20th Annual Event Company Spotlight

House of Peacock: a monthlong storefront activation at The Grove for EMMY FYC season

Privé Revaux birthday celebration for Jamie Foxx in Paris

MTV Unplugged with JID in Atlanta

Numerous Peacock red carpet premieres from Queer as Folk to Angelyne to Girls5eva

iHeartRadio events like Wango Tango

Sustainability: As people become more environmentally conscious, sustainability is a top priority, from reducing on-site waste to using eco-friendly materials.

Personalization: Attendees want events that are tailored to their specific interests and needs. Analog sees a future using data and technology to create even more personalized experiences.

Safety and security: In the wake of recent events, safety and security are even more of a priority these days. From screening attendees to implementing emergency plans, Analog takes steps to ensure the safety of attendees, vendors,

and clients.

An employee engagement “Stronger Together” event, delivered for their client Genmab, an international biotechnology company. This event secured 2 Silver and 1 Bronze American Business Awards as well as becoming a finalist at the prestigious PM Society Awards.

Live events are back with a vengeance. People want to be back together. Until March 2022, Ashfield’s clients were very cautious and postponed events to be face-to-face. The pent-up demand led to June and September being busier than pre-pandemic, and they are seeing much shorter lead times from clients because of this.

There is a realization that good hybrid meetings take a lot more effort (and budget). There are still plenary sessions/presentations being broadcast, but hybrid meetings are not as much in demand as originally expected. Ashfield is seeing some clients running smaller and shorter meetings virtually, while focusing on the face-to-face element and networking opportunities for the larger meetings.

Washington, DC: A 2-day event where business leaders met with local Congressman and Senators to focus on state and city results.

Miami, Florida: The International Cotton Convention, streamed globally in multiple languages.

Increased focus on building a strong corporate culture as the future of work continues to change.

New ways to network (creating spaces that foster networking and creativity, while allowing participants to choose their comfort level).

More “choose your own adventure” events, allowing attendees more choices beyond sessions to take part in.

Enhanced focus on sustainability, more green resources.

BDS hosted multiple events and was offered to assist with Chef Showcases and different mentoring opportunities for the community.

Increased focus on food menu, serving, etc. Food is an essential part of any event as that is what people remember the most. It is also an important part of culture, heritage, and identity that connects and brings people together.

2022 YWCA Charity Gala

Multiple conferences for Pharma clients across

North America•

Multiple galas and fundraisers

Chic and elegant feel

Popping colors

Textures over textures

Gold and silver

Technology is a requirement and must be

user-friendly

2022 Mazda North America Dealer Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee: a multi-faceted event that engaged dealers in two waves. The event included multiple general sessions, dinners, and high-tech labs, giving dealers an up-close look at Mazda’s new products, marketing campaigns, and innovative dealership technology. The Nashville State Grounds served as the primary venue and an exclusive private party was hosted at Marathon Music Works.

2022 Dallas Cowboys Season Kickoff event: a live broadcast of the Blue Carpet event allowed fans worldwide to join in, watching players and their significant others arriving and posing for photos. The players’ presentation at the Ford Center showcased the team’s unity and spirit while allowing players to interact with fans and share their enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

Immersive worlds that captivate attendees and stimulate active participation. The latest trend in this space is centered around crafting captivating virtual and augmented reality experiences that integrate art, technology, and storytelling to foster meaningful connections and inspire creativity. With increasing demand, immersive experiences are becoming a staple of corporate events, trade shows, and product launches.

Las Vegas: Rife with supply chain shortages, CSI DMC helped their corporate franchise client navigate and source materials when exhibitors grew 11 times over in record time.•

Nashville: An unforgettable street party for 8,000 people during a highly anticipated multi-day program. CSI DMC collaborated with the city, 68 vendors, 42 shops, various entertainment, and supporting acts, and coordinated 15,000 meals. The creative team developed 529 concepts to meet the explosion of boutique and mid-sized programs focused on customized attendee experiences.

Orlando: After four date changes, 1,300 eager attendees celebrated a company rebrand. The CSI DMC team crafted fun-filled, brand-centric special events over four nights, including gifting of an autographed guitar from a rock band.

Climate change concerns are front-page news, and sustainable sourcing and eco-friendly events are far beyond a trend. Practical, feel-good solutions that don’t break the budget are critical. CSI DMC finds that taking a collaborative, step-by-step approach with their internal practices, vendors, venues, and clients leads to deeper buy-in and quantifiable success.

The continued surge in events that promote healthy living, community giving, and kindness. Schedules that intentionally program time for mental health breaks and destination immersion support evidence of increased attendee engagement and connection, a win-win for all!

