How To Go From Messy to Clever with Six Great Event Food Creations

Messy foods are for outback grill events, booze cruises and music festivals, right? Wrong. Event guests appreciate easy-to-eat options, and catering groups are repurposing age-old recipes to make event options more appetizing.

Crowd-favorite foods aren’t necessarily the cleanest, but they can certainly be cleaned up to make the eater’s life easier. While some guests love their hearty, sweet and classic foods, they needn’t be restricted to “finger-licking good” winds, sandwiches and BBQ options. The following event providers have remixed typical event food ideas. Check them out:

Preston Bailey Supplies Tiramisu Grab-and-Go Offers

Preston Bailey turned an entire Four Seasons New York Downtown into a catering establishment, supplying tiramisu as a grab-and-go options. Striking out the eating difficulty, it successfully celebrated its partnership with Four Seasons, all while keeping event-goers happy.

S'mores Gets Portable with Lollipops

Yes, it’s possible to eat a S’mores product without the mess. In fact, S’mores created campfire lollipops to familiarize their guests with handheld fun at the Engage!14 Wedding Summit. By reinventing an age-old theme in a new way, S’mores effectively redesigned the way guests look at desert.

Great Performances Dishes Out Fried Chicken Cones

By dishing out fried chicken stored in waffle cones, Great Performances allowed its guests to roam about the premises with self-serve options designed to circumnavigate the need for plates. Fried chicken might not be the hardest-to-handle food item, but it’s certainly deserving of a little ease-of-eating. The cones were offered at the Watermill Center in 2015, redefining the way chicken, itself, is dished out to hungry patrons.

Elegant Affairs Creates Portable Spaghetti and Meatballs

By compacting spaghetti and placing singular meatballs on top, New York’s Elegant Affairs created a clean, to-the-point version of traditional spaghetti dinners. The mess-free food item gave patrons a micro approach to an age-old macro problem associated with messy spaghetti event dinners.

Occasions Caterers Make Salad Bites

That’s right: salad bites. Alongside spaghetti, salad is a notoriously difficult event dish to serve cleanly. By creating salad bites hors d’oeuvre, Occasions Caterers gave patrons fork-served eating options capable of tidying up the dish’s regular problems.

The Washington Human Society Offers Portable Hummus and Pita

Hummus is messy. Really messy. The Washington Humane society, however, offered a selection of hors d’oeuvres hummus and pita bites, celebrating their 2014 Fashion for Paws runway event.

Sometimes, alternative food options work well. They certainly revamp many age-old ideologies surrounding proper event food options. Check out more annual food options, and stay sharp with this year’s best event creations.

The Event Trends That Aren't Trending Anymore

Not all event trends are made equal. Sometimes, things don’t work out. In 2017, several event décor elements have been shelved. Today’s planners are yesterday’s industry enactors, and they’re retracing their steps to fortify 2017’s best options. Below, we’re sharing the played-out décor options a lot of marketers have left behind.  

Ice Bars

Ice bars were big in 2016. In fact, a small tidal wave of experiential ice-based events popped up. They’re cool, but they were overdone. Ice bars and sculptures can be truly artistic, but a fully ice-themed display network is need. Event managers are shelving the ice trend, as it’s simply too hard to secure. Often, thousands of dollars, alone, are needed to secure a viable location.

Paper Flowers

Event leaders like Brian Worley of YourBash! are doing away with paper flowers. Tossing away paper flower displays may be petty, but there’s a method to the materialistic madness. Paper flowers are eye-catching, when installed correctly. That said, they’re difficult to navigate. Event marketers, now, are realizing the legwork needed to create a substantial, laser-cut paper flower display. Modern art only goes so far, apparently.

Gif Booths

What gives? In 2016, digital gif display booths were all the rage. In 2017, however, they’re being left by the wayside. As it turns out, shared photos are losing out to all-new VR experiences. 360-cam features, live-action displays and three-dimensional sets are taking over. Already, well-curated Instagram feeds are focusing on the modern guest’s attention to immersion. Gifs, simply put, are becoming outdated. They won’t necessarily disappear in 2017, but they’ve certainly fallen from good graces.

Anything Shiny

Strictly décor-speaking, we feel shiny surfaces deserve a mention. We enjoy sparkling tables, backdrops and sequin table linens, but we’ve noticed a reduction in overall shine-play. Leaders like André Wells of Events by André Wells have spoken out, and their message is clear: Stone, marble and other organic materials are on the rise. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough room for anything shiny.

