A new trend in annual fundraisers is to add an educational/professional development element to the event prior to the main event. This client did so in complete fashion. Seen below was such an interesting panel that the interactive discussion went over by 30 minutes but it was well worth it!
Once we closed the workshop portion of the event we began into the reception... Announcing doors open was our Taiko Drummers. They are always fantastic! Since our client represents all Asian cultures it was really cool to highlight various cultures via entertainment throughout the evening.
This was the most interesting factor! We wanted to use red to celebrate the Asian culture, the organization's brand, but were very concerned with it looking too Chinese or not great in the Millennium Biltmore's famed Crystal Ballroom! It actually looked fantastic with the silver accents and white patterned lighting.We continued to brand the event on the Red drape with the organizations Leo stamp.
On a budget to keep with the red accents we only ended up renting red napkins. We used house linens and rented chiavaris. It looked great.
Seen below were the Gamelan Burat Wangi and our famed vertical banners were now in place too. We helped the client with producing three vertical banners "eco-friendly" that are made from cloth and bamboo cases that they can used over and over again. For this event alone, we used them as the stage backdrop for the education sessions, push them close together for the step & repeat photos upon arrival, and then moved them to the stage to finish up the look. The highlight though in this photo are the amazing dancers!
Another very nice place to spend money when on a budget to make the most impact when hosting an event is to have your board or staff members where corsages or boutonnieres. In this case below, we have two board members (Rich Drobnick & Thomas McLain) with honoree (Sidney Rittenberg) on stage for the award photo opp.