Forecasting the speed of advancements in virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is tricky. However, there is value in leveraging these technologies to connect attendees to events anywhere, from virtual trade show booths to AR product demos and beyond. It is a very compelling time to be in the events industry!

Grand opening MGM Music Hall at Fenway Park

Grand opening Resorts World Hudson Valley

Casino 2022

New Years Eve Mohegan Sun 2022 Themed

Moulin Rouge Party

Easter Seals Crystal Ball Farmington Polo Club

Lego Systems Play Day Yard Goats Stadium

More experiential and immersive events

More themed events, with venue selection based

on the theme of the event

Total transformation of spaces

Interactive areas

More digital enhancements

Burnaby Blues Festival

Skratch Bastid’s BBQ

Harvest Haus Oktoberfest Festival

Abbotsford International Airshow

Ambleside Music Festival

UBC AMS Block Party

Vancouver International Polo Festival

A Tale of the Forest: Glenmorangie exclusive

tasting event

After almost three years of pandemic-related separations, bringing people together is more important than ever. 2023 is the year of prioritizing social gatherings, get-togethers, special events, team bonding, and bringing people together after the wild times of the holidays and finally feeling normal(ish) post-pandemic.

Prioritizing self-care

Maximalism: patterns on patterns, brights on bolds, color on color

“The Future of Water” Conference in San Fransisco

XOS Trucks’ Fleet Week Product Launch

NBA2K Video Game Wrap Party

Company retreats, employee excursions, and brand activation events were among the biggest shifts in the corporate events industry. Event Solutions predicts that they will continue to grow into 2023 and beyond.

A shift for events that consider company culture and values are being brought to the table in the planning phase. CSRs (Corporate Social Responsibility) such as diversity, equality, inclusion, and environmental awareness are playing bigger parts in the selection of everything from venue to vendors.

Surescripts Picnic: Brought together families, spouses, and households for an inaugural companywide event.

A bold color palette wedding design in Chicago, with 3D huge dinosaurs a garden, and fairytale energy.

Going full speed ahead on small attention to details

Guest experience: How guests feel, interact, and entertain themselves is important

NI Connect: May 2022, 2,000 guests, Austin, TX

Meta in Reel Life: September 2022, 150 influencers, New York, NY

Marriott International Topline Leadership Summit: September 2022, 1,500 guests, Orlando, FL

Children’s Hospitality of Los Angeles Gala (featuring Justin Timberlake): October 2022, 1,300 guests, Los Angeles, CA

BMW Product Brand Experience: November 2022, 600 guests, Palm Springs, CA

Fluence MJBizCon Tradeshow & Hospitality: November 2022, 30,000, Las Vegas, NV

Haute believes that business is personal and that connecting to the audience is the only goal that truly matters. This means looking at the people first, with priorities of inclusion, diversity, and neurodiversity and how our industry can lead a change for good.

Measuring events not only with ROI but also with ROE (Return on Emotion). Authentic human-to-human connection will drive business in the coming years; it isn’t about impressions on tens of thousands of people but the personal connection and championship of brands that can create these through more intimate and real moments.

Sustainability and true (and cost-effective) methods of reducing our footprint with the experience we create will be required in the coming years. Not simply greenwashing but an infrastructure that allows us to continue exceeding business goals while being mindful of how continuing to meet in person impacts the world. The next few years in the live events industry will let us innovate rapidly.

A gorgeous wedding at The Thompson (Chicago, IL) for a professional golfer and all of his New York family that flew in by the masses. It was quite the black-tie affair.

Very long, giant dinner tables that feel like one

big table

Guest lists of friends and family, and not everybody that they’ve ever known getting invited

A 6-figure winter wonderland wedding

A New Year’s Eve wedding with a 1,000

balloon drop

Color filled weddings

Over-the-top birthday parties

Larger events focused on statement decor and detailed place settings

Unique entertainment

Walmart’s 2022 Shareholders’ Meeting, staging presentations and performances for over 14,000 associates, using augmented reality and theater techniques to create a content-rich spectacle of story and emotion.

AutoZone’s National Sales Meeting, delivering 17 different events, including 16 hours of General Session programming, 13 Breakout Sessions, and over 50 meal functions for 3,200 attendees.

Hilton’s Global Owners Conference, delivering 8 hours of C-Suite executive content, a tradeshow-esque “Network Hub,” five brand showcase rooms, and more for over 2,500 attending owners, representatives, and guests.

Some of LEO’s best festival work was on display by working with the New Mexico Tourism Department to create five incredible Arts Festivals across the state: the Las Cruses Space Festival, Riverfest, Silver City Blues Festival, Nashville to New Mexico, and the Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonial.

At the moment, there’s the AI explosion, which LEO views as a tool we can wield to expedite and enhance the experiences we create, made by and for humans.

