Inside scoop:
Some dramatic tentwork from
Echelon Events Inc.
What’s the peg for a story on tents? The
consensus of a number of savvy planners can be summed up in one
word: novelty. “Tents are amazing,” enthuses Ria Bruns, president
of Classic Tents & Events, an Atlanta-based supplier. “There’s
really nothing like them.”
Indeed, along with their unique versatility, tents can lend a
breezy, earthy elegance to any event that few ballrooms can
replicate. But tents also can cause quite a flap for the
uninitiated planner, who might have to scramble to keep an event
from collapsing sometimes literally.
“Tent events do put you through the ringer,” confides Gregory
G. Sullivan, owner and special events producer of Boston-based
Echelon Events Inc. “There are about five times as many hoops you
have to jump through.”
M&C canvassed planners and suppliers alike for
tips on getting through every step of the process of tenting an
event, from site selection to cleanup.
Go with the experts
The one piece of advice planners and suppliers are most
emphatic about is to choose a tent rental company carefully. “These
people will be your greatest supporters in the days leading up to
and including the event,” Bruns notes. “They need to be the most
reliable workers out there. We’ve seen situations where the company
shows up late, and everything’s fairly close to ruined. The tent
has got to be there when it’s supposed to be because, unlike with a
ballroom event, you can’t even begin to set anything up until the
tent’s erected.”
Bruns and others say the safest bet is to rent from members of
a professional organization, such as the American Rental
Association (800-334-2177; www.ararental.org) or the International Special
Events Society (800-688-4737; www.ises.com).
Watch the weather
While the wonders of climate-control technology have made
comfortable tenting possible almost year-round, there are some
weather conditions to beware.
Heavy wind and rain remain undefeated bullies in the tent
arena. Rain can act as a particularly wet blanket at an outdoor
event. “You can position a tent’s gutters to whisk away the water,”
says Gregory G. Sullivan, owner and producer of Boston-based
Echelon Events Inc., “but eventually water will settle in the
lowest spot, which can very possibly be inside your tent.”
It’s a good idea to stay away from areas and/or seasons
notorious for their rainstorms. Several planners and suppliers
offer the hard advice of booking a back-up indoor venue, no matter
when and where the event is held. It can be costly, certainly, but
so can the fallout when an event has no dry place to go.
LIKE A BLANK CANVAS
Unflappable: Tentnology’s
Saddlespan model
“The fun thing about using a tent,” says Monica Antola of Eventworks Los Angeles, “is how free you are with the architecture of your space. You can pick the height, the shape. You can really design your own ballroom.” And thanks to innovations from some of the tent industry’s more enterprising manufacturers, the options have never been so rich.
Antola sings the praises of De Boer Vinings (770-333-1886;
www.deboer.com), a German company with a U.S. branch in Atlanta. De Boer’s aluminum models, which come with a certification of durability, include the Delta tent, a 30-foot-high structure with a flat-pitch roof that flies in the face of A-frame convention. Tentatively planned for a U.S. arrival this year is the Millennium Dome, a perfect clearspan (without poles) circle with a 160-foot diameter and a 20-foot sidewall.
Mark Addison of Eventstyle Inc. trumpets British Columbia-based Tentnology (800-663-8858;
www.tentnology.com), a high-end manufacturer known for its trademark stretch-style tents. Built with a minimum of unsightly framework, much of this model’s sturdiness comes from the strength of the tent material itself, stretched like spandex across the perimeter, making for easier setup as well as a sleeker look. Addison especially likes the Saddlespan model, a 24-foot-tall, 5,000-square-foot canopy, stage cover, party tent and tent hall in one, surprisingly elegant for a structure shaped something like a Pringles potato chip.
As Suzanne Warner, president of Tentnology, says, “To be competitive in this industry, you have to be a pretty face, a relatively cheap date and pass your bar exam at the same time.” - M.D.R.
Work from the ground up
Tenting’s greatest advantage might be the variety of
location options it provides the planner, but careful site
selection is still required. “You really can erect a tent almost
anywhere,” assures Monica Antola, account executive for EventWorks
in Los Angeles, “but you do have to perform a very thorough site
inspection first to know what you’re dealing with.” According to
Antola, a sufficiently experienced rental team will help evaluate a
site, mark possible soft spots and keep any tent on terra
firma.
Then there’s the matter of damage control. Don’t be too
charmed by a well-tended garden upon site inspection, warns Gregory
Sullivan, because the best-kept grounds are not always a best bet.
“Any planner will have to very seriously budget in the costs of
returning the grounds to the condition he found them in,” notes
Sullivan. “And that can turn out to be fairly expensive.”
Whether a tent is staked into the ground or fastened with the
less invasive method of anchoring with water barrels, the worst and
least avoidable damage, Sullivan warns, is caused by hauling the
tent materials in, no matter how delicately they’re assembled and
planted. A perfectly manicured lawn can be easy on the eyes at a
preliminary site inspection but tough on the wallet when the
grounds need regrading.
Sullivan says to look for sites that offer a less loyally
tended patch of land that can easily function as a loading area for
the tenting equipment as well as the floor of the sheltered
space.
Follow the rules
Counties differ in the requirements and prohibitions they impose on
outdoor events, so it pays to brush up on relevant local law before
getting too far along in the planning process.
“A friend of mine designed a tent around these spandex chair
covers and tablecloths,” Antola recalls, “and the fire marshall
came in the day of the event and said he couldn’t have anything in
the tent that wasn’t flame retardant.” Again, a good tent rental
company will be familiar enough with the laws to avert such
last-minute crises.
