Regatta 2016: Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, & Multicultural Affairs
The main motivation and drive for most of us in the Special Events Industry is the "Special" part of the events. This event was so fun for us because there were many special elements involved and it was a blast to perfectly blend them all together.
The Food
This was a special event for the office for Diversity, Equity, & Multicultural Affairs. It was very important to the client that we celebrated and associated our food stations with some of the many different cultures involved in their program.
Salad Station
"African Inspirations" - Moroccan Salad
"Cultural Mosaic Salad Bowl"- The Perfumery, Brie Spring Mix Salad
Seafood Boil Station"
America 'the Melting Pot' Inspirations"
Midwest Mongolian BBQ
“Asian Inspirations”
Steak & Potatoes
“Latin American Inspirations”
The Regatta Race
The “entertainment” for this event was exceptionally unique. The university itself was hosting their annual Regatta on the Canal that is directly outside of the venue. There were TV screens throughout the room feeding in the video from the races going on outside as well as the Race Results of each heat.
Towards the end of the event the guests were invited out onto the patio of the venue to watch the race live (the venue is at the finish line) and enjoy a popcorn bar. This really made the
guests feel as if they got the best of both worlds…the fine dining event inside the venue as well as the sporting event/more laid back feel once invited outside.
Design Fun
It was a blast for us to design the stations for this event!
Salad Station
Perfumery – Vintage Dresser with perfume bottles with a Rose Essence that guests could add to their salad.
Moroccan Salad – Vintage Wagon Wheel Cart with Shelving Unit as back drop with décor
Seafood Boil Station
Inspired by the rustic style of the venue and the canal right outside, had river rock in glass as level under station front as well as décor inspired by things such as tackle boxes, fish nets, etc.
Midwest Mongolian BBQ
To go with the Theme of Asian Inspiration our tabletop was made up of two sawhorses with a wood plank surface. We also pulled in bamboo elements with the signage for the station. The food was served in mini Asian takeout boxes.
Dessert Station
Displayed on our Glass Wall with Uplighting highlighting the beautiful rustic brick wall behind it. The desserts were also the university’s colors and we named the station “Sweet victories”
Challenges
As with any event, there are challenges. The biggest challenge ended up being the guest count (started at 200 and ended up at 325). The increase in guest count was a challenge because the max capacity for the room for this type of event is around 300. We also had the TVs, stage, stations, bars, etc. to accommodate.
Timing the event around the President of the University. It is rare for the President to attend any events so the client as well as the guests were very excited to have him coming to speak at the event. However; he was trying to bounce around to many different things around the city that day so we had to time things perfectly for his arrival, speech, participation in the race outside, and getting him out to door to honor his other appointments.