The plateau of remote and hybrid work has catalyzed renewed demand for enriched networking and genuine teambuilding.

Sustainability has graduated from trend to imperative, and LEO predicts brands and event attendees will expect more measurable and meaningful action.

Disruptive thinking—redefined by a new generation—will once again be in favor. There will be greater interest in an “ideas-first” mindset, sharpened into a marketplace where small companies, industry newcomers, and larger incumbents compete for similar business opportunities.

Event for Workday at Mandalay Bay Hotel Beach

Event for Home Depot at Mandalay Bay Hotel Beach

Event for Harris Computers at Brooklyn Bowl

Social Media tool integration for promoting events

AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual

reality) inclusion

AI tools (e.g., ChatGTP) will help with marketing, artwork, etc.

Wheel Health All Hands Employee Conference

(150 pax)

The Life Coach School Mastermind Conference (1500 pax)

Austin PBS Media Center Debut (5000 pax)

SailPoint Navigate 2022 Conference (800 pax)

Silicon Labs NA EU Conference (500 pax)

Tito’s 25th Anniversary Luxury weekend trip for 125 guests and 1s

The advent of ChatGPT and AI and how to intelligently and safely integrate them,

enhancing processes and work products without sacrificing integrity

Events during a recession and in the aftermath

Motivating a team during hard times to sell services with authenticity, confidence, and courage

Returning to hybrid and virtual out of fiscal necessity and learning how to best make use of the lessons from the pandemic

A 42-cities client roadshow for a financial client

over six weeks

Two different one-week conferences for a retail client in Mexico and the Dominican Republic

Three three-days conferences across Canada for

a retail client

First Nation conference with a public institution

Green events

Reward and recognition event for staff are a must as a hybrid remote work system stays in place

Breaking the attendance record at the Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival (a Special Events Gala Award recipient) with over 150,000 attendees. Steve LeVine Entertainment has produced this event for the past seven years, but this year’s festival was hosted as a two-weekend event for the first time in history! The star-studded lineup included Walker Hayes, Nelly, Flo Rida, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Beach Boys, The Band Perry, and Uncle Kracker.

Scottsdale Fashion Week: brought back after a two-year COVID hiatus; hosted the seventh year of Fashion Week 4 Kids with 2,000 people in attendance.

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in events. From event apps to virtual and augmented reality, technology is being used to enhance the overall attendee experience. The expansion of AI has opened new possibilities for event planners. With the ability to analyze large amounts of data and learn from attendee behavior, AI and big data can help event planners make more informed decisions about everything from the peak time for festival-goer purchases to feedback on marketing efforts.

nSight User Conference for Banking Software Leader, nCino: 1,500 attendees, three days,

Raleigh, NC

Franchisee Conference for Affordable Care Inc.:

700 attendees, four days, Miami, FL

Recognition & Awards program for top performers, First Citizens Bank - 350 attendees, three days, Nashville, TN

Beyond Duke Alumni Global Recognition Virtual Broadcast

Pepsi Annual Sales Conference: 350 attendees, two days, Raleigh NC

Putting the FUN back into events is a huge strategy reversal from mid-2022 onward. As people began to return to live events, the trend of being “all business” at conferences has moved to reimagining the attendee experience to make it more valuable and relationship driven. COVID made people’s time with their families more important, meaning that their time away from home needs to be more rewarding and not just an “information dump.”

Many events that went virtual during the last few years will never go back to live as it makes little economic sense, and the option to view portions of a conference on demand virtually rather than in person is here to stay.

Partnership with The RK Group for LIV Golf

NIKE Global Events

Oregon State University Foundation Event

Daimler Trucks North America LLC Event

Menus and floorplans are moving toward a mingling, reception-style experience with shorter programs.

Clients will continue to be interested in small plates and stations like sliders and fries, individual hors d’oeuvres plates or something fun like a taco bar. This goes along with the more casual, social vibe. Plus, guests appreciate the variety.

Venues that offer unique experiences like indoor/outdoor flexibility or specialized audio/visual continue to be in high demand.

VideoAmp’s HMCMNG MMXXII, an annual conference with 500 guests over four days.

Rosendin Electric: Holiday Nights at Zoo Lights, Phoenix Zoo

C2 Financial Holiday Party, Punch Bowl Social

Illumina MTT Summer BBQ Picnic, De Anza Cove

Partner ESI: San Diego After Party, Rustic Root

Event hosts are definitely looking for more creative entertainment and wellness options. More and more hosts want “something different” and bigger than they’ve had in the past.

Wellness enhancements have been slowly making their way onstage for years, but now it is one of the most important aspects of conferences. Experiences like sunrise beach yoga, CrossFit competitions,

and creative mental breaks have definitely been popular lately.

Hybrid, more travel/incentive, more overall event spend and budgets.