Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal

Stages of Denial: The Pros & Cons of Built-In Stages at Event Venues

Since we are currently in the process of building two events in venues with resident stages, it seemed like a good time to talk a little bit about the pros and cons of this sort of thing.

First, the pros: It’s a stage. In your room! It’s cool, it looks a little more “real” ... a little more “Broadway.” You don’t have to use scruffy hotel risers. And you get to say words like “proscenium,” “fly rail” and “main drape.” All good things, to be sure.

But even though a built-in stage has its advantages, it generally won’t solve all your problems. For example, there’s a stage at a convention center we frequent that -- to the casual observer – appears to be a real stage, but when you get right down to it, it’s unusable without building out an extensive thrust addition. Why? Well, there’s hardly any depth to speak of, and no wing space. Which means that if you have any scenic items or any technical gear on the stage, you’re out of space for your presenters or performers. In addition, there’s not really any access to the house without going backstage, which makes it difficult for award winners or presenters to come from the house. Not world-ending problems, just things to consider.

In another heavily-union venue we’re working in, the resident stage comes with a high price tag. It looks like a complete package, ready to go, but further research has uncovered a plethora of extra costs. Doing anything on the stage requires a special rigging call, for example. And what looks like a perfectly suitable lighting rig is really at the wrong angle for the stage action we’ve got going on, and requires union labor to re-hang and re-focus. And when we asked to move an existing scrim from one fly rail to the other, the initial answer was “no,” which would have required us to acquire and hang a new scrim, when a perfectly usable one was already in place ... just a few yards out of position. (We were later able to change that to a grudging “yes,” thereby saving a few dollars.)

Another “watch-out” is stage size. If you’re used to creating a nice little 18x24 deck with hotel risers and all of a sudden you’ve got a 50-foot proscenium to fill, you’re going to encounter some extra scenic and lighting costs.

So by all means, pursue spaces with built-in stages. But remember to consider the pitfalls, and examine things like backstage space, access to house, fly space (and accompanying costs), existing lighting truss and instruments and union regulations. And then, break a leg!

-- Amy Oriani
Martin Bastian

How to Host a Party for 1,000 People: Behind the Scenes in Large-Scale Catering

For those who have never worked in the catering business, the idea of serving 1,000 people delicious, warm, innovative food at the same time would seem daunting and intimidating. I will not lie, it is. Gaining experience and learning the "tricks of the trade" will provide an invaluable idea of what large-scale catering events entail.

The three c's–cuisine, chef and concept–will define how your catering brand is known and the quality of the guest experience. They are the foundation of a caterer's success.

Cusine: The food remains the most important aspect of any catering event. If the food does not exceed the expectations of the guests–and remember there are 1,000 of them at once–then the experience can be disastrous. Every part of the meal, from the soup or salad course to the entree and dessert, must be delicious and at the proper temperature. Buying the best fresh and local ingredients will put any event on the path to success. Here are some cooking tricks of the catering trade:

• Salads for dozens, fast: Whack the bottom of a head of lettuce with a knife so the leaves separate, fill a basin with cold water, dump in a few heads and swish them around to rinse. Spin them dry in the largest batch possible, or put then in a large plastic bag with a couple of kitchen towels and swing them. (Caterers don't use plastic bags, they use spinners, but this works well and saves the cost of restaurant equipment you might not use more than once a year). When the leaves are dry, stack them up on a large cutting board and slice across them at approximately one inch intervals. If you're feeling fancy or have time, you can slice down the length of the leaves too, making more bite-size lettuce pieces.
• Oysters on the half shell: Oysters require extra labor to chuck, but they are currently a popular item. Allow guests to customize by choosing what to add and have a variety of applications and uses for a caterer to show their skills.
• Pour some sugar on me: For any bland tasting food there is one simple and easy cure: sugar. A teaspoon of sugar will enhance almost any dish. Even if your recipe doesn't call for sugar, tossing in a half teaspoon will brighten the flavor while adding negligible calories.

Chef: In reality, a group of talented chefs makes a difference. I have the pleasure and honor of working with some of the most talented, passionate and committed culinary minds at Morrissey Hospitality Companies (MHC). Each one of them makes my job easier and more enjoyable through our collective talents of supporting and growing together to create memorable experiences for our guests. 

Chefs need to be creative and have the ability to think outside the box. For large-scale events, this type of thinking and strategizing needs to happen at the beginning of the event planning process and it has to support the host's goals and budget. Great food done well every time is far above exceptional food done well some of the time.

