Peak Events: Flagstaff Oktoberfest

Showing posts with label Flagstaff Oktoberfest. Show all posts

October 24, 2011

Flagstaff Oktoberfest

“Oktoberfest war ein Hit!”

In case you don’t speak or read German… the title means Oktoberfest was a hit! I really hope that you all got to experience such a fun day, but in case you didn’t here is what you have to look forward to…
Last year was my first experience with Flagstaff Oktoberfest and I was stationed at the Volunteer Check-in. I think sitting on the sidelines like that really benefited me for running in this year because then I was able to take in all the areas of the event and see, from an attendee’s perspective, what worked and what didn’t.

This year was whole different ballgame. I was off the sidelines and on the field! I really got a taste of what it is to put on citywide event in Flagstaff. Just as any event does, you have to start with the cold-calls and sponsors. I have done this in Scottsdale before and well, lets just say that Flagstaff people are a lot “friendlier” when it comes to asking for sponsors and donations! It was nice to get to talk with community businesses and promote Oktoberfest along the way. It was also really fun doing the city walk and getting to figure out which ways we could save money and planning the layout, and flow, of the event.

Some plenty of phone calls and emails later came the day of the event. All of our planning and strategizing was ready to be put into action! Since I couldn’t sleep (literally felt like Christmas morning) I arrived at the event site at 7am. From there it was set up, directing vendors in, keeping people out and overall making sure things were running smoothly. Jen, Debbi and I all sort of have a way of keeping each other on some sane-normal level. (Something that is very important with your event staff team!) The whole event was a blast, from set up to take down. It was great seeing so any of my NAU peers there and having a blast with their beer games! I hope that next year there are even more NAU students there and an even bigger attendance!
There were vendors, awesome food (that kept you craving all day even if you were full), delicious beer (so I heard), great music to bop to and a lot of fun games, prizes and people watching! If you like a lot of fun on a beautiful Saturday then this is the event to clear your calendar for! Hope to see you next year at Oktoberfest!
Belle

June 22, 2011

Event Marketing

Event Marketing is always changing, and not all event marketing is for every event. Before you being any event marketing campaign you need to know your audience and the best ways to reach them. Not only is event marketing constantly changing but there are so many ways to market an event.

You’ve got print which could mean newspapers, magazines, flyers, banners or posters. I’ve even seen car magnets advertising events. TV commercials, TV interviews, giveaways on TV. Radio Commercials, radio interviews, radio giveaways. Street teams can be very helpful when promoting events. Then you have social media and online marketing. Website banner ads, online social calendars and that’s just the beginning. I’m sure you know that social media is growing every day. What you might not know is that Facebook advertising can be very targeted, even down to what interests someone has. Not only can you set up a Facebook page, but you can have an event page and ads. You can utilize twitter the day of you r event and create a new hashtag so it’s easier for people to follow you. Then you can send out specials, deals or giveaways for the event as well.

Always being engaged with your audience before and during your event is key!

If you would like to sit down and discuss any of these event marketing tools, please feel free to call Jennifer @ 928-606-7600

June 14, 2011

Peakcocks and Bling!

On March 12, 2011, Talani Wilson became Mrs. Maurice Rowe at Flagstaff Ranch. I had so much fun on this wedding and it turned out to be absolutely beautiful. I first met Talani and her mother Diana on October 2nd. We met quickly before Flagstaff Oktoberfest and they decided to hire us on the spot. I was excited about this wedding because I’d never done a peacock wedding and it was a challenge to find that line between too much and not enough. Anyone who’s been to one of my weddings knows I try to design from less is more. So, how did we make this wedding so beautiful while honoring the Peacock theme and having a bride who loves bling?

We started with the room design. Flagstaff Ranch has a beautiful set up for weddings, a perfect area for a buffet, a great area for cocktail hour and a great dance floor. The décor at Flagstaff Ranch can be a bit heavy with wooden tables, chairs and trim – we decided to put all those tables and chairs outside on the covered patio and bring in the event chairs that we could cover. Talani’s colors were peacock of course, but we narrowed in on a beautiful blue. We covered the tables and chairs with black lamour and then brightened it up with blue chair ties and napkins.

Our next design element consisted of flowers. In case you’re not aware – there aren’t many blue flowers. The blue delphinium is basically it, unless you’re willing to spray paint your flowers, which – may look really cool in the magazine, but in person, they look exactly as you’d expect, spray painted – plus, it dries them out something fierce and who needs more drying in Flagstaff? Talani loves Calla Lilies, which was beautiful to work into a design. White calla lilies with crystals, green and blue accent flowers, and the peacock eye feathers against the black tablecloth popped and allowed the Peacock to be a beautiful accent instead of an overpowering presence. Also on the tables, we placed origami peacock paper candy boxes engraved from lmk-gifts.com. Again, bringing in the peacock without the wedding going to the birds!

Talani and Maurice decided to go with cupcakes, with a cake on top for the cutting ceremony. Flagstaff Ranch staff delivered plated cupcakes to the guests and everyone was treated to the delicious creations of Beautiful Leaf Bakery. For a cake topper, the couple decided to go with a peacock also from lmk-gifts.com that sat atop the cake, allowing for the feathers to drape down the tower of cupcakes.

Chef Doug from Flagstaff Ranch, did a fantastic job on the food, delicious as always and the wait and bar staff are some of the best in town.

Having friends who are DJs is helpful when you’re planning a wedding – Kip and Bill did a great job of making sure the event flowed flawlessly, and provided great music at the ceremony and the reception.

It was a great time and at the end of the evening, when Talani and Maurice got into their limo to leave, both were smiling and ready to start their married life together.