I wrote this back in 07 and it still holds true today. The image in this article was taken by me only a week ago in NYC....Some things will never change.
We all understand that we have to use ballrooms for some events. It
never ceases to amaze me that properties can go through 100 million
dollar renovations and still have the same tacky carpet and a 1973 era
chandelier, kinda boggles the mind. What are ya gonna do?
I
suppose having to suffer through these ballrooms is a small price to
pay for having a program in a location that stuns, awes and makes
attendees go wow. Whether it is a sales incentive group or a conference
on Internet connectivity they soon forget the ballroom the second they
step outside and are in Maui, the Bahamas or one of my
favorites.......the Mayan Riviera. Sometimes they also forget the event
that was in the ballroom.
Before I digress, it is back
to the ballroom. Something that always bothered me on surveys an
questionnaires after a program was that you could have the best meal,
best entertainment and best resort or conference location but if it was
in your standard ballroom......... marks were mediocre at best. The
rest of the program got an A+ and the ballroom functions got a B.
We
were fortunate enough to work with a fortune 500 client many years ago
who felt the same way and she had a little money left in her budget so
together we set out to transform this drab piece of nasty real estate
into something more. I mentioned that it was a little money, so we did
not go crazy. We simply added flora, fauna and all manner of living
plant things. What do you know, survey results went up. This was the
moment we made a sea change in the way approach ballroom events. We no
longer accept, we transform.
That brings me to the
present, after this experience and it's positive feedback, we decided
to try many different ways to spruce up the spaces.
Today
these can include full wall wraps (we will turn the walls of any
ballroom into a scene from the beach, New York or even Venice),
structure builds (if you have the walls as a scene from Venice, build
some bridges and add a few gondolas) or even volcanoes. It is all the
art of illusion, making the attendee see what you want them to see and
look past the standard ballroom decor.
I have to give credit to Encore Creative (http://www.encorecreative.com/)
in Arizona. If you ever have the opportunity to do a program at one of
the great properties in the Valley of the Sun, look these folks up.
They
are masters at changing the ordinary into an amazing place to
entertain, educate and dine. The picture is from an event a few weeks
ago, the client had some money left at the last minute (I mean just a
couple of hours) and they were able to transform drab into cool and
chic. Rather than close in the ballroom, we actually opened the
airwalls and built the nylon curtain and put a hip bar area on the
other side. Behind the photographer, the stage was just as amazing with
all of the bar areas set behind the nylon screens. Simple lighting
completed the effect. Survey results for this event came back at an
astounding 98% positive with the attendees very happy indeed.
Should
you have the time and the little extra budget (and we all know that
this is sometimes impossible), try something out of the ordinary.
Just a thought.