MHC prides itself by working and meeting with a client as often as they would like in order to exceed their expectations for an event. We work alongside the host as a partner, which involves fact finding, tastings and reviews of the schedule.

Concept: Full service catering offers a host and event the services of setting up, executing and cleaning up all parts of an event. MHC strives to provide the complete experience. After spending days, weeks and months planning an event, we want you to enjoy it.

Cleaning up after an event is likely the last part of the event you want to be involved with or think about. For a 1,000-person event, it can take multiple days to clean the thousands of plates, silverware and glassware, as well as the utensils, pots and pans used to cook and prepare the food and beverages.

And what about all of the compost and waste? At the Saint Paul RiverCentre there is nearly a one-to-one ratio of trash to recycling on site. All food waste from kitchens, concession areas and offices are now composted. There are guidelines for purchasing biodegradable and compostable food service ware in many areas of the convention center. Between the waste, recycling and purchasing programs, the RiverCentre has reduced trash by 59 percent and 53 percent since 2009.

Although you may not be inviting 1,000 people to your house anytime soon, there are some tips and tricks you can apply no matter the size of your group. Most of all have fun, and after all of the planning and executing is done, gather feedback from your host and their guests. There is always something to learn and be better at the next time.

--Lance Kapps
Corporate Chef, Morrissey Hospitality Companies, Inc.

[Photos courtesy of Morrissey Hospitality Companies]

A Little More Conversation, A Little More Action

Sorry for the Elvis paraphrase, but it’s really the way things are going these days. At least, it’s the way things should be going.

Sadly, there are still plenty of meetings out there during which participants (no, wait, attendees) are expected to sit quietly and magically absorb key learnings via a stream of words directed from the podium. And we should all feel sorry for those attendees, because being a participant is ever so much better.

Thankfully, well-designed meetings that engage participants in two-way conversation are becoming the norm. Hey, it’s even the new TED model. In a conversation-based model, questions get asked and answered, ideas get shared and sparks ignite. Tapping into the collective mind is a much smarter way to take advantage of bringing people together, and allows us to get better answers to better questions. 

So how do you open the door to conversation in a meeting room? Well, there’s always the tried-and-true audience response system, but it seems that only about half (if that) of the attendees engage with the clickers placed at every seat. But, it’s a start.

Q&A sessions, sure. Although this may seem like a given, sometimes it seems that conversation is the very thing people are scared of. Instead of asking “What if someone asks the tough questions? What if there are too many questions? What if? What if?” ask “What are we afraid of?” Would it be better to spend the money to bring people together and send them home with their questions unanswered? Certainly not. Has anyone counted the cost of not being able to tap the ideas that occur during a really good facilitated conversation or Q&A?

Small-group discussions always spur conversation, especially when well-directed. Consider, for example, an educational medical conference where case studies are solely presented from the podium. How much more effective might it be if this was coupled with a chance for the doctors-in-training who attend to present their own case studies to a small group, come up with solutions and then receive feedback from the stage?

Or, start the conversation in one room and continue it in another. For an upcoming event, we’re filling a room with interactive technology, where participants can interact with (and generate) general session content in a variety of ways. By collecting their insights and comments and making sure they’re addressed (even by contributor name) in subsequent general sessions, attendees will know their input in this conversation is valued and recognized. 

Also, why hold sessions that spur ideas and beg for conversation then follow with a mere 15-minute break? Consider building in time for people to really engage with each other, or to sit with the speaker and ask the questions they may not want to ask in front of the entire group. Or, plan a one-hour break with interactive materials that spur conversation. Or follow up with a breakout solely for people who want to go deeper (and get more specific) with the material or onsite expert.

So if learning is the most important goal of your event, don’t let it be an afterthought. Take a look at the space, schedule and format of your meeting to see if it’s really conducive for learning, and remember: sharing ideas, asking questions and encouraging conversation (before, during and after the event) all serve to help us engage and LEARN.

So what are you waiting for? Get the conversation started!

-- Amy Oriani
Martin Bastian

* For more of Martin Bastian's tips on speakers and entertainment, see our Fall cover story: Your Best Event.

Venue Highlight: Minnesota Marine Art Museum

In each issue of the magazine we highlight a different space available for meetings and events. In the Spaces section of our fall issue we featured the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. If you have a favorite space that you think we should highlight in the magazine or here on the blog, let us know in the comments below.

Located on the picturesque banks of the Mississippi River, the museum features four major art galleries and a garden that mimics the landscape of the upper Mississippi River Valley, providing year-round color with its 60,000 plantings of native shrubs, flowers, grasses and trees. Only 20 to 25 percent of the museums entire art collection is on display at any given time and new exhibits are installed about every month and a half, making it a great place to bring meetings time after time.