Don’t fret, however, because you’re still “in the game” if you’re using the above-mentioned décor and technology options. For every experiential cultural shift, there’s a counterculture. You won’t need to stick with the flow if you’re banking on classic attributions. Tread lightly, however, because several décor options are certainly being stripped away. Whether you’re an event planner, a business marketer or simply researching new ideas, it’s a good idea to stay updated. Listen to today’s creative directors, because they’ve seen it all. Sometimes, critical eyes are needed to keep the events pruned and looking good.

New Edible Event Trends for 2017

Today’s marketing events have gone taste-centric, and modern marketers are taking advantage of several trends. Edible signage, sensory booths and even virtual reality have changed the game. Whether you’re a food-based brand or not, your customer’s experience matters. Your attendees remember tastes, and you’re not far from getting involved with this year’s latest,

providers below have taken charge with the consumer’s taste buds, delivering unforgettable experiences to their brand’s favorite fans.

Loliware’s Edible Signage

First up, we’d like to highlight the company Loliware for their edible signage pitch during ABC’s “Shark Tank.” The signage, responsible for producing the first edible, biodegradable cups, was originally created to reduce event waste. By transforming the sampling process, Loliware essentially redrafted what it means to make edible products. Signage which can be repurposed, eaten and even marketed to specific events is highly unique, and it’s capable of transforming entire marketing campaigns.

Volkswagen’s “Eat the Road”

The “edible everything” campaigns have gone far. Volkswagen, too, has extended itself in the edible direction, creating its “Eat the Road” campaign. The campaign, crafted from direct mail, let readers tear out and eat magazine pages. Created from propylene glycol, these pages were redesigned to taste like sugar. Jet Blue had a short follow-up, creating a New York Post edible ad which tasted like a potato chip.

Volkswagen’s start-up didn’t stop the roll-outs, either. Soon after Jet Blue’s creation, Videri Chocolate Factory celebrated its 5th anniversary by creating two-pound edible posters. Established in stores, local restaurants, art galleries and breweries, the signs certainly made an impact.

Everything Skin-Based

While edible ads might’ve stirred up the most attention, conductive ink has become one of the more flexible edible marketing resources. Creations like MIT Media Lab’s DuoSkin prototype made stylish, gold leaf tattoos which were eatable. As if that wasn’t enough, following creations capitalized on the trend.

Consumable marketing resources, in the past, have been incredibly unique. Now, they’re promising a new horizon of interactive business resources. If you haven’t yet, check out the latest, greatest edible thrills in circulation. Edible marketing is a niche subject, but it definitely has its kicks. Regardless of the trend, several truths still stand. Consumers like food—even if it’s presented in an unorthodox way. Additionally, the pure strangeness of edible anything will often grab a buyer’s attention. Edible designs aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they may be on the rise.

Miami Music Week 2017

Let's get this party started Miami!  Picking up from where it left off in 2016, Miami Music Week 2017 promises to be the place to be this March 21st through the 26th.  In 2016, there were more than 1,180 artists performing at over 260 events that were hosted at 78 plus venues and the event planners hope to top that during Miami Music Week 2017. For the past 7 years, Miami has transformed itself during the MMW into a dance music paradise.  This is a week-long marathon of non-stop parties and concerts featuring all the major artists in the electronic dance music scene.

Soho aka "The Miami Music Week Hotel" is the place to be during this year's MMW.  Located right in the heart of Delano, the prestigious urban resort, in South Beach.  This will be the epicenter of the parties throughout the week and the gathering place, both day and night, for music fans from all over the world.  These promise to be the best parties Miami has to offer the dance music enthusiast.

During the grand finale, also known as the world's premier electronic music festival or "Ultra Music Festival" which is held over the course of the final 3 days of Miami Music Week expect to join more than 165,000 fans from over 90 countries during the culmination of this amazing week.

Miami Music Week's 2017 highlights:

At Soho check out:

Marshmello and Friends. 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at Soho Studios, 2138 NW First Ave., Miami; 305-600-4785; sohostudiosmiami.com. Tickets cost $40 via ticketfly.com.

or  Mosaic. With Maceo Plex, Marcel Dettmann, Stephan Bodzin, Mike Servito, North Lake, and Danyelino. 9 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at Soho Studios, 2138 NW First Ave., Miami; 305-600-4785; sohostudiosmiami.com. Tickets cost $20 to $40 via residentadvisor.net.

Some other hot spots that week include:

Party all night on March 21, 2017with Firebeatz & Friends and Special Guests from 11:00 PM til 5:00 AM at FDR at the Delano

M.A.N.D.Y. will be at Do Not Sit on the Furniture on the 21st from 10 PM till 5:00 AM. Ticket prices are $20 and up.

