How to Incorporate Fall Flavors Into Your Event

How to Incorporate Fall Flavors Into Your Event

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Planning on hosting an experiential event this fall? If so, then you may also want to serve up some fall-friendly snacks and treats to get your attendees immersed in the spirit of autumn. Whether you decide to set up food stands throughout your event space or simply pass out treat bags to your attendees, we've got some tasty and relatively simple fall snacks to consider serving up.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Apple cider and doughnuts go together perfectly, allowing you to bring the joy of a day at the apple orchard into your event space! These are super easy to make, especially if you buy the doughnut mix pre-made. And don't worry; you don't need to fry them. You can purchase a doughnut baking mold that will allow you to pop these in the oven for easy, mess-free baking.

Pumpkin Energy Bars

Treat your attendees to a fall flavor with an added energy boost by whipping up a batch of pumpkin energy bars. These are easier to make than you may realize, and the pumpkin flavor comes from adding some canned pumpkin puree. Honestly, these taste a lot like pumpkin bread, but have added nutritional benefits and will provide the energy your attendees need to power through the day.

S'mores Cookie Bars

Shy of setting up an actual s'mores station at your event (which we totally recommend, if you can pull it off), these s'mores cookie bars are probably the next best thing. You can make these pretty easily by starting with your "typical" chocolate chip cookie dough (buy some pre-made from the store, if you prefer) and adding chunks of Hershey bars and marshmallow. Spinkle in a little cinnamon and chunks of graham crackers before baking, and cut into small bars once cooled.

Marshmallow Pops

Marshmallow pops make for yet another delicious and fall-friendly snack, and they're especially fun if you're going to have any children at your event. These are pretty simple to make. Simply begin with large marshmallows (like the kind you'd use for roasting) and dip them in melted chocolate before rolling them in sprinkles. You can use a toothpick or small skewer to hold them. Pop them in the fridge for about an hour, which will give the chocolate time to harden. Then, enjoy! If you want to get really festive, you can even melt white chocolate and add food coloring (we're thinking fall colors, like reds and oranges) to really pull of that autumn theme.

Fall Friendly Trail Mix

Who doesn't love a bag of trail mix as an energizing and filling snack? Incorporate fall flavors into your trail mix by starting with a store-bought bag of traditional trail mix. Then, add some butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and pretzels. Season with a bit of salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mix well and enjoy! You can serve these up in small bags to make them easy for your event attendees to grab and take with them. If you want to incorporate a little Halloween spirit (depending on when you're holding your event), you might consider adding some Halloween candy. Maybe stay clear of the candy corn, though. 

These are just a few ideas for snacks and treats you can easily prepare to bring some lovely fall flavors into your next experiential event. Your attendees will love these snacks, but don't be surprised if you get people stopping you to ask for the recipes. And of course, if you're still on the hunt for a great space to host your next event in the Miami area, be sure to check out Soho Studios!

How and Why Taste of Home Upgraded its Tour

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How and Why Taste of Home Upgraded its Tour

Taste of Home, a multi-platform producer of food-related information, has launched a new series of cooking events this year. This version has expanded greatly from prior iterations, and is going by the name Taste of Home LIVE. It began with a tour of 10 major markets, including Chicago and Atlanta, and by the end of the year, will travel through 40 different cities. Next year, it is slated to expand to 80 cities.

For the new model of events, Taste of Home has expanded to include more experiential marketing aspects, more sponsors, and a charitable experience. Many of the changes are geared for engagement with Millennial moms and other younger people, but is also working to please its core audience. To meet this and other objectives, it has made specific changes:

• On-stage experiences and social media sharing are now being prioritized. Millennials are more likely to be comfortable with getting up on stage – and sharing their experiences across multiple platforms. Therefore, the shows are offering plenty of on-stage experiences. To have a chance to participate in these, attendees must first post to Facebook or Twitter about the event.
• The show has partnered with Fusion Marketing, an experiential marketing agency, for "creative event activations." The companies will work together to provide a cohesive and powerful branding experience to the effort. Fusion will plan and execute each city's event.
• Taste of Home will support local charities. Ten percent of the proceeds from merchandise sales will be going to Feeding America, a hunger-fighting charity that operates in all of the markets where events will be held. Each event will also include a food drive. By choosing Feeding America as its beneficiary, Taste of Home can provide local support while dealing with just one main office.
• The events will still teach kitchen tips and food hacks to participants. It will also have advice from expert chefs. This will please long-time fans and make it easier for new cooks to get up to speed.
• Expert chefs will still prepare great meals at each event. This aspect is another one that is sure to be a winner with both long-time and new attendees. Everyone loves to see an expert at work!

By expanding its show to include more sponsored equipment and other features, Taste of Home will make its shows more interesting while sticking to its theme of creating great food. This tight adherence to its theme will make the branding aspect of the events more powerful, while the expansion and modernization of the presentation will bring in younger people and improve the event's word-of-mouth marketing. Taste of Home's new event style is sure to gain the brand many new fans.

If you're looking for a venue to hold a Miami stop for your company's event tour, consider Soho Studios. We have up to 70,000 square feet of indoor space that can be configured to your specifications. We also have two outdoor pavilions if you would rather have your expo in the open air. Our concierge service offers all of the help you want or need, so you won't have to search for local companies to assist you. Just give us a call for more information.

Why SPAM® Jumped on the Tour Train

Why SPAM® Jumped on the Tour Train

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Tiny houses and marketing tours have both been making waves recently, and the SPAM brand has jumped onto the trend with its Tiny House of Sizzle tour. This tour features a towed tiny house, painted in SPAM's iconic blue and yellow colors, that is traveling across the country serving SPAM recipes to those who enter. These recipes are cooked right inside the house in the Tiny SPAM Kitchen that makes up its heart. This will show those who have managed to miss out on the smells and sounds of sizzling SPAM how great it is just waiting for it to come out of the pan. Of course, the finisher for the experience will be the meal that gets served at the end, so no one will have to leave hungry.

The recipes used in the Tiny House of Sizzle will be chosen to highlight the product's versatility. Many have been developed by local chefs and influencers to tie in on food trends across the nation. Even so, those who want their SPAM in a traditional form won't be out of luck: SPAM sliders and other such favorites are on the menu.

SPAM has chosen this form of marketing not only to be trendy, but to engage all of the patrons' five main senses. There will be smells, sounds, sights, the feel of the food, and of course, the taste of the dishes all waiting to be enjoyed. The company is sure that after all of this, no one will forget the experience or the brand that provided it.

This tour won't just help the SPAM brand. The brand has partnered with Convoy of Hope, a hunger-fighting charity, to help raise funds for food. Each person who texts SIZZLE to 50555 will cause SPAM to donate $5 to Convoy of Hope. The brand will also match people's own donations dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $25,000.

A total of 12 cities, some of which have already been visited, are on the schedule for the Tiny House of Sizzle Tour. Many of the appearances are connected to food and other festivals, so they will be part of a larger fun experience. This will allow the company to catch people while they're already excited and having a good time, which will further cement the association between SPAM and positive feelings.  

While tours are fun to do, they aren't in the plans of every company. Experiential marketing also works when it takes place at a stationary venue in one or more popular cities. This allows more people to attend your event and it lets you avoid the expense of driving all over the country with a specially-designed vehicle.

For a great venue in Miami, try Soho Studios. We can provide up to 70,000 square feet of configurable, customizable space for your extravaganza. If you'd rather have your event outdoors, one or both of our two outdoor pavilion areas will provide just what you need. We also have a variety of service packages to take care of any details you don't want to have to handle on your own. For more information, just give us a call.