With Spring well on its way, it’s prime season for corporate events. Our event planning roundup for April is chock full of great information from dealing with cancellations to getting attendees jazzed about the event. The icing on the cake is a new FaceBook feature sure to find favor with the corporate meetings set.
Tips to Cut That Food & Beverage Budget Down to Size
Although it’s traditionally one of the high ticket items for any event, food & beverage can be cut down to size with these 
eleven tips from the experts. While some of the suggestions are quite obvious (like “shrink the coffee cup size”), others are not only ingenious, but also clearly the result of painful experience, while still others are counter-intuitive.
And done right, your attendees will never know you cut a few corners on the event. Author Chris Freeman with Kansas City Catering is even willing to put people’s guilt to work, recommending that you:
Use servers rather than offering hors d’oeuvres buffet-style. People tend to take only one item when served by wait staff, but help themselves to more at a buffet table. Buy enough so everyone gets three to five pieces….
But we found his suggestion of placing the water bottles and juices in ice baths the best of all. Chris says he’s found that folks aren’t quite as willing to slip an extra into their bag when they’re dripping wet!
http://meetingsnet.com/food-amp-beverage/11-tricks-spending-less-fb
Eight Great Ideas for a Nature Themed Event
Eight Great Ideas for a Nature Themed EventOutdoor events become more popular every year. And even when your event can’t be outdoors, a nature theme can help bring it inside. Here event planning experts share some of their best inspiration for nature-themed events.
Author Alesandra Dubin has her own way of explaining it:
The word “organic” may conjure images of rustic, down-home event details—but that’s far from the only way to interpret a nature theme. Event producers can also use materials found in the natural environment to create a sense of refinement, sophistication, and even opulence.
At a late March event, Patina Catering of Los Angeles incorporated the theme into everything from the chairs to the name tags.
http://www.bizbash.com/8-elegant-ways-to-interpret-a-nature-theme/los-angeles/story/32007
Stoked When They Arrive; Happy When They Leave
Everyone in event planning wants their guests to enjoy the event—that’s what keeps them coming back. And it’s better yet when they arrive on a high note. The experts at Eventbrite created a two-part series to help make sure they arrive happy and leave happy.
Event professionals know there are a million things to do for a successful event. And even the most seasoned of them tend to focus on the “big things”. That’s not the best approach says Tricia Rosetty. In fact, she says:
Organizers often laser-focus on getting the big ticket items right—things like headliners, on sales, or merch. But we’ve found that spending a little extra time on the details can make a huge impact on your attendees’ experience.
As an example, she points to the ubiquitous entry ticket. It’s often the first place attendees look for information on a number of event details—start time, dress code, hashtags, refund policy. Customizing the ticket with these critical details can drastically reduce any “day-of” confusion for attendees.
https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ds01-how-to-make-sure-customers-show-up-stoked-and-go-home-happy-part-i/
New Facebook Feature Finds a Home With Event Pros
Recent updates to Facebook Live, the live video streaming tool for Facebook, make it something worthy of serious consideration for event planners. Included in the new features is live streaming from event pages, allowing organizers to target the content before, during, and after the event.
Bizbash interviewed three live-streaming experts to learn more. Joel Comm is an author and digital marketing strategist; Brian Fanzo is co-founder of BackLamp, which builds digital strategies for brands to integrate live streaming; and Ryan Bell is also co-founder of Backlamp and creator of Summit.Live, an annual event for digital creators.
Comm and Fanzo see key differences between Periscope and Facebook Live, with Comm saying:
Periscope gets these drive-by viewers because they’ve got the discoverability aspect to it. But your numbers peak early and then they tend to fall off, whereas with Facebook Live I’m seeing my numbers consistently increase the longer I’m on. That’s really powerful.
Fanzo added the powerful observation that:
With Facebook live streaming you are streaming to people that already know, like, and trust you. They’ve either liked your page, they are following your personal account, or they’re in a group or an event that you are hosting or a part of.
http://www.bizbash.com/why-facebooks-video-updates-matter-for-event-pros/philadelphia/story/32013
An Event Planner’s Nightmare: The Canceled Event
It happens sooner of later to every event planning professional: the client cancels. No matter how much time you’ve invested or how great the event would have been, you have to move on. Writing in Special Events Blog, event planner Jennifer Taylor makes her key point first:
Handling a canceled event requires a fine balance of safeguarding your business and understanding the reason behind the sudden change.
She suggests specific cancellation clauses in your contracts that reduce refunds the closer to the event the cancellation occurs. Another key piece of advice is to have your contract reviewed by an attorney or business coach to ensure it is ‘iron-clad’.
Her firm reviews cancellations on a case-by-case basis. In the case of a death or medical issue, she notes that her firm is usually sympathetic.
There may still be opportunities to book the time/space with another event.
http://specialevents.com/blog/how-bounce-back-canceled-event
It’s Going to be a Great Few Months
With the change in the weather, the event planning world is abuzz with activity. There was so much more news that wouldn’t fit, but you can count on another helping next month from your friends at Luxury Restroom Trailers.
And remember, from north of Seattle to Southern Oregon, we proudly offer the largest and most luxurious fleet of rental restrooms. Give us a call today!