Heroic Event Productions Blog

Branding your event is really important for business, but attendees don't want to see your logo and brand colors plastered all over the venue. Too much, and it all becomes “background music,” losing its visual impact. Besides, your brand is more than your logo and colors anyway — it’s the total perception people have of the company, whether they’re employees, customers, or event guests.

So, what are some branding ideas that will draw positive, memorable attention? You want buzz, not zzzzzzzzzz. So think beyond the same-old-same-old.

Creating an engaging experience that attendees can share on social media platforms is crucial to the success of your event and future attendance. And what better way to invite your attendees to engage with the event than by installing an Instagram museum, where they can snap selfies and post to social media!

Successful event planners make a point of learning from every event, so they can make the next ones even better. One of the most effective ways to do that is to host a post-event meeting with vendors, speakers, entertainers, and staff to talk about what went well and what needs improvement.

These meetings are invaluable. You can use what you learn to build on this year’s success and avoid or remedy what didn’t work so well to avoid repeating history.

So, what does this post-event meeting look like, when do you host it, and who should be there?

The opportunity to work on Super Bowl LIVE festivities doesn't happen very often for Minnesota vendors. In fact, the last time we hosted The Big Game was in 1992, when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37–24 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. When The Big Game came to U.S. Bank Stadium last year, we were honored to have a seat at the table by being chosen as the lighting provider for all of Super Bowl LIVE 2018.

Super Bowl LIVE was hands-down the largest event we've participated in to date, and it challenged us in ways we've never experienced before. We learned a number of great lessons from our AV experience at Super Bowl LIVE that we wanted to share with others in the event production world. Before we jump into the lessons we learned, it's important that we lay out the details of this large-scale event.

It's every event planners goal to make things go as smoothly as possible at your event. So it's easy to follow a tried-and-true formula of branded colors, logos, and speeches from the CEO — no surprises there! But, think about it from your audience’s point of view. No one wants to attend the same event over and over again. So, if you're focusing on efficiency instead of your attendees, it's time for a change!

Here are six ways you can get out of your event design rut, freshen it up, and reignite excitement.

A lot of work goes into hosting a great event no matter what size it is, but larger events require bigger venues and more of everything. And more almost always means more complicated, especially when you’re talking about audio-visual requirements. So, what goes into AV setup for a large-scale event?

If you’re planning an event for your business or organization, load in and load out may not be the first thing that comes to mind. It may not be “your job,” but a smooth load in and load out process can make all the difference for your event. So it is up to you, as the planner, to do everything you can to ensure event setup goes well.

If you're an event planner, every one of your projects incorporates audio visual elements in some way. Your needs might be quite simple, or they could be fantastically complex. You don’t have to be an AV expert (that’s what the pros are for!), but a basic understanding of the terminology and how to work with your AV team will help make each of your AV events flawless.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this crash course on AV. We hope it helps!

You want people to attend your event, yes? Then don’t get so caught up in planning the experience itself that you forget to promote it! When considering how to promote an event, the more avenues you can tap into, the better — as long as they’re relevant, of course. So, go ahead and use traditional options such as posters and press releases, but be creative, too. Especially when it comes to digital promotion.

Planning a gala? These events are a staple for fundraising and corporate celebrations. But if you think your next gala needs to include only a few white stage lights, a projector, white tablecloths, a plated dinner, and guests seated at the same table all night, think again. Toss those traditional assumptions aside and make way for something fresh, energizing, and definitely memorable.

Here are six ways to plan a non-traditional gala.