HELEN MILLS Event Series: July 25th Recap

On July 25th, we had the first event in a series of events at the HELEN MILLS Event Space and Theater. The morning talk explored the state of data privacy. It was a thought-provoking discussion with delicious pastries, intriguing speakers and presentations. Thank you to everyone who attended, co-producer, Contagious, sponsor Flamingo, and all the great speakers! Below is a quick recap (with pictures!) for anyone who wasn't able to attend or who'd like more information about the speakers, their projects, and additional resources to explore. Enjoy!

HELEN MILLS Theater decorated with logos in portholes.

Arwa Mahdawi of Contagious (pictured below), moderated the discussion and panel. Arwa is the North American Strategy Director for Contagious and led the quantitative and qualitative research projects on privacy that Contagious recently undertook in conjunction with Flamingo and Opinium. Find the full report here. Arwa can also be found tweeting at ArwaM.

Kyle McDonald is an artist who works with open code. He started off the event by discussing the numerous projects he's worked on includuing one that involved an eavesdropping with a lightbulb that livetweets conversations via Mechanical Turk transcription. More of Kyle's work and thoughts can be found here and here.

Adam Harvey (pictured below, center), is an artist who spoke about his work in developing counter-surveillance designs. His Privacy Gift Shop will be premiering in the fall as part of the NEW INC, a museum led incubator located next door to the New Museum. More about Adam's projects here.

Eliza Esquivel (photo below), VP Global Brand Strategy at Mondelēz International, gave an inspiring talk about Focus: Life Gear by Trident, a project that explores the intersection between fashion, technology, a distraction-free lifestyle, and of course...gum. More about Eliza here.

Dee de Lara, associate director of Flamingo, wrapped up the presentations with her talk about work the agency has done on qualitatively studying privacy, what kind of consumers privacy want, and how brands can deliver it. Flamingo's study on data privacy can be found in its entirety here. Learn more about the New York Flamingo team here.

3 Reasons to Consider A Non-Traditional Venue for Your Next Meeting

In a recent research paper on the future of meeting venues, Maritz Research shares three main trends: increasing technology requirements, a stronger focus on sustainability, and most interestingly, the rise of non-traditional venues. These non-traditional venues reflect an increased need for ‘creative, out of the box, fun meeting locations.’ Since the study was published, this trend has only increased. Meeting planners are increasingly showing a preference for more non-traditional spaces, instead of the traditional conference center or hotel ballroom. The following are three reasons you may want to consider a non-traditional venue:

Fresh spaces can add energy to a meeting

People get energy not only from event content and great speakers, but also from their surroundings. Spaces with unique elements will surprise and delight your guests and can create great conversation pieces. For example, hosting your meeting in a venue that has a theater can inspire speakers to take different approaches to talks they may have given many times before. They may be inspired to create a kind of performance, in line with the space.

Unique venues encourage creative planning

Planning events in similar venues may encourage similar ways of setting up the venue, agenda, and guests’ experiences. New types of venues will encourage you to think outside of ways you’ve planned events before. While certain core elements will remain the same, you may want to consider shaking things up with different ways of seating your attendees, different menus, experiential activities to engage guests with your brand or product, and of course the opportunity for more informal networking to maximize connections made the day of the event.

The venue reflects your brand

The venue where you hold your event says a lot about your ideas, brand and/or product. Guests will see the venue as a reflection of your businesses goals and values and thus the selection shouldn’t be taken lightly. When you visit the venue make sure to not only check on amenities and costs but also how the venue feels to you. Does it have the ‘it factor’ you’re looking for? Does it match the thought leadership, mission and image of the company or organization you work for?

When selecting a venue, it’s always important to consider what space feels right to you as a representative of your organization or company and well best help you accomplish the goals you’ve set out to achieve. Will guests want something more traditional or will they be comfortable with a venue that is outside of their past experiences? There is no ‘right’ venue for everyone.

What You Need To Know About Meeting Packages

Planning a corporate conference or meeting involves managing not only the logistical considerations of event planning but also keeping in mind both your organization's goals and the needs and preferences of your guests. Choosing a venue that offers meeting packages can lighten your planning responsibilities and allow you to focus more on achieving your meeting goals. To help with this decision, we've put together a list of things to consider and actions to take when evaluating what meeting packages will work best for your next event and allow you to save time as you plan.