The museum offers a variety of spaces that can accommodate as many as 100 attendees. The multipurpose room can seat 50 at tables or 60 with lecture style seating. This space allows your event to be closed off from the rest of the museum, but attendees the opportunity to explore the galleries and garden during free time. The atrium, available to rent after gallery hours, seats 70 at tables or as many as 100 in lecture style seating.

Space rental includes access to the galleries, audiovisual equipment and use of the museums banquet tables and chairs. Preferred caterer Signatures serves up local ingredients, offers full bar services and provides room setup and clean up.

--Claire Walling
Editorial Intern

[Photos courtesy of Minnesota Marine Art Museum]

Deciphering the A/V proposal, Part II

Ed Note: Amy-Marie wrote Part I, Demystifying the technology of A/V, back in August.

Most hotels have an in-house A/V vendor that is their preferred vendor and will be great at taking care of all your needs. They have specialists on-site who will set up all your equipment and check back in case you need anything else or have any ‘technical difficulties.' I am always in favor of using the in-house A/V vs. bringing your own projectot. As I mentioned in my last post, I know enough to be dangerous, but I am not an A/V super geek! I do not want to be responsible for making the projector work. (There is nothing more nerve-wracking than being in front of 50-100 people trying to get a projector to work!)   

As with anything, there are pros and cons to using the hotel A/V vs. bringing your own.

Hotel A/V pros: It's in the room when you arrive, set and ready to go, comes with technical support and they can troubleshoot any problems or issues.

Hotel A/V cons: It's expensive and in some hotels there is a service charge on top of the rental fees and charges.

I always make it a point to go through the A/V proposal with a fine-toothed comb and ask questions about each and every charge that I am wondering about: whether or not it is needed, what the piece of equipment is or what the charge is for. I think I can sometimes be the biggest pain in their side, but if I am going to be paying as much as they are charging, I want to make darn sure that I understand everything that I am paying for! Here are a few items off of my last A/V invoice:

+ $40 for a roll of gaff tape per room. Really? What am I going to do with nine partial rolls of gaff tape after the program?

+ $60 power service fee per room per day. LCDs and computers don’t usually require any special power, but you get charged to plug anything in.

+ A separate charge for the flipchart easel, the flip chart and the markers.

+ Extension cords and power strips. You pay for these items if you're bringing in your own LCD, otherwise this is included.

+ Labor charges. There is a hourly minimum per set-up per room. If it takes only 30 minutes to set the room, you are still charged the minimum one hour. Labor is usually around $50/hour, but at my last event it was $96/hour because the hotel, the hotel’s parent company and the A/V company’s parent company all needed to get their slice of the pie for the labor.

+ Service charges. This varied per room and was based on the gear and the expendable equipment like the extension cords and power strips.

Thankfully, through quite a bit of negotiation and questioning what I felt was fair and accurate, I was able to get quite a bit removed or reduced (like those extra rolls of gaff tape!). My point is, don’t let the A/V proposal overwhelm you. Take the time to review it, mark it up, ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to push back on what you don’t feel is right. You could successfully save your event budget a few hundred dollars…and wouldn’t that be great?!

-- Amy-Marie Lemanski
Nexstar Network

Your Best Event: 66 Tips for Better Events in 2013

Our fall issue is out, with the cover story Your Best Event, offering 66 ways to improve your meetings and events in 2013. Here are just some of the topics we cover and the tips we provide:

Event Design: It's not just about making things pretty, but understanding truly what the client needs.

Food & Beverage: Small plates, food trucks, healthy choices and more.

Floral: Use succulents, as they work in all types of weather and last a long time!

Social Media: There's a lot more that goes into it than meets the eye.

Venue Selection: Picking a venue that's right for your event, and not the other way around, is key.

Theming: Everything from food to decor matches and creates a seamless feel.

Invitations: Hand-drawn invitations give off a very special feel.

Sound & Lighting: This is not the place to scrimp!

Speakers: Long keynotes are out. Short speeches that play into the event's goals are in.

Event Branding: You can do it, and still be stylish and subtle.

Event decor: Graffiti walls, inflatable furniture and more!

Entertainment: It can, and should, be about more than just hiring a band.

Event Marketing: You don't have to do it all yourself. Find your champions and have them help you.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Go ahead and read the story and come back and tell us your thoughts: what did we miss, what did we get right, what are you looking forward to in 2013?

-- Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor

Taking a Theme to the Next Level, Comic Book Style

Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of helping many companies launch and promote their annual United Way campaigns. But for Deluxe’s 2012 campaign, we did more than launch a campaign, we launched a new universe of comic book super heroes.

Deluxe’s theme for this year’s campaign – The Power of We, or POW! – sparked the idea of honoring and celebrating all the super heroes at Deluxe who have made past campaigns so successful. Using this year’s objectives, we identified three types of super heroes:

Change Agent – a team member who gives money to the United Way.

Minute Man – a team member who gives their time to United Way agencies.

The Eventurer – a team member who organizes or attends fundraising events for the United Way.

And what better way to introduce these super heroes than through an original comic book? This approach seemed particularly apt, given that Deluxe knows a thing or two about custom printing, as they have state-of-the-art printing plants across the country.

Thus was born Issue One of The Power of We, a full-color comic book given to every team member at Deluxe to help introduce and promote this year’s United Way campaign.

In the comic book, the employee super heroes -- led by Deluxe’s CEO (whose alter ego is the hockey-playing Captain D) and campaign co-chairs and Senior VPs (aka The Power Play) – go head-to-head with their arch-enemy, In-Action. The story introduces all the characters and then pits them against their enemy at Captain D’s secret hideaway, The Rink.

In true comic book fashion, the story ends with a cliffhanger, but also includes a QR code that directs the reader to a website where they can see the nail-biting conclusion as the story comes to life in a live-action video.

This comic book/video hybrid helped get the message to all 6,000 employees in a fun and memorable fashion and has proved to be such a hit that plans are already underway for a sequel that will kick off next year’s United Way campaign. This sequel will include new heroes and a brand new, yet-to-be-named villain (who made a sneaky cameo appearance in this year’s video).

Step aside Dark Knight -- sounds like Deluxe has got all the elements for another blockbuster hit next year!

-- Amy Oriani
Martin Bastian

RFPs Made Simple

In the past few weeks, we’ve responded to two Requests for Proposal for event production. One was perfectly reasonable, and the other was ... not. And by “not,” I mean that the venue hadn’t been named, the scope of work included the nebulous phrase, “All Deliverables,” and the capped budget had to include—among other things—travel costs for an undetermined number of videos in undetermined (possibly overseas) locations with an undetermined schedule.

So, in an effort to spread the word about how to get the best RFP response from a production company, I would like to present my Easy 2-Step Process:

1. Share as much information as you can.
2. Consider a qualification-based selection process.

Following these two steps will help you get qualified responses that can be easily compared, so you can make the best decision possible for your project.

Let me expand. By “information,” I mean everything from budgets to venues to company personality to past show flows to what the determining factor(s) in your decision will be. 

Why? Well, for example, budgets. Many clients choose not to reveal the budget range for projects. But providing a budget doesn’t mean that companies will go hog-wild spending every last dime. It means simply this: your RFP participants will design an affordable event that works for you, and you’ll be able to compare apples to apples when the responses come in. Not providing a budget range means that the responses will be all over the map, and some qualified respondents will be tossed out because they missed the target, when in reality, they had no idea what they were aiming for.

Another example: venue. Many times, RFPs are sent out before venues are selected, and that’s perfectly fine and reasonable. But in those cases, there are unknowns that need to be bracketed from the final budget total. Things like union regulations, rigging costs and carpet protection are huge variables that can really impact the bottom line. We can warn you that they’re coming, but providing an accurate cost is impossible without thorough venue research.

Also, allow respondents to ask questions. We’ve actually gotten RFPs that state, right on the front cover, that NO QUESTIONS WILL BE ALLOWED. So right there your chances of getting any sort of qualified response drop by a huge percentage.

And what’s “Qualification-Based Selection?” Simple: Allow a company to prove they’ve got what it takes to produce your event through case studies, references and probing questions like (yes, these are real), “Describe the clients with whom you’ve had the greatest mutual success,” and “Define what you expect from your clients to ensure you can be as effective as possible,” and “We are interested in hearing how you do your work. What are the specific actions, practices, and methods that define how you do what you do?” 

Let’s face it. The chances that anyone will read through your RFP and provide exactly the creative you’re looking for on the first try are pretty slim. The best creative comes from a thorough understanding of your goals, objectives and company personality, plus a good working relationship. That takes time. For now, let a company prove to you that they’re the best partner, and then work together to make your event an unqualified success.

We want to give you what you want. We really do. We want you to be able to choose the company that will be the best partner for you. And by providing a budget range, good information and allowing for a little conversation, you’ll get RFP responses that give you a good sense of who the companies are, what they can do for you, and how you’ll be able to work together. 