Axtone's throwing a major Miami Pool Party on Wednesday, March 22nd from 2:00 PM till 11:00 PM.  Hosted by Delano Beach Club, the Tickets start at $48.

For those looking for free fun, there is a night with S E R A F I N and Friends happening on Wednesday, March 22nd.  Check them out at the Foxhole located at 1218 14th Court, Miami Beach.

Ultra Music Festival begins on Thursday, March 23rd  and runs through Saturday, 25th.  This show will feature headliners such as: Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, and Underworld.

You do not want to miss year's Miami Music Week.  Check out the whole schedule online at www.miamimusicweek.com.  We at Soho can't wait to see you in the house.

What's Next: Super Bowl for Cars?

A Food and Drink Extravaganza

Enlisting the help of Chef Ramsay, Nascar has created an eight-hour eating event which gives eventgoers a taste of everything meat. Pork butt and party-ready sliders are only two inclusions. Already, Fox has altered the presentation to glorify local affiliates alongside delectable displays.

Fox’s plan for the Daytona Day promotional blitz is to present six recipes, a pit-stop cocktail entry and—of course—more food. Sweet potato tater tots, chocolate cake and bourbon are main entries. The booze front, itself, is highlighting the culinary-competition series. Nascar’s dedication to food isn’t necessarily unique, but it sets it up to reach new heights as an entertainment provider.

Nascar as the New Super Bowl

The intention, here, is to replicate a Super Bowl Sunday experience. The Daytona race might seem out of reach to those not following Nascar, but it’s a surprisingly stable location for top-10 America events. Fox is expecting its ratings to spike on Sunday, if only by visibility alone. The Daytona Day campaign has already kicked off, and Fox has already introduced its audiences with a customized “Simpsons” theme crafted to tease upcoming festivities.

Fox has a lot of resources, and its massive off-air marketing campaigns are likely to make a big splash. Race-day promotions via UberEats, for one, will benefit this effort. Sunday’s meal-delivery services will similarly boost the Daytona Day parties. Hardcore Nascar fans can expect a lot of attention on in-depth brand representation. Comcast Xfinity, too, will be present—sponsoring Nascar’s minor league circuit. The Daytona 500 can easily be “eventized,” as its leaders say, and it’s a perfect marketing opportunity. Eventgoers needn’t understand race intricacies, either, to have a good time.

Both die-hard and casual fans alike will be at Daytona Day, celebrating Nascar with food, drinks and parties. The floor is open for affiliate marketing success, too, which will only boost the event’s visibility. On the bottom level, however, Nascar already benefits from a great deal of popularity.

Beyond the Music: What Makes a Festival a Truly Memorable Event

Music festival sponsorships have long been parts of marketing, but all too often, the audience only remembers the band after it's all over. This is because companies tend to stick to boring signs of sponsorship, such as banners on fences, that do nothing to engage the audience. Even if a banner is plastered across the top of the stage, it fades from notice the moment a hot band strikes the first note. What can you do to ensure that your brand actually becomes part of the show instead of another thing in the background? The key is to give the audience a serious chance to truly interact with your products or services in a way that matches the look and feel of the rest of the event. Toyota is a master of this, and looking at what they've done should spark some ideas for your own events.

The Cars Are Really Parts of the Event

Many automakers do no more than park their cars around when they host an event. This isn't the case for Toyota, though: They made their vehicles an interactive part of one of their music festivals lately. There, patrons partook in activities like competing to see how many objects they could cram into the cargo area of a car or minivan, using the back of a minivan as a climb-in vending machine, and more.

Interactive Zones

Say goodbye to boring souvenir stands with standardized trinkets. Toyota had guests make their festival mementos on the spot using Shrinky Dinks and other such craft items. This gave everyone who got one a unique memory to go with the experience, so they'll remember this part of the event for a long time. Of course, all mementos were also branded so everyone will always have that extra reminder of the sponsor's identity.

Taking the Test Drive Up to 11

At exciting events like these, it would be a letdown to just have people putter around in a regular car. Yet, it is important to get people into Toyotas in driving situations so they're one step closer to buying. The solution? Have the people take the company's trucks over an off-road course. Logs and ramps make the vehicles' maneuverability come to life as drivers have fun.

Choosing a Venue

Music festivals can be held in all sorts of venues, ranging from arenas that are fully under roof all the way to fairgrounds that are entirely outdoors. When you want to be under roof in Miami, consider Soho Studios. Our venue offers up to 70,000 square feet and can be configured any way you'd like.