Determine Your Exact Needs

The first step in planning your event should always be to develop an event plan that specifically details every need that the venue can help with on event day. Once you've narrowed down the right venue location, amount of space needed for your guest count, and overall aesthetic of the desired space, start to consider the logistical needs for your event. Will you need catering at the event? Are you looking to have a post-meeting reception? What type of A/V and lighting needs do you have? Are you looking for the venue to help you with decorating the space or installing signage? Don't make the mistake of thinking of these questions as afterthoughts - they are all important elements in the look, feel, flow, and ultimately, the success of your event.

Determine What the Venue Offers Without a Package

Venues in New York City range from those that ask you to bring in all services to those that are completely full service. Most venues lie somewhere between the two extremes. When looking at venues, see what they offer without a package. Is there any furniture included with the rental? Is there in-house lighting or A/V? Can you make use of their signage opportunities, both inside and outside of the venue? If you have a trusted vendor or sponsor for the event, are you able to use them for catering, production, or tech? Ask the venue whether they have exclusive venues and whether they are union. Often, the answer can vary depending on the service/s you need. For example, rules regarding liquor service may be more strict than rules for bringing in your own caterer.

Get the Details of What the Packages Include

Venues create their packages based on what the typical meeting will need for their event and what they've seen work most successfully in their specific venue. As a result, packages will vary between each venue depending on the space layout, they type of venue, and the type of clients that host events there. Since all events are different, it's important to look back on your event needs and compare them with the package that the venue offers. To make a true comparison, make sure you fully understand what is offered in each package. Ask the venue about anything that is unclear or seems to be missing. Often venues can provide you both with a summary as well as specifics about what's included like a full technical inventory, furniture list, or sample catering menu. At this point, ask for the cost associated with any of your needs that are not included.  You may find that it is far easier, less time consuming, and more affordable to have the venue manage many of the logistics than to coordinate and contract with a number of different vendors.

Ask What's Possible

Venue's know (and should embrace) that each client has different and unique needs. If you find that a package doesn't quite match your event needs, ask the venue what adjustments are possible and what they will need from you to make this happen. A good venue staff can deliver almost anything if given a “heads up” and a little time.

Take Advantage of Venue Relationships

If a venue can't offer what you need, ask them to recommend you to a vendor that can. Venue's that are dedicated to working with clients and offering a more full service experience will have a number of vendors they can recommend for you, whether it be an expert event planner, florist, videographer, graphic designer, or rental company. These referrals are most likely based on long-term working relationships with vendors who've proven to be reliable and deliver results that keep clients coming back to the venue year after year.

Introducing the HELEN MILLS Original Event Series. Join us for our first event on Friday, July 25th!

HELEN MILLS was established in 2005 by real estate entrepreneur and arts patron Helen Mills, who has a passion for creating beautiful, inspiring spaces for people to gather, whether in business, celebration, or for the arts. In support of Helen’s mission, HELEN MILLS is creating its own event series. The goal of our series is to bring extraordinary people together to learn about interesting topics, discuss new ideas, debate important issues, and meet other movers and shakers in New York City. On Friday, July 25th, HELEN MILLS will be producing its first original event titled “Digital Data Privacy and What It Means for Your Brand.” The event will begin with a networking breakfast, followed by a seminar on how growing data privacy concerns are impacting modern marketing. We have five great speakers from the worlds of creative technology, marketing, and consumer research, who will be presenting their unique perspectives on this topic. These include Eliza Esquivel, VP Global Brand Strategy at Mondelez International, and Adam Harvey, an artist who raised headlines for his line of countersurveillance fashion gear and anti-drone camouflage.

For our inaugural event, we are offering 50% off tickets to all of our blog readers. For more information, and to purchase tickets, please go to our Eventbrite page. Please feel free to pass along the invitation to friends or colleagues who might be interested in attending!

Summary of Event Details:What: Seminar on digital data privacy + Breakfast Who Should Attend? Anyone interested in data privacy, modern marketing, and intriguing talks When: Friday, July 25th, 8:30-10am Where: HELEN MILLS Theater, 139 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001 Tickets & More Details:Click here!

6 Creative Ways to Improve your Meeting with a Great Venue

When considering how to maximize the impact of your event, make sure not to overlook how your venue can help. While choosing a venue often takes a backseat when it comes to planning your event, a great venue can offer a lot of value, beyond the items listed on the invoice.

Meet Somewhere Exciting!

Meetings and conferences have long been held at traditional venues like hotel conference centers or ballrooms, but that doesn’t mean that your next event should be. Increasingly, meeting participants expect to see exciting content and surprising, unique elements at events that get the creative juices flowing and keep guests engaged. In addition to producing great, engaging content, consider choosing a more stimulating, non-traditional space like a theater, museum, or simply a design-focused venue. Keep in mind, of course, that any venue you consider should have the basic amenities to make sure your event runs smoothly.

