Event Catering

Catering is the professional preparation and serving of food and beverages. Event planners find it a convenient method of advancing their guest’s hospitality needs. The business is booming – and why not – the hospitality industry has upped its game. But what does event catering entail? What are the expected industry minimum standards? Well, like all businesses, it requires professionalism and meticulous planning. Without a good team, event catering will be a bad experience for the person organizing it.

A great example of an event where you can find a wide variety of catering for events in Miami is The South Beach Wine and Food Festival. The Wine and Food Festival is four day culinary extravaganza that features wine and cuisine from all over the planet.

Below are the various stages of an event catering process.

Cooking and Delivery

To be successful at event catering, caterers need to be adept at food preparation and cooking. To be a professional cook or chef, you need to have under gone at least 3 years training in a food and hospitality college. Hygiene when cooking food cannot be gainsaid. The most successful event catering business is the one that observes personal hygiene almost to the level of eccentricity. You need to have the necessary cooking utensils such as cooking pots, cooking pans, cooking sticks etc. Good cooking is one thing, delivering the food in a hygienic and professional manner is another. Food delivery is a nightmare if you do not have the right equipment. You need to have automobiles that are sanitized, good packaging utensils and crockery, and refrigerated vans for perishable vegetables and drinks. You need to be able to deliver the food in time, serve in time and clear out the event venue in time. Event catering is a time conscious business.

Staffing Logistics

Event catering should be an organized affair. You will need to have the kitchen staff, the transportation staff, the waiting staff, managers, suppliers of food materials to the kitchen, event decorators as well as cleaning staff. As an owner of an event catering business, you will be expected to handle this staffing logistics with ease. Before taking up an event catering job, this entire staff must be in place. Failure to have the necessary staff is planning to fail.

Event Venue Preparation and Serving

Most companies that outsource event catering services expect the catering firm to decorate and arrange the venue as well as serve the guests. From event themes and colors to table arrangement and fixing a temporary bar and kitchen, a manager at a catering firm is expected to have the event venue ready. Note that event catering is not a business for the faint hearted or the disorganized. It is a business for people with excellent planning capabilities. To handle the large number of people and logistics, you need to have management skills and high emotional quotient. You will need to be able to balance competing egos with your business agenda. From arrival times of the various event guests to meal times and beverages servings, a caterer will have his hands full. Always remember to ask what kind of guests will be attending the event. You do not want to be caught off guard by having guests that are vegetarians, teetotalers, or those that are restricted by their religions from taking certain foods. Event catering is a highly complex and demanding business, yet being involved in it is both exhilarating and involving.

Lego's Augmented Reality: Story Builder & Experiential Marketing

Brick by Brick: The App Welcome to a new era of play, dominated by phone, tablet and even computer applications. What happened to the good old days when toys didn't require a battery recharge?

Watch Video -  Lego’s Augmented Reality

Enter Lego Story Builder, an augmented reality application. It fuses the worlds of offline and online entertainment, encouraging children to use their imagination at every level. The app integrates physical creativity by allowing users to take pictures of their Lego creations, which then develop into a digital story. By building AR codes, each picture becomes an interactive animation. When a child adds or moves bricks on their screen, the story takes a new direction; they can also add characters as they see fit or based on the app's suggestions.

By combining traditional product use with modern technology, Lego blocks transform from a classic toy into a journey of changing possibilities. In children, the experience inspires imagination and improves problem-solving skills. For parents, this offers a solution to the societal shift in interests. So how does this benefit Lego? It cultivates a strong brand image and lasting brand loyalty.

Block by Block: Experiential Marketing

From a marketing perspective, Story Builder is a brilliant addition to Lego. The app offers a positive and engaging brand experience that goes far beyond the product itself – a strategy known as experiential marketing (XM).

At its essence, XM brings a brand to life. Today’s evolving consumer needs to feel a stronger connection than static advertising can provide. XM caters to the senses while providing education about a product or service, giving your organization an edge over the competition.

Looking to schedule marketing events in Miami? Take the next step by booking your XM event at Soho Studios, a premier venue in Miami.