See? Simple!

For more from Amy and others on RFPs, see “The Art of the RFP” in our summer 2009 issue.

-- Amy Oriani
Martin Bastian

Demystifying the technology of A/V, Part I

We all know that A/V is the necessary evil in any meeting or event. It's a mystery as to why they have to charge what they do and how they really determine what you need. Early on my career I actually worked in audiovisual sales. I still can’t figure out how to connect the DVD to the DVR to the TV and make the correct remote control work, but I did learn enough to be a dangerous negotiator in regards to A/V.

Let’s start with a few basic fundamentals about some of the basic gear.

Wireless Microphone Kit: It's called a kit because it offers you a choice of two microphones (either a handheld microphone or a wireless lavalier microphone). You can only use one of the mics at a time though. Because they are wireless, they run on a wireless signal and that signal is the same for both mics. Therefore, if you try to use them both at the same time they will cancel each other out. They are beneficial in that if you don’t know the preferences of the speaker or your agenda has a variety of speakers and audience Q&A, they provide you with the ability to be versatile.

Mixer (and I’m not talking about the one that is in your kitchen!): This is an essential piece of equipment if you have more than one microphone in use. In most hotels you can plug one microphone in to the house sound and there should still be a volume control in the room for the mic. If you are using more than one mic, you need to have a mixer. Think of it as a “power strip” of sorts where you will plug multiple mics into this box and then this box will connect to the house sound. Mixers can come in several ‘sizes’ or 'channels.' You will most often see four-channel mixers, but they can go up to 22-channels…think of how many mics you would have for U2 or some other band!

Plasma vs. LCD: A plasma screen is a combination of neon-xenon gas which is sealed in plasma. The gas is electronically charged and when the charges strike the red, green and blue phosphorus it creates the image you see on the screen. They are also called ‘pixels’. Plasmas are similar to the old-fashioned tube-style TVs in that they generate heat but are more streamlined since they are flat.

An LCD (or liquid crystal display) is made up of two transparent labels that are polarized and glued together. One layer is treated with a polymer that ‘holds’ the liquid crystals. An electric current is passed through the crystals. The crystals will either pass or block the light to create the image you will see. They use less power than a plasma and therefore, generate less heat.

Both Plasmas and LCDs present their own set of pros and cons. Plasmas are not as bright as LCDs so if you are in a very bright location (meeting room with lots of windows or outside, perhaps) an LCD is a better choice. Hence, why most outdoor screens and those new fancy billboards are all LCD.

Next month: How do you decipher the A/V proposal from the hotel?

-- Amy-Marie Lemanski
Nexstar Network

Planning for Outdoor Events

We are in the infamous “Dog Days of Summer” and if you listen to the news or weather, you know that just about the entire country is under weather advisories of some sort or another. This is also the time of the year that we Minnesotans and Midwesterners like to be outside as much as possible…picnics, weddings, baseball games, etc. This is also the time of year when outdoor events abound!

Do you have your risk management plan in place for your outdoor event? And I don’t just mean an indoor back up venue in the event of rain.

Remember several years ago when we were having unseasonably warm weather in the fall during marathon season? The 2007 Chicago Marathon was in early October and it was forecasted to be in the 80s with high humidity. They talked about it all week. What was the risk management plan for their 36,000+ runners? If you recall, they called the race after about 3.5 hours and started directing runners off the course at about the half way point. Those runners that made it past that point before they called it were still on the course. However, the volunteers at the water stops were not all staffed and some were completely abandoned.  

What would you have done differently?  Added more water stops? Added misting stations along the course? Increased medical staff to assist with any overheating or dehydration issues? They did have a better plan the following year when it was again in the 80s and humid.

I am the F&B Chair for the Basilica Block Party in my spare time. We have a risk management plan for our event that we have only had to put to use once (knock on wood) a few years ago when we had thunderstorm rumble through our event on Friday night. We have since revised it after implementing it.   We thought we had thought of everything when we first created it, but once you actually have to use it, you learn a few things, like how to notify a crowd of 14,000 that they need to take cover and where to direct them, what to do with all that beer, how to communicate to your committee via our radios and a few other things. 

We review the emergency plan at the last full committee meeting before the event. We know that there will always be those party-goers that will want to take on Mother Nature, but our primary goal is the safety of our attendees and committee members and to secure cash/tickets and product (as much as we can). I would encourage you to have a plan and to review before your event and ask others to review it as well.  Sometimes two (or three or four) heads are better than one.

-- Amy-Marie Lemanski
Senior Event Planner, Nexstar Network