Take Advantage of Expert (and Free!) Advice

When looking at venues and speaking with the venues’ sales staff, make sure to listen to any advice they have. While not everything you hear will work for your event, remember that you are speaking with someone who’s likely seen hundreds if not thousands of events. Venue staff can often give you great ideas from sources you might not have considered. For example, other types of events like private celebrations, product launches, or cocktail parties may have elements that can be re-purposed for your meeting or conference in a way that adds extra inspiration to the planning process.

Make Use of the Venue’s Connections

Almost every venue you consider should have an active social media presence. To extend the reach of your event, if appropriate, check out the venue’s social media pages and see if they ever promote events they have. This can be especially helpful if you’re looking to sell tickets before an event or simply to raise the profile of the event before or after it happens.

Put Signage Everywhere you Can

Signage is a great way to make a great impression on guests and distribute information. When choosing a venue, ask the venue contact about all of the opportunities to promote your brand, your sponsors and your event content, both inside and outside of the venue. Make sure to ask for any unconventional uses of the venue for signage like various surfaces or architectural features. This may inspire you to think of how the branding in the venue can change the whole guest experience.

Make Sure Guests have Space to Move

Even if you’re meeting only requires theater or classroom style seating, event attendees love having the opportunity to stretch their legs and seek a little bit of privacy, without leaving the meeting entirely. Check to see if the venue’s you’re considering can facilitate this with spaces separate from the meeting area where guests can grab snacks and check email or take a quick phone call. It may make sense to have different portions of your meeting in different spaces within the venue as well to give guests a sense that they are moving from panel to panel or learning to learning.

Enable Your Guests to Have a Great Time, Post-Meeting

After a day of a content-packed agenda, guests may be ready for a change of scene with some of the people they’ve spoken with or met throughout the day. Consider the neighborhood where the venue is located when conducting your site visits and don’t be afraid to ask the staff for recommendations about favorite local sites. It’s a great value-add  for your attendees to provide them with interesting, unique or just plain enjoyable things to do near the venue after the meeting.

A lot of times a traditional corporate meeting space or venue limits your ability to provide a special or creative event. Remember, most venues have hosted a wide variety of events and have a lot of experience to share, but a lot of venue's staff tend to be content to just "sell" the space.  A great venue makes all of the difference, and in this day and age when expectations are sky high, be sure to never settle on the status quo.

Need Some Help Organizing Your Next Corporate Event? Read This.

Hosting a corporate event is a daunting, but exciting task. New York City is full of venues capable of hosting a top-notch event. Right off the bat, you’ll need to answer seemingly simple questions like: How do I choose the right venue? How do I prepare for the event in advance? But choosing the right venue involves more than finding a location that can accommodate your guest count. Similarly, executing your vision for the event requires more than just logistics. However, planning an event does not have to be complicated or scary.

Here is a primer on corporate event organizing to help you plan ahead.

Choose your venue carefully

The right venue can be a tremendous help to organizing your event. Everything from its design, location and staff can prove essential. Planning your event's needs should be the first thing you do before choosing your venue. The right choice of venue can go a long way to avoiding unexpected costs and making the event as enjoyable and stress-free for attendees.

Looking to minimize transportation costs? Try to find a venue that is close to a public transportation stop or to your company’s office if you’re local. Looking to have guests get dinner after the event? Consider a venue that is close to restaurants that will enhance your guests overall experience. Some venues are fairly isolated from restaurants, bars, and other businesses. If you need pre- and post-event meeting spots, consider a venue that is located in the heart of a neighborhood or district, and always ask the venue staff for recommendations!

Don't skimp on signage

It's easy to disregard signage. Do not make this mistake. Signs give your event a polished feel and extend the brand experience throughout the day. Signs also break up blank space within a venue and relate important or entertaining information to your guests. Be sure to include signage costs in your initial budget. Ask the venue contact for ways to use the space that cuts down on signage costs while enhancing overall branding.

Feed your guests well

Even if you plan on having guests eat after your event at nearby restaurants, it’s essential to provide snacks and beverages throughout the day to keep people energized. People often eat more at events than you might expect. Save time by asking the caterer or venue to come up with a menu – they probably have a great deal of experience in what guests enjoy and what they don’t.

