What better place to hold a conference in February than sunny south Florida! We recently were charged with such a daunting task of leaving the bitterly cold and snowy Midwest to host a conference at a beautiful 5-star hotel along the Atlantic Ocean.
Our client was interested in not only providing their guests with a beautiful destination to hold their customer-focused conference, but also wanted to be able to engage them in the environment with activities and meals that were representative of the area while delivering a content heavy program.
This three-day conference started with what was going to be a beautiful ocean side welcome reception with delicious orange mojitos upon arrival, a full menu of passed and buffet style food reflective of southern Florida, flair bartenders and a calypso band poolside, corporate branding projected onto the side of the resort, and a mechanical shark in the pool which would have interacted with the guests. Unfortunately, southern Florida is considered a tropical climate for a reason and the dreaded rain plan had to be put into effect. The hotel staff, local vendors and entertainers with the Event Architects team quickly changed the game plan and location of the welcome reception all while transporting the 150+ guest arrivals (which were coming into the two major local airports), guests checking into their rooms and participating in optional afternoon breakout sessions.
Crab claws to munch on and seashell and sand-filled votives and centerpieces paid homage to the southern Florida location.
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The EA team put the backup rain plan into effect by relocating the welcome reception to the hotel ballroom.
Unfortunately, attendees became quite familiar with the backup locations to all of our outdoor activities as Mother Nature decided to cleanse southern Florida for nearly three straight days just prior to its national exposure for the Super Bowl. We had to prepare to create interesting and memorable experiences for the guests as the rain was preparing to wash out 5 out of 5 of the activities planned as well as two of the meal locations throughout the conference.
The EA team not only met this challenge, but successfully executed location changes throughout the resort with minimal confusion or stress on the guests. Meals were brought back into ballroom locations which had to be turned over rapidly. Fortunately the sun came out long enough to begin the activities the guests were scheduled to participate in. However, the rain returned in the afternoon to cancel the golf outing on the 13th hole (it truly is an unlucky number) and the champagne celebrity cruise had to move inside of the yacht.
Overcast skies kept all the guests inside the yacht on the champagne celebrity cruise.
After an off-site dinner, guests came back to the hotel to a dessert reception which took place in a transformed ballroom which the guests had spent far too much of their stay in. However, with a little bit of creativity, a lot of white furniture and fabric draping, and strategically placed lighting, this ballroom was barely recognizable. Guests enjoyed a delicious futuristic dessert reception complete with cordials, a play motion interactive screen, custom playlist of music, and desserts created to fit in with the theme of the evening. Guests could not believe this was the same location they had had the welcome reception, breakfast and lunch already – and we were only on evening two.
Dramatic lighting on white furniture transformed the hotel ballroom yet again into a futuristic dessert reception.
The interactive play motion screen was one of the futuristic games featured at the dessert reception.
What a delicious game! Futuristic-looking miniature cupcakes were served on a tic-tac-toe board and painter's palette.
The final day of the conference could not have ended on a higher note. Guests were able to enjoy breakfast out on the poolside lawn and ocean view terrace, the keynote speaker was one of the best we have seen, and all departing flights left on schedule.
Overall, this full schedule of 3 networking receptions, dinners and activities, 3 general sessions, 3 keynote speakers, a panel discussion and 18 breakout sessions left the attendees full of information, delicious food and great memories with anticipation of what the next year’s conference will bring. There may be the request to go to a different location than the tropics, but the rain didn’t ruin the fun of this year, and we won’t let it ruin the fun of next year either.