Coca-Cola Hires Italian Artist to Create Amazing Stop-Motion Video

The idea of happiness has been a central theme to Coca-Cola’s marketing for 90 years. According to a company press release, the “Enjoy Life” slogan in 1923 led to 1979’s “Have a Coke and a Smile” before Coca-Cola began using “Open Happiness” in 2009. As part of the Coca-Cola Institute of Happiness’ II International Congress of Happiness in Madrid in April 2012, the company hired Italian artist and University Francisco de Vitoria (UFV) professor Eduardo Zamarro to create an amazing mural comprised of Post-it notes. The end result is an incredible stop-motion video of the Post-It notes project.

Watch Video - Coca-Cola Institute of Happiness

According to a UFV press release, visitors left about one million Post-it notes over the course of 15 days containing various messages of happiness to contribute to the mural. Zamarro worked with the Post-it notes to cover a mural painted by UFV students of Architecture and Fine Arts and construct what would become the official poster of Congress. The result was a striking work of public art that was later exhibited on the façade of the Canal Theatre. However, this project was also a fine example of experiential marketing.

Experiential marketing is a term that refers to interactive consumer experiences like this Coca-Cola Post-it project, events that help individuals form a unique connection with a brand through memorable interactive activities. Nothing creates lasting memories that stay with consumers quite like these types of events, and Soho Studios offers one of the best venues in Miami for large, creative activities. Our 65,000 foot square foot multi-purpose space can host weddings, concerts, fashions shows and charity events, among many other types of occasions. If you are looking for a dynamic location for your events in Miami, contact the experiential marketing team at Soho Studios to let us show you some of the many things that our facility offers.

BBC's Augmented Reality and Polar Bears--Experiential Marketing in Action

Few companies or organizations have leveraged augmented reality events as effectively as the BBC did during the promotion of its Frozen Planet Blu-ray/DVD release. Working together with Appshaker, the BBC created a virtual experience which allowed those at the event to stand amongst player bears, dolphins, polar bears, seals, and other wildlife. The event demonstrated a highly impressive application of experiential marketing, one of the most valuable and underused tactics in the marketing game.

Watch Video - BBC'S Frozen Planet

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, that's alright; it's really quite simple. Experiential marketing engages consumers in as many ways as possible: intellectually, physically, and emotionally. If you're familiar with advanced teaching and memorization methods such as full-brain learning, active learning, or the method of loci, you might see the benefits. In essence, experiential marketing associates a product or brand with as many forms of memory as possible; by engaging with gestures, emotions, and logical thoughts an event, website, or advertisement can generate a much stronger impression.

The BBC pulled this off perfectly. The highly-realistic, interactive environment generated by the Appshaker team grabbed visitors and didn't let them go. They also took advantage of onlookers at the event and abroad, engaging their imaginations and giving them something interesting to talk about; polar bears may be a bit interesting, but polar bears and augmented reality will catch anyone's attention.

Of course, not every company has access to the kind of resources the BBC does, but the basics of experiential marketing work in many different contexts. On the simplest level, any method of mentally or physically engaging the consumer works. A print ad using vivid colors and imagery and implementing textures, smells, or puzzles can make an impact. A website with a high-tech interface, a banner ad with a built-in game, the possibilities are endless. A physical event will always trump the others, though, thanks to the strength of physical memory.

If you're planning any experiential events in Miami, you need an excellent location if you want your visitors wowed. Based in the Wynwood District, Soho Studios' 65,000 square foot event space and convention center is one of the best venues in Miami—ideal for any company or organization looking for a new way to market.

Interactive Art Installation at London Royal Hospital

Experiential marketing uses computerized art that engages the viewer in a way that the participant becomes one with the art. According to how the viewer reacts, the outcome of the image changes. It’s a wonderful opportunity to use art as a backdrop that creates a dialogue between the creator and the viewer and can be used to convey any sort of message or theme. Rather than being a mere spectator, the participant has a direct role to play making the experience challenging and memorable. There is a venue in Miami that draws large crowds as a central location for large marketing events.

In the UK, an arts organization commissioned the creation of interactive games on a giant TV screen on display at the London Royal Hospital. As an experiential marketing installation, it receives a lot of visitors and publicity, which can only be good for the hospital’s image and brand. The experience is great fun for the children as they interact with the ever-changing scene. In this hospital setting, it is not only a marketing tool as it is geared towards providing the exercise and physical therapy suited to children with varying ailments.