No matter which district plays host to the tent event,
however, forgoing the great indoors will invariably require an
early check on all the necessary paperwork. “It depends on the
municipality,” advises Sullivan, “but often you’ll need a fresh set
of write-offs for fire, police, attendance capacity, etc. It can be
an expensive and lengthy process.”
Build early
Ria Bruns recommends setting up the tent at least one or even two
days before the actual event, to avoid an untimely brush with rain.
“It isn’t just disruptive to an event already in progress,” she
says. “If there’s a downpour, you cannot get the tent up in the
first place, no matter how many men you have working on it.”
To avoid such nightmares, Bruns leaves herself a day or two of
wiggle room, even if it means spending more money for extended use
of the grounds.
Small and sleek:
Eventstyle Inc. lights up the night.
Use the right anchors
Of the two most popular construction methods staking and anchoring
with water barrels the former is indisputably the more secure.
According to planners, however, it is not always the most prudent.
Staking requires a thorough familiarity with an area’s underground
sewage and wiring, something not always easy to attain.
“If you’re dealing with the front lawn of an existing
property,” says Sullivan, “usually the on-site facilities manager
can give you a blueprint of the underground makeup.” When dealing
with a public space sans manager, however, an attempt at staking
means inviting the local facilities authority to run a new and
comprehensive utilities check on the area, a relentlessly
bureaucratic process that can cost precious time and money.
When possible, insiders recommend the relatively hassle-free
water barrel method (sand is a common substitute), providing the
tent isn’t too voluminous. “I’d say if you’re working with a tent
that’s 60 by 80 feet or larger,” Sullivan offers, “you’ll need to
stake it down.”
Get floored
Although subflooring an artificial ground cover for under the tent
might seem like a luxury, many tent-savvy planners consider it a
given.
“Subflooring is difficult,” Antola admits. “You may not need
it, and it’s sometimes almost as expensive as installing a second
tent. On the chance of inclement weather, though, it’s a must.”
The weather that attendees track in could cause damage to
equipment and clothing, as well as the ground itself. In the case
of rain, if the lowest gathering point is under tent domain, an
artificially flat ground surface could be nothing short of a
party-saver.
Subflooring options include concrete, wood, tarmac, Astroturf
and other materials. Sources say to let personal preference be the
deciding factor.
Control the climate
The increasingly snazzy heating and cooling systems available for a
tent event still require some tricks of the trade for optimum
use.
When setting up the tent, remember that rare is the
whisper-quiet outdoor air conditioner. Keep the climate control in
a lower-traffic area, where fewer attendees will have to holler
over the whir, and be careful to distance it from the mic and
podium. The A/C will be perfectly audible without
amplification.
Antola stresses the merits of patience when using a heater,
urging planners to wait until most guests have arrived before
setting it at full blast. “Once body heat builds up under a tent,”
she says, “it’s extremely difficult to get it out of there.”
Sullivan maintains the most important precaution is to keep
technicians on hand for the duration of the evening. “With a
structure as delicate and potentially stifling as a tent,” he says,
“you do not just flip the switch and walk away. Of all the hurdles
that come up in a budget, labor is not something you scrimp
on.”
Choose the tent carefully
Recent years have seen a surge in innovative tent designs (see
“Like a Blank Canvas”). More important than architectural
extravagance, however, is that the tent be clean.
“You should see a recent picture of the tent before you agree
to rent it,” advises Mark Addison, creative director and executive
producer for New York City-based planning company Eventstyle Inc.
For the more proactive planner, he advises asking the supplier if
there’s an upcoming event that will utilize the tent in question.
If so, stop by and inspect it in person. Look especially for
smudges on transparent segments.
Decorate and cater wisely
Tent decor can be as exciting as it is daunting. Not
hemmed in by any pre-existing architecture and the aesthetic of an
indoor space, planners can create something genuinely new. Plus,
the uncharted-territory aspect of a tent wall makes for endless
branding opportunities, such as custom-weaving company names into
the tent material itself.
In addition, being under shelter outdoors allows for some
enchanting uses of the natural surroundings. “We want to keep out
the cold or the rain,” Sullivan acknowledges, “but we also want to
invite nature’s wonder into the tent with us.” To do this, he often
selects a clear-ceilinged tent, to keep sky and overarching trees
visible. He recommends this only for nighttime events, however,
since daytime sunlight could become oppressive without the
protection of an opaque material. And, of course, the twinkling
lights Sullivan runs through the branches above would be lost on a
morning crowd.
Then there’s the pesky pole problem. While new designs are
lessening or eliminating the obstructions, most affordable models
still require working around some poles. Solutions include building
tables around the intruders or hanging lighting equipment off them.
Planners also can treat poles with fabric that matches the tent
walls.
Antola notes the importance of safety in decorating, which
means clearly flagging all cable lines and water hoses and anything
else that would otherwise present a tripping hazard to
attendees.
Tented events also have ramifications for the F&B
department. For example, Antola stresses the dangers of serving
onions in a low-ventilation environment, especially during cooler
months, when the tent will be heated. Similarly, acrid foods such
as garlic would also put a damper on air quality.
Clean up responsibly
When it’s time to pack up and go home, make sure to keep
track of every rut left in the grounds and every point of damage. A
thorough rundown will come in handy later when settling
responsibilities for restoring the grounds.