How to Spice Up that Boring Sales Luncheon

Business luncheons are great ways to attract customers, recognize existing ones and make your brand a hit. Sometimes, however, run-of-the-mill luncheons can become boring. It isn’t every day a business owner attracts new customers with great possibilities, and it isn’t every day a lunch proposal is dished out with an awesome event tie-in. Spice up the age-old luncheon, and tie in these awesome ideas:

One: Get High-Grade with Luxury Cars

Sales luncheons, kick-off dining dates and food-centric events pair well with luxury cars. You can promote your brand alongside, leading models, using videos, posters and racing wear to represent your business’s finer aspects. You can even use a car dealership to represent your event, getting down to the nitty gritty, car-wise, with test drives and enthusiast discussions.

Two: Make a Survival Game

Survival-based media is in. If you’re a fitness brand, an outdoor-centric provider or a booming business involved in lifestyle marketing, a survival game can greatly impact your customers. Design strategies to fit your customers, and help them uncover hidden business opportunities via desert, urban and park-based survival games.

Three: Take it to the Food Factory

If you want to add a unique angle, try bringing your luncheon-goers to a food factory. Consider chocolate factories, breweries, gourmet food factories and similar locations. By showing an appreciation for the industrial process, you’ll get your points across easier. You’ll also stick out as one of the more interesting luncheon’s your potential buyers have had. Unique experiences are bred by unique locations, and your entrees, appetizers, and desserts needn’t be confined to a restaurant.

Four: Let Them Build

No, you won’t sacrifice entertainment and food for hard work, but a little creative building goes a long way. Imbue your event with a construction theme, a puzzle theme or an artistic theme. Then, offer events to help build constructive team relationships. As for the food, it is a luncheon. Make sure you prioritize the food, because it still holds prevalence over venues housing dramatic architectural designs.

Five: Give a Blast from the Past

Sometimes, your business’s old CEOs should have a seat in current sales luncheons. Provide a reunion, and invite old employees, managers and business impactors. If your potential buyers are in the B2B realm, consider inviting old industry impactors, social leaders or cross-market representatives. The more the merrier, right?

Your business luncheon can be action-packed, enticing, mysterious and even memorable. Studies show surrounding events impact one’s perception of food taste. If you can outfit your event’s every aspect, you’ll impress the guests. You’ll give them a reason to come back for more.

The Pop-Tarts Pop-Up Café Gets Experimental

In New York, Pop-Tarts has gotten adventurous. Kellogg’s is offering unique flavor taste tests in one of the more interesting pop-up stands we’ve seen. The menu isn’t your typical assortment of pastry options, as it’s an assortment of high-tart tacos, Pop-Tart pizza and chili Pop-Tart fries. For a drink, visitors can sample the Pop-Tart milkshake—blended from the pastry. Times Square has always been an area conducive to exploration. Now, it’s an area of opportunity for Kellogg’s.

The Times Square Cereal Bar

The Pop-Tarts Café arose last Tuesday. It’s acquired the brand’s Time Square cereal bar space, taking advantage of the Times Square traffic and adventurous New York pedestrians. The Kellogg’s creative menu aimed to reinvent the way consumers eat Pop-Tarts, mixing, mashing and combining a variety of flavors to create new experiences.

Why? Kellogg’s felt its brand required a new, finer attention to detail. It wasn’t necessarily about branding new tastes, it was about presenting a new method of consumption. In an effort to connect with consumers, promote the pastries and revamp the age-old “breakfast snack,” Kellogg’s has turned Pop-Tarts into an any-time-of-day meal. Birthday Fiesta Nachos and Chili Pop-Tart Fries, in particular, made appearances as the brand’s go-to, around-the-clock meal options.

Other Locations

You guessed it: Time Square wasn’t the only Pop-Tarts Café location. Taste-goers wanting to try something new can check out Kellogg’s locations in Chicago and Philadelphia. A lot of Pop-Tarts lovers are having difficulty resisting the variety of concoctions, engaging the brand at unprecedented rates.

Oddly enough, the flavor combinations work. Those hungry for pizza can dig into a Personal Pop-Tarts Pizza, crafted with frosted brown sugar cinnamon crust, frosting “cheese” and strawberry “marinara” sauce. While event-goers may be weirded out by the presentation, each Pop-Tart pastry shape is incredibly tasty. By mixing fresh mint, a variety of fruit flavors and the Pop-Tarts signature crust, Kellogg’s has snuck in new line favorites to its trusted customers.

All About the Swag

Few events can survive without a little swag. The Pop-Tarts Café offered small surprises to perfect every order, crafting creative lists from a variety of mashups. All too often, popular food brands overextend themselves. They’re too generic; too focused on pleasing everyone. The Pop-Tarts Café certainly offers something different. While the flavors are classic and instantly recognizable, Kellogg’s has proved that presentation counts.