Watch Video – Woodland Wiggle at London Royal Hospital

Working with sensors, the interactive marketing events in Miami gauge the conditions of the area such as movement within the room, variances in temperature and changing distances. Other variables can be programmed into the installation meant to trigger certain types of responses or activity. The communication that takes place between the viewer and the computer produce a totally new type of dialogue with its own interpretation.

As with all marketing concepts, experiential marketing leads the audience or the participant towards an intended theme or message. By creating a real-time interactive experience with the viewer, the message projected on the wall or screen is personalized and internalized in a much deeper way than a more traditional method of marketing the same concept.

The Adidas Video Experience

How do you make footwear stay in the forefront of people’s minds? Shoe companies face this question daily. They can get individual buyers to be generally satisfied by the look, feel and performance of a certain pair of sneakers. They can maybe pay for celebrity spokesmen or spokeswomen to wear their products in public.

In recent years, Adidas has found an innovative way to turn casual buyers into super fans through the Adidas Video Experience. The experience is a multimedia presentation video mapped on a building a France that teaches that their shoes can give you a big boost, but your power to perform really comes from within.

Even better, as the proud owner of these shoes, the message of the loud music and bright colors is that you’ll look good doing whatever you do, provided you’re rocking your Adidas.

Watch Video – Adidas Video Experience

The video experience is an excellent example of experiential marketing, where the goal is to get people excited about a particular brand or product. This goes beyond checking out an interesting web site or chuckling at a TV commercial – you have to somehow get the viewer so engaged they establish an emotional connection.

Anyone can go out and buy a decent pair of shoes and find them comfy and suitable for physical activity. But when you’re rocking hard to pulsing music, cheering for live stunts, and enjoying cool visuals and celebrity guests, that’s when the magic happens and those new shoes you just bought bring back cutting edge memories of their own.

If the idea of experiential marketing for your business interests you, or you’ve been looking for party venues Miami can offer, consider checking out a great venue in Miami: Soho Studios, a 65,000-square-foot multipurpose space and convention center in the Wynwood District.

Soho Studios is the perfect location for all types of events in Miami. This event space Miami features has already hosted plenty of high-quality and high-energy performances, everything from fashion shows to Art Basel Wynwood to photo exhibitions at the photography studio Miami.

Pinball Parking Spot from Ford Paris

If you have ever driven in a major city, finding a place to park can be difficult. In Paris it is near impossible. What better place for Ford to demonstrate its Active Park Assist feature which automatically will parallel park your new Ford.

The Idea of Pinball Parking

Ford staged a small open parking space between two cars that were rigged along a Parisian street. On the sidewalk, next to the tiny open parking space, Ford placed a large video screen that looked like a giant pinball score board. As French drivers attempted to park in the small space, points would rack up, and lights would flash as they hit the car in front and in rear. As you will see in the YouTube video, one driver was so bad he was actually given the keys to a Ford with Active Park Assist. You can watch as amazingly, the car parks itself in the small area and the giant scoreboard remains silent.

Experiential Marketing and Why It Works

This video shows a form of experiential marketing. Experiential marketing is where consumers are pulled into the brand by making a more personal connection. Marketers have long known that consumers react to pain and pleasure messages, and experiential marketing seeks to better take advantage of those emotions. We are beginning to see more and more of these experiential marketing efforts.

Experiential Marketing Florida Style

If you are considering experiential marketing events in Miami, Soho Studios is the area’s premier space. It is a versatile venue in Miami that has been the location of fashion shows and car shows. It has been a photography studio Miami agencies have come to rely upon for photo and video shoots. It has been utilized as an art studio for Art Basel Wynwood, and has been one of the hottest party venues Miami has ever witnessed. It has been used by Evian, Puma, Absolut, and yes, even Ford Motor Company. If you are looking for the best event space Miami has to offer for your next commercial production or project, contact us at Soho Studios. We have a creative team with access to a variety of South Florida vendors that can make your project a success.

What is experiential marketing?

If you are into event planning you most likely have some event planning tools you are comfortable with. There’s software, social marketing, even multiple event planning apps. There is one event planning tool that more marketers and event planners are utilizing. It is experiential marketing.

Experiential marketing uses one basic psychological fact…we learn from our experiences. It ties this fact in with a product or brand to help people feel a certain way about that brand. One such experiential marketing event took place recently at an event space in Miami called Soho Studios.

