Special Themes for Special Events

How prevalent is the use of themes by meeting planners? In an online poll M&C conducted in April, fully 87 percent of respondents said they always or sometimes theme their major conferences or special events. The most fertile source of inspiration, as attested to by 79 percent of those surveyed, is a planner's own creativity. The following theme ideas, gleaned from respondents, prove that ingenuity, imagination and a sense of fun run rampant in our industry.  


Down the rabbit hole
The International Live Events Association took cues from Alice Through the Looking Glass, the Johnny Depp--starring movie sequel that hit theaters last year, to theme its 2016 Live Espirit Awards at the JW Marriott Austin in Texas. The show, designed by Tempe, Ariz.-based Vermilion Events and Design Group with Austin's own Strong Events, used the movie's edgy, hallucinatory look for a most memorable event.

"They wanted to push the envelope," says David Twigger, creative director and founder of Vermilion. "I'm a fan of the Alice movies, so we pitched the theme of a nontraditional Alice in Wonderland, focusing on some of the brighter, more intense colors they had in the new movie."

Attendees arriving at the hotel initially encountered a TV screen featuring an animated Cheshire Cat that greeted and interacted with them personally thanks to some tech wizardry. The reception area featured a wall dressed with warped clocks and a DJ dressed as Alice. A table was stocked with vintage telephones hooked up to a system by FêteFone that allowed attendees to record greetings and thoughts on the event, which were later delivered to the host organization. Another table was covered with a "mad" tea service of vintage tea cups and pots, which actually served as wine vessels for the reception.

At dinner, table setups came in bold shades of purple and black, or orange and green with purple highlights. "In the middle of the floor we had two long 'queen's' tables seating 30 people each, draped with red and black linen and with red-velvet chair backs," says Twigger. "The centerpieces were mannequin heads with red heart-shaped hair made out of red roses."

The menu was equally unusual, featuring quail roulade, seven-layer lobster salad and braised beef short ribs. Diners were surrounded by airwalls bedecked with snatches of text from the source book, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.


Presidential pizza-makers
When the Santa Barbara, Calif., chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization, for company presidents under 50 years old, decided on an Undercover Boss-themed networking event, they took advantage of the fact that one of their members is owner of the Rusty's Pizza Parlor chain of restaurants.

All 17 participants gathered for an icebreaker at a downtown Rusty's as the day began and were asked to write their first job on a slip of paper; as each was picked out of a hat, everyone had to guess whose job it had been. Next, members were each given a Rusty's uniform of a logoed black T-shirt, a nametag and a black baseball cap, and then it was off to "work."

Groups of two and three people were sent to six Rusty's restaurants, whose management staff were told that just one from the team could be hired, based on their pizza-making prowess. The participants then went about grating cheese, rolling dough, constructing pizzas and popping them into the oven.

"We wanted to give them the experience of a job that they are not normally accustomed to doing," says Sylvia Edney, chapter manager of YPO Santa Barbara, who planned the event. "We wanted them to think back on what it is like to get your first job."

At the end of the day, when all 17 aspiring pizza makers reassembled back at the starting point, they each were handed an "employee of the month" certificate, "but the most coveted item of the day was a gold sticker that marked who from each group got the job," says Edney. "We just wanted to members to get to know each other and bond through a shared experience." (See a video of the event here.)

Donkey Kong lives!
Designing an awards banquet for the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, Kimberly Wander, owner of Elevated Events in Tampa, Fla., went old-school with flair. The idea was to create an ode to early video games from the 1980s and '90s.

"I had so much fun putting this together," Wander says of the event for 450 people, held at the A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa. "The video games I used for inspiration were Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros. and others."

Upon entering the event space, attendees encountered the vintage arcade games and more. A Nintendo console hooked up to a huge screen allowed the crowd to watch as their compatriots played. Costumed characters like Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Bros. wandered the room. Event-sponsor logos appeared on a giant Rubik's cube, and a photo booth offered a choice of screen-shot backgrounds from video games.

Other touches included Pac-Man stickers on the floor, marking paths through the room. The flowers in the centerpieces on the banquet tables were held by cassette tapes and framed video-game screen shots. As an extra theme touch, TBTF's marketing director came up with the idea of having an artist take parts from old gaming consoles and fashion them into awards that were given in categories like CIO of the Year and Technology Company of the Year.

The evening's signature drink, served in a martini glass, was called the "Power Up Punch" (vodka, orange juice, a splash of sweet and sour, and a splash of club soda); for dessert, Oreo pops and cupcakes featured Pac-Man designs.

A fun modern touch: Virtual-reality headsets were available for people to view videos taken at the award-finalists' offices, which proved a fun way for attendees to get to know the contenders.


A hair-raising final night
All that attendees knew in advance about the closing night shindig for the 2015 National Cattlemen's Beef Association's convention was that there would be a mustache contest and some great entertainment. Kristen Torres, executive director of meetings and events, says keeping final-night details secret from everyone except the suppliers is derigueur for the group's annual gathering, in this case held at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.  

The mustache contest, however, was announced about three months in advance, so those who wished to participate could let their upper lips bloom. On the big night, the 2,000 attendees entering the Gonzalez Center were ushered into an event space set up as a comedy club for a show starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy and cowboy poet Baxter Black (both well-known mustache wearers), along with music by country stars Asleep at the Wheel.

After the show, attendees entered the official contest area -- the same prefunction space they had walked through to enter the "club" -- which had been magically tricked out in mustache-related decorations. "We bought hundreds of mustache stick-ons and temporary tattoos," says Torres, "and our sponsor supplied centerpieces with different mustaches on sticks that you could use in the photo booth."

Contest participants could enter up to two weeks prior to the event; their pictures were posted online and voted on via social media as well as by attendees on the big night. Winners in the categories of best handlebar, best walrus, best horseshoe and best natural chevron mustache received shaving kits from Harry's. "It worked really well for our demographic," notes Torres. "Our attendees loved the whole thing."