2010's Best and Worst Event Trends

Favorite Trends of 2010

1.Sustainable corporate gifts. Dual-purpose items with meaning: jump drives, recyclable event/grocery bags, eco-friendly personal items.

2.Using an iPad to replace all the paper for event managers and producers, including while checking in guests. No more bulky binders!

3.Advanced contemporary color combinations. As clients and the general public become savvy about color through advertising and merchandising, more are willing to explore new color combinations, like ochre and steel gray or nude and black.

4.The increased use of dining options other than a 72-inch round and banquet chairs. We have seen people use a captain’s table, create booth seating with sofas and ottomans, and opt for a square table or even a triangle. Many people are using club chairs for table ends and choosing linenless options for tables.”

5.Food and dessert trucks that can be used post-event.

6.Creating custom marketing programs that communicate the brand using advanced formats to distribute information. For example, utilizing new technology applications involving touch, gesture and spatial perception, projection, or holography. Marketing is becoming more multi-faceted through interactive methods; installations that do not simply illustrate but involve the consumer."

Worst Trends of 2010

1.Cupcakes. Unless it is a children’s event, they’ve worn out their welcome. There are so many other creative dessert options.

2.Designers and sales people trying too hard to make and sell a ‘green’ event. Some spend so much time and effort—along with countless emails and paperwork that also use natural resources—spent to make an event ‘look green.’ Compare the imprint of those resources to the imprint of the original event concept. Sometimes, thinking smart and efficient can make the planning process more green than the event.

3.No more white Plexiglas bars! Every event starts to look the same, and there are ways to custom-design these bars to create a much more interesting effect. Create an interesting wallpaper effect out of decals, insert a beautiful natural wood element, or mirror the front side to add more interest.

4.Companies going out of their way for a celebrity endorsement at all costs, especially when getting them to attend results in a missing event concept or inferior aesthetics.

5.Cheap acrylic furniture and anything inflatable.

-BizBash