Check the venue's amenities

Thoroughly crosscheck your event's needs with the venue's supplies. From chairs to tables to microphones and more, anything they have on hand means less expense and time for you. Visit your venue beforehand and imagine how you will lay out your event while in the space and the possible furniture and other amenities you may be able to use.

You can also ask the venue about recommended places to visit nearby. They will likely have a number of recommendations on places to eat, relax and sightsee that you might not be able to find in a traditional guide.

Expect the unexpected

Surprises happen with large events; the more prepared you are in general, the better equipped you will be to handle unexpected developments. Ask the venue if there is anything they expect from event organizers that you haven't yet covered or discussed. Go over what you need from them on the day of the event, and what they need to provide. Good communication and planning will go a long way in making your event a success.

You will undoubtedly have excellent support mechanisms in place to help you stay in tune with developments in corporate event organizing that can have an impact on your meeting in the short, medium, and longer term. You will always remain active on industry social networks to ask for help and share what you're learning, but remember, that a great venue staff is an invaluable resource as well.

The challenge you will always face is to acknowledge that with constant innovation and soaring client expectations, you have to spend more and more time finding the next great thing.

6 Questions You Need to Ask About Event Venue Amenities

Planning for events involves a number of moving parts and sometimes conflicting priorities. While it’s important to keep the original vision for your corporate conference or meeting in mind, it is also essential to make sure the event venue amenities provided are in line with your with logistical, financial and legal considerations.  In the world of event planning, knowledge is everything.  The following six questions are great to keep in mind when looking for a venue for your next event: How long is the rental period for the venue?  Venues vary widely in how much time they include with the venue rental fee.   Often, time for loading in and out of the venue is precious to ensure everything is set up the way you’d like. Make sure to ask what the overtime fees are for extended load-in/load-out or longer events.

Are any tables, chairs, podiums, etc., provided or will I have to rent them myself?  Events come in many sizes, shapes, and forms.  Once you have basic event information, it’s good to know what’s included in the venue rental.  Ask questions like: Is there any furniture included in the venue?  Is there a prep kitchen?  Do you provide audio/visual components? Understanding these details will help you to better plan your budget for the event and to allot time for ordering items, if necessary.  Some venues also have distinct and unique features that may eliminate some rental costs – these might include built-in display areas, bars, projection to replace gobos, etc. Inquire if they do, and find out what they are—it might be the reason you make a specific venue your event destination.

Can I hire my own vendors or do I have to select from a preferred vendor list? If you’re using vendors—like caterers, photographers, musicians, etc.— find out if you are able to use your own, or if you have to use preferred or pre-approved vendors. Furthermore, if they are open to outside vendors, ask if they have any buyout fees.

Are there branding or signage opportunities available? Events are one of the best opportunities you will have to provide a truly branded experience for your guests. When visiting a venue, consider at which points, from when guests arrive to when they depart, you will be able to brand the venue.  Does the venue give you the opportunity to have street-level signage? Is it easy to project onto walls or screens, hang gobos, and hang or stick signage around the venue?Venues will vary in the branding opportunities they provide as well as guidelines and restrictions in hanging or posting signage, projection, etc.

Is there parking near the venue? Parking is another essential aspect for some guests when it comes to events.  Whether your event is small or large, look into the how much available parking there is.  What other methods of transportation are easily accessible?  Is valet parking an option?  Can you get a group rate?

Does the venue offer on-site coordination and planning? If so, what services are included? Many venues have their own experienced  event staff who  are familiar with the venue, tech, and what has worked well for past events..  See what services are included in the overall cost, and what is provided for extra. For example, is the venue able to recommend vendors, suggest floor plans or venue setup, and provide rentals?

Every detail you can gather will make planning an event that much easier. Some of these questions might be answered from an informational packet or through the website, and others by the coordinator or the venue staff directly. Any additional information that can be provided during the site visit should be welcomed and encouraged. If you’re unsure of how the venue might suit your vision, ask to see photos of previous events or sample floor plans. If viewing the included furniture, lighting options, and projection screens is an option, take it.

Information is the key to a successful event.  Do not be afraid to ask any and all questions that you can think of and be sure to challenge the your venue contact to come up with any suggestions or ideas that you may be leaving out.

Checklist: 5 Event Space Amenities Every Venue Should Have

When deciding on a venue, there are many different factors to take into consideration. It can be difficult to decide which event space amenities are most important, and which ones are just nice-to-haves. We have put together a list of 5 amenities we think are essential to make sure that your event is a huge success.