Soho Studios is no stranger to events in Miami. They have been a venue used by art shows, concerts, fashion shows, meetings, and parties. It has been used as a commercial shoot location, photography studio, and a film studio. It has been utilized by such companies as Ford Motor, Evian, Telemundo, and Puma.

This experiential event featured Absolut Vodka X and 2,500 excited Miamians. It was the Absolut X Bloc Party, and when the doors opened guests were asked to wear a mask or have their faces painted for a masquerade party.

As guests entered they were greeted by a giant archway with a DJ atop, and a bar on each side of the archway. Drinks at the bars included Absolut Greyhounds (Absolut & Grapefruit Juice), Absolut Caipiroskas (Absolut, lime and sugar), and Absolut punch. Absolut also commissioned Miami artist Agustina Woodgate to create artworks that would later be auctioned for charity.

No doubt the highlight was the show put on by British indie-rock band Bloc Party, playing for the very first time in Miami. It was an Absolut blast and you know the crowd left with a great feeling about the premium vodka brand.

Do you have a brand that could benefit from experiential marketing? Consider a venue in Miami that South Florida is turning to more and more for the hottest events, Soho Studios. With 65,000 square feet of multipurpose space, the venue is perfect for a variety of experiential events. Contact the experienced staff at Soho Studios who will assist you in creating your incredible event.

Virtual Meetings for Event Planning

Planning your event doesn't necessarily mean lots of travel time, expensive airfare and hotel costs. There are a variety of “virtual” meeting options available to help in your event planning.

Skype

Skype is perhaps the most well-known of video conferencing services. There is an app for smartphones that makes Skype portable, adding even more value to an already valuable tool. Skype offers one on one video conferencing as part of its free service, so if you want to meet with more than one vendor at a time on a video conference, it will require a small monthly fee. Considering the ultimate savings, it can be well worth it.

GoToMeeting

This program allows you to have meetings with up to 25 participants at a time. Participants can join in on your meeting from a Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone or any Android device. They even offer a 30 day free trial. While Skype is used for a lot of personal video conferencing, GoToMeeting was designed with businesses in mind. This makes this program more professional.

OoVoo

OoVoo offers free video chatting with up to twelve participants at a time. It also has the capabilities for mobile applications. While it is free, users, and attendees, will be exposed to advertising. For a modest $29.95 per year OoVoo offers a no-advertising option and what they call “premium support”. OoVoo also offers a handy video recording option that allows you to record meetings for future review.

There are also many paid software programs that allow for video conferencing like Adobe Connect Pro, FUZEMeeting, ClickMeeting and others, but the above three should get you started. Once you have explored the world of virtual meetings, you may want to explore premium choices that can include things like a whiteboard, private chats with select participants and other options.

If you are searching for event space Miami has to offer, we invite you to contact us at Soho studios. Soho Studios is a multi-purpose facility with 65,000 square feet of available space. It can be used for small and large meetings and conferences, art shows, fashion shows, concerts, photography and videos, trade shows and virtually any event you can create. We have an experienced team that can help you deliver on your promises, because we deliver on ours. Looking for venues in Miami? Consider South Florida’s premier space…Soho Studios.

Event Blogging

Blogs are not just reserved for people who want to rant about their favorite sports team or give their two cents on the latest political scandal. A blog can also be a useful tool for promoting your event. It is the perfect way to engage people and make them feel like they are part of the action.

An event blog is because is the perfect way to build relationships with people who are attending your event. Writing blog posts lets you share important information and create a strong buzz for your event. If you are at one of the best party venues Miami has to offer, for example, you want people to be aware of why your event is there and what is going on at your event.

When you start creating content for your event blog, an important guideline to remember is to keep it personal and conversational. Engage your followers with content that will matter to them. One way to promote conversation is to open up a comments section for blog visitors. It can serve as a message board where you can answer questions and respond to feedback from your followers.

Incorporate visual and audio elements into your posts. Include video or podcast interviews with any notable guests in attendance. Post lots of photos of the event to your blog and the activities leading up to it. This will make the event come alive and it will generate interest from blog visitors. People are drawn to big events with lots of hype. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the event blog will make it feel like a big deal to them when they check out the latest post.

Internet access is important in event blogging. Make sure your chosen venue is equipped with high speed Internet to handle what you will need to make your blog run smoothly. Your event blog will add another dimension to the event and make it an unforgettable experience.