels is a legendary event producer who's won too many awards to even start on, and she was the first inductee into the Event Industry Hall of Fame," says Sandy Allen, executive producer at the Water Coolers in New York. "Her book takes the tone of a tell-all and covers both personal and professional experiences and perspectives on the industry. I think it's a gem."Â
Photo: Courtesy of Outskirts Press
'The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market' by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema
Sean Leo, the director of sales at Delicate Products in Los Angeles, says that this book "helped me understand how to focus my products and services to the event production community."Â
Photo: Courtesy of Basic Books
'Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, Or Get Out of More Meetings' by Jon Petz
Rosemary Vaughan, senior national account manager at Event Technology Services in Ottawa, says that the lighthearted tome "is a very engaging book and reads like it preaches: not boring! It totally resonates with anyone who has ever attended a conference or meeting, and it is quite funny in places. It might compare to Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Little Prince in writing and content style."
Photo: Courtesy of Wiley
'Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose' by Tony Hsieh
Guirlaine Belizaire, donor relations manager at Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York, says that this book is a crash course in "hospitality at its finest."
Photo: Courtesy of Business Plus
Tampa Convention Center
The Tampa Convention Center is offering conference attendees free, unlimited access to the city’s TECO Line Streetcar System through the end of 2013. Attendees show their conference badge to board the streetcar at any of the 11 stations in downtown Tampa and Ybor City. The streetcars run every half hour, seven days a week.
Photo: Courtesy of Tampa Convention Center
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Planners holding events at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., can use the venue’s free mobile app for their event. Standard features of the app, built by SwiftMobile, include a searchable session agenda, floor plans, a transportation guide, flight schedules, GPS-enabled city maps, and the event’s Twitter feed. For a fee that starts at $5,000, planners can add sponsorship and advertising options, an interactive trade show directory, speaker and attendee profiles, surveys, registration information, games, networking options, and more.
Photo: Courtesy of Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Moscone Center
The San Francisco Department of the Environment provides a variety of resources for planners hosting events at the Moscone Center and other venues around the city. The department’s Web site provides information about free consultation services, a zero-waste event checklist, printable signs, and a list of companies that provide sustainability services. Every event held in San Francisco must provide recycling and composting service.
Photo: Courtesy of San Francisco Department of the Environment
Colorado Convention Center
More than 2,000 plants are growing in Blue Bear Farm, a 5,000-square-foot garden on the grounds of the Colorado Convention Center. The facility’s caterer, Centerplate, manages the farm and uses the fruits, vegetables, and herbs in meals served to convention attendees. It also operates the Blue Bear Farm Food Truck, which parks outside the convention center during large events and serves items made with garden produce. Planners can also use the space for receptions.
Photo: Stevie Crecelius
Long Beach Arena
The Long Beach Arena in California will open its new Pacific Ballroom in October. The 45,000-square-foot space will be equipped with a $1.6 million lighting, sound, and video system that is controlled from an iPad. Event hosts can use the technology for no additional charge.
Rendering: Courtesy of Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
Music City Center
The new Music City Center, which opened in May in Nashville, has an eight-acre exhibit hall equipped with utility boxes every 30 feet to provide easy access to water, compressed air, and telecommunication equipment for exhibitors.
Photo: Aerial Innovations of Tenn, Inc.
Orange County Convention Center
Planners looking to make their events more “green” can take advantage of a new food diversion program offered by the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The facility diverts back-of-house food waste (food scraps from plates or perishable food that cannot be donated) into bins that are collected by Organic Matters, a company that processes it into livestock feed.
Photo: Tom Rostowski
Photo: Claire Pacelli for BizBash
At I.A.E.E. Expo! Expo! in December, Freeman created an interactive video wall that helped attendees understand the company's various services.
Photo: Courtesy of Freeman
From top: To keep up the energy at its annual powwow for industry pros, John Paul Mitchell Systems—with help from Stoelt Productions—set up an attention-getting yellow space to introduce its new men’s brand, Mitch, in 2011; the 2012 Breeders’ Cup kicked off at a purple-hued Halloween-night reception with a mysterious masquerade theme; a wall of oranges served as the backdrop to the juice bar at the J.C. Penney launch of the Joe Fresh Kids Collection, injecting the brand’s fun signature color into Times Square last summer; event designer André Wells mixed blues and teals for a classic look at the BET Honors dinner in 2010; JesGordon/ProperFun used the color of LOVE—which is also the host brand’s logo color—at Purina Chef Michael’s “Be My Valentine” Doggie Dinner Party in 2010.
Photos: Vero Image (yellow), Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash (orange), Andre Maier (red), Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash (all others)