1. Knowledgeable and Committed Venue Staff

The venue’s sales/production staff is your main point of contact leading up to your event. It is important that the venue’s staff has experience and is knowledgeable about the venue capabilities so that they can help guide you in planning your ideal event. A great venue staff will offer suggestions for ways in which to improve your event, as well as anticipate various day-of needs prior to your event.

The venue’s day-of event staff is one of the most important parts to running a flawless event. It is important for a venue to hire courteous and professional staff that routinely work at the venue and have a deep knowledge of the venue facilities and event procedures.

2. Excellent Tech and Tech Support

a)    High speed, reliable Internet access (wired/wireless).

In a time when everyone is connected to devices and social media 24/7, high speed, reliable internet access is a non-negotiable for events. Your event needs reliable internet access to ensure that attendees can remain connected throughout an event, whether it’s checking emails or publicizing the event through social media. Some things to take into consideration:

• Make sure that the venue’s internet capabilities can support your guests’ connectivity needs. This means ensuring that the venue has sufficient internet bandwidth to support your guest count, and that the internet signal is strong throughout the venue

• Check that the venue has a backup internet connection in case one of the connections fails during an event.

• Check that the venue’s internet connection can support specific capabilities you might need for your event. These capabilities could include live streaming your event, running a WebEx, or playing online media during a presentation.

b)    A/V technician assistance pre-event and during the event

Having an A/V technician on site the day of your event is essential for making sure your technical run of show goes smoothly. The tech will be there to mic up presenters, run PowerPoint presentations, and overall make sure that the tech runs seamlessly. If there are any technical issues during your event, you need to be sure that someone will be on site to solve them.

It is also very important to be in touch with the A/V tech pre-event so that she can anticipate your event needs and ensure that the venue is equipped with all of the technology needed for your event. This may include upgrading your internet connection, ensuring an adequate number of microphones for the day of your event, setting up specialty lighting, or testing media files prior to your event.

c)    High quality A/V equipment at the venue

Having high quality A/V equipment at the venue is a huge convenience and can save a lot on technical costs. With a good inventory of A/V equipment on site, you can make last minute technical adjustments the day of the event, whether it’s realizing you need an additional microphone, or adding spotlights on your presenters.

Additionally, it is important that the venue’s A/V equipment is high quality and well maintained. You want to ensure that guests focus on your event content, and not the feedback from a microphone, or a fuzzy, flickering image on the projection screen.

d)    Lighting options

The ability of intentional lighting to transform an event’s look and feel cannot be overstated. Lighting can set the mood for your event, using brighter lighting to promote a more focused, energetic feel, or dimmer lighting to set a more casual mood for a night time event. Lights can also be used to brand your event with company logo gobos, or to wash the walls with a particular color (perhaps your brand’s color).  It is also important that the lighting positioning is flexible so that you can adjust the lighting for your precise event needs.

Lastly, you should make sure that the venue has adequate specialty lights on site to accommodate your event needs. Lights are expensive, so it will help your budget if the venue has sufficient the lighting equipment on site

3. Ability to display indoor and outdoor signage

The ability to display indoor and outdoor signage is important for so many reasons. You should check that the venue has adequate space outside of the venue to display signs, as well as adequate wall space inside of the venue to hang signs. Here are some reasons that signage is so important:

• Outdoor signage ensures that attendees can find the venue easily. This means that attendees will not be frustrated while searching for the venue, and will arrive on time for the start of the event.

• Signage provides a great branding opportunity for your company. By having signage outside of the venue, people passing by will see your brand and be aware of your event. Signage indoors will transform the venue into your company’s look and feel, and inspire attendees by making the venue come to life with your company’s mission.

• Signage will help with press for your event and company. Signage serves as a great backdrop for photos that will be used both in traditional press and social media posts.

 4. Adequately sized and convenient restrooms

A venue should have restrooms that are large enough to accommodate your guest count. Adequately sized are often overlooked until the day of your event when the size of restrooms is too small and there is a long line of people waiting. This creates guest frustration and can also delay your event’s run of show. Additionally, restrooms should be conveniently accessible.

 5. Large enough kitchen area for food prep and dishwashing

It is important for a venue to have enough space in the kitchen to properly prepare and store food. There should be adequate room for multiple staff members to work in the kitchen at one time. Additionally, the kitchen should have a large refrigerator to keep food fresh, and an industrial-sized dishwasher to clean dish-ware throughout the event.

If you are curious about additional event space amenities that can really make your next event come alive be sure to download our eBook: "30 Features an Event Space in New York City Should Have."