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A Night To Remember
Experts offer recipes for successful corporate events
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Business New Haven
8/21/2000
By: Priscilla Searles
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Take one corporate event, mix it with an unusual location and a theme, throw in some unusual props and you have an affair people will be talking about for months.
Sounds easy, but is it possible to have a corporate event that is enjoyable, doesn't look like five others you've been to this year? The key words in putting together a successful event are imagination and planning, planning, planning.
Says famed New Haven designer Andrew Rubenoff: “The location you choose is important, especially in a city like New Haven where resources are limited. It's not New York or Boston; it isn't even Hartford. Businesses often overlook places that are appropriate. The guest's pleasure is the goal, and the worst thing a business can do is overlook the obvious or make assumptions.
“The first thing that needs to be done is to establish the goal,” Rubenoff says. “Whether it is a meeting, conference, convention or party, [the host is] still trying to leave people with a favorable impression about their business. For example, there are so many places in this area you can get kind of standard reception, be it a club or restaurant. Every member of the business community has been to all these places and, although there is nothing wrong with them, they all begin to look alike.
“If a business wants to make a statement regardless of the purpose [many are in fact public relations functions] you can have a cocktail party and dinner almost anywhere,” says Rubenoff. “Go to a place where people are comfortable. Someone's home is often a good place for a cocktail party, even if it is for business. Or take them on a steam train, to a golf course, a theater outing, cruise, picnic and a family event - lots of business people are looking for events that include the family. Clambakes and other outdoor events are wonderful but the business has to have a back-up plan in case of bad weather, and that can be a problem.”
Sometimes it's a good idea for a business to hook up with a non-profit. The New Haven legal community is sponsoring an event at the Superior Court building on Elm Street in New Haven with the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. The location is unusual, and in spite of the fact that the New Haven County Bar Association and the Arts Council are Audubon Street neighbors, it never occurred to the two organizations to work together for the common good. But the chemistry was there.
Most professional planners don't believe that it is necessary to have everyone in the same room for a business event. People are looking for one-on-one contact with individuals, and want to talk to each other. The use of different spaces for different purposes - say, one room for an awards ceremony and another for entertainment - can be effective.
When it comes to creative spaces, take a good look around the community. Most museums rent out their space for events, municipalities usually make public parks and other spaces available (although many do not permit alcohol) and many other organizations have historic sites available for functions.
A ride on the trolley at the Shoreline Trolley Museum, followed by a picnic on the grounds could be an interesting event. Even piers and loft spaces in office buildings or factories can be very creative for a business function. Look to working farms for some events. It's not even too off-the-wall to take a bunch of executives and their spouses on a hayride.
Unusual spaces lend themselves to creative décor. New Haven doesn't have a prop house, as most major cities do. And theaters don't like to let their props be used by other organizations - they're not in the rental business.
Professional planners seem to be the best resource for props because it's their business to be prepared for corporate functions. For businesses, it relieves them of taking on all the details and planners are trained to ask the right questions, to help the business establish the mission of the event.
A good business event should maintain a positive flow, over one hour or four, and you have to keep it lively. If it's a four-hour presentation, the last person to speak better be pretty interesting. because most people can't remain alert that long.
Give people breaks, provide paper and pens, water, check the air flow in the room. Make people comfortable. Every choice you make, from location to food and drink, is going to affect the impression people have of your business.
Even a meeting to announce a new product launch can be done with a special flair. Breakfast meetings are becoming ever more popular. Regardless of the event, businesses have to be careful about events planned for evenings or weekends. People
are reserving more of their free time for family.
But businesses can assume responsibly for making an event or meeting more pleasurable. For businesses that are looking for a little atmosphere for their corporate meeting or just want to warm up the room a little, Glen Terrace Flowers & Gifts on Whitney Avenue in Hamden rents plants.
According to Edie Farley, manager of the plant department, businesses rent everything from seven-foot palm trees to container gardens or plants in baskets.
“Sometimes businesses come to us through a professional planner and other businesses just call us up and give us the theme of the event,” says Farley. “We make suggestions of what will work. We deliver and pick up the plants. It's a lot more convenient for businesses to rent than to run around trying to purchase plants. And since they are just renting plants for a short period of time they don't have to worry about the proper light and watering. We rent everything from plants to surround a podium to large plants for a stage or entrance.”
Suggests Judy Skolnick of Nonsense Plus in Orange: “If you are addressing people with diversified backgrounds, you need to develop a theme that will appeal to all. Buy into the theme, because that's what is going to draw people to the event.
“I'm planning a corporate party that involves people at many different levels within the company,” Skolnick says. “I'm having it at the carousel at Beardsley Zoo. The party will involve rides on the carousel, a sophisticated face- and head-painting artist who has appeared on Martha Stewart's television show, a diverse variety of food stations.
“The idea is to develop a successful theme, one that's going to get people involved,” says Skolnick. “The room has to be made special. For the Bridgeport event I'm using animal-print tablecloths; everything will be tied in to the location.”
In the event-planning business for 20 years, Skolnick has, she says, “been there, done that. I'm always looking for a new angle because it's the same people going to a lot of events. If you want them to come back to your event, it has to be special.
“You have to show people that you appreciate them coming,” she adds. “I like everyone to go away with something; it can be a simple as a flower.”
But when it comes to props, Skolnick works overtime to come up with unusual items. One of her specialties are linens, upscale fabrics with any theme you can think of, a much broader range than is possible from a rental center. Among her more unusual props are five-foot-tall metal outlines of people. “People have used these wire figures for all kinds of events,” says Skolnick, “dressing them up in every kind of outfit you can think of to tie in with the theme of an event.”
When it comes to décor, Skolnick isn't afraid to push the envelope. She used Dr. Seuss books for one event, donating them to a children's hospital in the name of the sponsoring business. For an event for Juvenile Diabetes, she came up with the idea of “Out of the Box,” and scoured the countryside for jack-in-the-boxes, which she used with flowers for centerpieces. At the end of the evening they were auctioned off, raising money for the organization. What comes through on all of Skolnick's events is a lot of personal attention paid to the client, a lot of coordinating and a lot of hand-holding.
Still, if businesses want to take on an event on their own, there are several area firms that can help develop a theme or provide some interesting props.
Characters & Costumes in Guilford has a large assortment of costumes to rent, and if you're planning a family event, its Real Amusements Co. can supply inflatable moonwalks (an inflatable enclosure that kids love to jump in), a rock-climbing wall or even an obstacle course.
Costume Bazaar on State Street in New Haven has an outstanding collection of costumes. Most major rental companies have popcorn machines and even cotton-candy machines. And if you want a little atmosphere, General Rental in Hamden will rent you a gazebo.
When it comes to transportation and antique vehicles might be in order, the best resources are antique car shows, especially popular at this time of year at local fairs. Most antique cars are owned by private collectors who don't advertise rentals, but in fact many of them are more than willing to provide the service.
If you want to bring a group of executive types to an event in style, Brian Clark of Mapleview Farm in Orange has a wagon, built to his specification by an Amish farmer in Lancaster, Pa., that holds 35 people and is pulled by a two-horse hitch.
Business meeting, family event or a big bash - planning and creativity are the key ingredients. BNH
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