For some time we had been calling on a local client in the hopes of offering our services, all to no avail. One day, they finally came to us with a dilemma. They had used the same west coast event planner for years, but felt like they needed some fresh ideas - and they only had six weeks before their conference! They were looking at two separate events, involving 1,400 people at each event: a welcome reception, and two nights later, a closing gala.
We listened carefully to the goals of their conference, asked questions to ensure that we understood their corporate "culture", and determined their budget for each of their events. Then we went to work.
We proposed a Renaissance night for the welcome reception: complete with décor, minstrels, mimes, jugglers and actors in period costumes. They even accepted the idea of having their chief executives appear in costume: including tights! The bosses were extremely good-natured about it, and their knightly appearance was completely unexpected, but very well received by their loyal subjects.
The closing gala was a little more somber. Because of the advent of the Winter Games, they liked the idea of incorporating the Olympics into their meeting. We decorated over 50 Christmas trees, and leafless-aspen trees. We used gobos to project winter sports images on the walls, and used props throughout the dining hall. We also hired bobsledders who visited with the attendees, and posed for instant photos in front of real bobsled and a bluescreen behind them.
The conference was a success, and we have been invited to work with them on subsequent programs and conferences.
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