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Event Production Trends - March 2008

The world of special events is constantly changing. Technological enhancements have helped turn “simple” meetings and events into full-scale productions, boosting both clients’ and guests’ expectations. What worked last year won’t necessarily fill the bill this year as planners are constantly called upon to create something new and different—an event that tops the previous year’s performance. 

What event formats, design, production and décor treatments work well now? Following are a few strategies for taking your event to the next level.

Don’t Decorate—Transform!

Seeking out new and perhaps unusual event sites is one way to make this year’s bash different from last year’s, but it’s not enough to satisfy many clients’ expectations these days. That’s only a starting point. The buzzwords now are more about the event production process with the focus on environment transformation and audience immersion.

Many planners agree that “decorate” is an antiquated concept. The thinking is more about “transforming” the space and creating a complete environment, one of total immersion, where the combined media—audio, visual, and lighting—completely surround the audience to convey the meeting or event’s message in multiple ways.

The Media and the Message

No longer satisfied with the typical 9- x 12-foot screen, planners and production pros are playing with different forms of media, placing plasma screens throughout the space, using new lighting techniques, and saturating the environment in every way, shape and form. It’s no longer enough to place a few gobos around the room. Saturation branding, from images on multiple screens to company logos on swizzle sticks, is the new norm. The audience—or guests—are completely surrounded by a brand-new and unique milieu for the duration of the meeting or event.

Leading the way is advanced technology, LED lighting in particular. “Lighting has taken over the industry, and video is taking over for décor,” says Brian Winthrop,president of Big Wave Productions in Roxbury, CT. “We use 28-foot-high solid drapery and large fabric video screens stretched throughout the room. Then we do an LED room wash to transform the environment.”

Gordon Link, president ofBernhard Link Theatrical Productions in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, adds that “projection equipment really places you in events, whether it’s panels where the source is actually the screen or a higher resolution that can light up entire walls with complete computer link-up giving you a montage of an entire scene.”

LEDs can be used in so many other ways as well: to light slick Plexiglas bars or tables from the inside so they look like pieces of sculpture, in mid-room columns, as an accent light under a sculpture, tree or imposing floral arrangement, as strips for cove lighting, and as video screens for image projection. It’s a great new technology with a lot of advantages: LEDs don’t break easily, they’re cordless, (battery operated), reliable, reusable, come in a litany of colors, cost effective, they don’t use much electricity or generate a lot of heat, and they have a long life.

Manipulating the Environment

Another advantage of using lighting as design and décor elements is that it’s easy to manipulate the mood, change the ambience repeatedly during an event, or define different areas of a space with different lighting applications. Just change the lighting and you change the mood: a room washed with a blue hue looks totally different from the same space with a red glow. Or use lighting to pace an event or highlight different aspects of it. For instance, change the color backdrop of a stage repeatedly to differentiate various categories during an awards ceremony. Or, get guests to move from one place to another by focusing light where you want them to go.

It’s not all about room effects, however. Planners are also thinking differently to structure events in different ways. Take theme parties and cocktail receptions, for example. They are tried and true concepts that bring people together to celebrate an occasion, network, mix and mingle, etc., but instead of the usual strictly stand-up affairs, a lot of corporate clients are gravitating toward a sleek, lounge concept, using sophisticated production techniques. The lounge idea is also a way to promote more relaxed guest interaction in a very contemporary milieu.

The lounge concept also assumes a contemporary approach to sound, lighting, and, of course, the bar. It includes LED lighting, glow tables, Lucite bars, lounge furniture, leather couches, low coffee tables, and often, no linen or florals. Each element is essential to the seamless functioning of the whole immersion experience.

Another technique planners are using to add new dimensions to events, generate excitement and keep the event lively is to keep the event changing and the guests moving. Lighting and other production techniques can help move the process along. Have people move from one room to another, or change lighting and entertainment periodically to change the pace, alter the mood, and liven things up.

Even if the event takes place in a single room, you can change the look of the space in a flash and alter the ambience with LED color washes. For instance, you can switch the lighting and transform the look of the room, so it appears different at arrival, during dinner and at the dancing part of evening. A blue wash, for example, looks cool and elegant to start off the evening, but when the band comes on, it’s a good time to warm it up with amber or magenta colors so people want to dance.

Another way to go is to have guests walk around to different stations for food and entertainment, placed all around the space. Each area can have its own signature lighting and A/V treatment to separate it from the others. Food stations, bars, different music ensembles, gaming tables or consoles, can be placed in assorted locations and set off in different ways with light, color, and sound effects for guests to explore throughout the event. 

Even food and beverage components can be more of an entertaining and interactive experience at today’s events. A lot of planners are hiring “flair” bartenders (like in Cocktail) to serve up branded martinis or other specialty cocktails—some even accented with LED-lit “ice” cubes–for the occasion. Bartenders are becoming “mixologists” who combine flavors and ingredients in custom-concocted drinks the way chefs compose meals. Wine or spirit tastings are also gaining in popularity as guests become more sophisticated consumers and educate their palates as they immerse themselves in the total experience of the event and enjoy the festivities.