Thursday night's National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) and International Special Events Society (ISES) Chicago Excellence Awards Show, took place at the Chicago History Museum, a venue that suited the evening's theme.
"This year we celebrated pioneers of ISES and NACE" said BBJ Linen's Lanie Hartman, who worked with a team headed by current ISES president Sandy Sobczak to plan the dinner. "These are people who have been in the industry for 10 years or more and have had some kind of an office in either organization. We have a lot of them that came together just to be recognized and get a pin."
Along with industry veterans, the evening's honored guests included winners in some 22 categories. Honorees included the Meetinghouse Companies Inc., which took home awards for Best Theme Decor Over $75,000 and Best Corporate Event Over $75,000; Kehoe Designs for Best Tabletop Design and Best Floral Design; and Classic Party Rentals for Best Use of Rental Equipment.
Some 126 guests attended the event; and according to Hartman, small talk turned to a predictable topic. "We were all talking about the economy," she said. "That was it, that was the topic: the economy. How we're all facing it, what we're all doing, how we're handling it, and how we're all just sticking by each other and doing what needs to be done to get through it."