The Kellogg’s The Pop-Tarts Café packs 18 delicious Pop-Tart eating options, served a-la-carte. Eventgoers who’re having difficulty committing to a singular food item can take advantage of Pop-Tart flights, expanding their dining options with numerous eating options. In the realm of experiential marketing, Kellogg’s proves that experimental works, too.

How to Create the Ultimate Trade Show Booth

Everyone knows: Trade shows are about the booths. If you’re managing an event, you’ll need to stick out to garner attention. Fortunately, 2017 is a year of creativity. A lot of today’s conferences have drawn attention to crowded show floors, inspiring event-goers with astounding exhibitions. Buckle up, and check out these ultimate trade show booth ideas.

Idea One: Virtual Reality

Today’s exhibitors, like Intel, are utilizing VR to engage event-goers without spending money on expensive equipment. Sure, an Oculus Rift or Vive might cost some money, but it’s little compared to the cost of a live-action car display, a hotel tour or a roller coaster ride. If you can get your guests to don headsets for at least five minutes, you can educate them with interactive games.

Idea Two: Custom T-Shirt Design Creation

You can help your event-goers craft custom T-shirts with a digital design booth. If you can pack the colors, the threads and a few iPads, you’re in business. Use the display to promote your company’s products, and help your brand’s biggest buffs implement your logo across a variety of clothing options.

Idea Three: A Home Theater Option

By presenting educational presentations via a digital display, you can outfit your trade booth for the 21^st century. Your company can live-stream a variety of sessions, launching different product options across high-quality video. Companies like Philips are taking advantage of real-time streaming, showing event-goers high-quality sessions via Periscope. If you’re really dedicated, hook your digital theater up to social media sharing resources.

Idea Four: Large-Scale Chalkboard Engagement

While your event-goers won’t necessarily be up for study sessions, they’ll still engage your brand if you let them leave notes, make company connections and interact with one another via chalkboard. Invite your booth visitors to post sticky notes, comment on industry trends and leave their own art. You’d be surprised by the amount of care some attendees will give. Every chalkboard engagement, of course, should prioritize your brand’s adaptability. Let your event-goers have fun, but offer your business’s offers through every note and connection.

Making the ultimate trade show booth takes time. Fortunately, you have a lot of elements to play with. Customers want far more than generic samples, business cards and information pamphlets. Give them an experience, and connect them to the digital world when possible. By connecting your users with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you can promote a sense of community from within every booth. Today’s trade show operators are working hard to promote their overarching brand. If you want to compete, you’ll need to offer something unique and exciting.

How to Wow People with a Vegan Menu

If you're going to be serving food at your event, it's important to choose menu items that everyone can and will eat. This will be hard if you try to make a different menu for all of the many common dietary variations. Instead, try combining gluten-free and vegan to create dishes that almost everyone will love. One of the most important things you'll need to keep in mind is the difference between vegetarian and vegan. Vegetarian dishes may include eggs, milk, and other products that ultimately come from animals. Vegan food, on the other hand, includes none of that. Only plants and plant products are allowed.

Choosing the Menu Items

The key to wowing a mixed-preference audience with vegan dishes is to avoid the bland, diet-type fare non-vegans often associate with this type of food. Instead, make sure the meals are tasty. Hire caterers that use spices and sauces liberally to pump up the flavor volume and add delicious-looking color to the dishes. Also, make sure that your catering company is used to cooking for vegans. Such companies will have plenty of delicious recipes already developed.

If You Can Field Two Menus, Offer Both Meat and Meat-Free Options

When you're providing lunch, meat-eaters likely won't be too put out if they don't get any meat in the meal. The same cannot be said of dinner. Unless your company gets marketing points from going all-vegan, offer a meat-included menu for this meal along with the vegan one. Note, however, that some vegans insist that their food be cooked in different areas than those used to cook meat! Fortunately, there are some caterers out there that will actually cater to even this demand.

Always Remember the Possibility of Allergies

The days when you could just serve a mystery sauce or meal are over. For reasons that are not quite understood, the incidence of life-threatening food allergies is higher than it was just 30 or 40 years ago. Therefore, you should always list potential food allergens. It's also important to know for certain exactly what is in everything, vegan or not.

This isn't to say that it's dangerous to serve meals. You simply need to know what is in all of the food so you and your staff can give accurate answers to those who ask about the ingredients.

With these things in mind, you'll be able to serve anything from a snack to a feast and have it be both safe and impressive. The final thing you'll need is a venue. If your event is in Miami, try our event and exhibition area here at Soho Studios. We offer up to 70,000 square feet that can be configured to meet all of your event needs.