After last year's radical format change, which replaced the traditional seated dinner with a reception followed by dessert and the presentation ceremony, the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International once again reworked its Adrian Awards gala, held at the Marriott Marquis on Monday. Building on the positive feedback received for the 2011 event, producer Sequence worked closely with the industry association's internal team and consultant Peggy Shughrue Walz of Pegmotions to implement some new ideas that would allow the 800 industry professionals in attendance more time and space to socialize with their peers and view the winning work.
Central to the modifications was maintaining a comfortable environment for the hospitality execs to network. That meant tweaking the layout of the dinner reception's stations, bars, and seating to provide more room for guests to maneuver, and offering a more reception-friendly menu. The organizers also added extra time between the end of the reception in the hotel's eighth-floor Broadway Lounge and the start of the award presentation on the sixth floor, giving attendees more time to get settled at their tables.
Matching the streamlined format was a clean, uncluttered design. Employing a "less is more" approach, the organizers utilized rectangular dinner tables in the Broadway Ballroom and left the tabletops largely untouched, which provided clearer sight lines to the stage and encouraged guests to socialize. Simple graphics rounded out this idea, and picture-in-picture technology created an illuminated frame around the projection screens.
As the presentation ceremony only highlighted the top-most honors—platinum winners, "Best in Show," and the lifetime achievement awards—the planning and production team also looked to showcase those who had received gold awards. Campaigns like Weber Shandwick's "Best of the Road" contest for Rand McNally and Visit Florida's "The Great Visit Florida Beach Walk" promotion were displayed on plasma screens at the reception and incorporated into video content Sequence created to open the show and introduce each award category.
