Northstar

MAR-APR 2018 21 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS • MCMAG-ASIA.COM F or MICE events, food goes beyond mere sustenance. Event planners use the dining experience as a marketing tool to delight and connect with consumers. Superfood ingredients, food presentation, iconic venues and entertainment are all elements of experiential dining. To create a memorable event, you rst start with the consumer in mind. Regardless of the venue and occasion, consumers nowadays expect ve-star restaurant-quality food service. This can be challenging when you are trying to feed 200 people in 10 minutes. Nonetheless, hotel chefs and caterers rise to the challenge to reinvent the dining experience for MICE events. Instead of scooping food onto big plates along buet lines, consumers want small plate dining, thematic meals, and interactive cooking experience like they would in a restaurant. To create the winning formula, the food must look and taste good. Food is an important part of visual storytelling. Social media savvy consumers like to talk about and share photos of what they eat and where they eat. But it is not always about edible gold or unicorn cakes. Event planners need to know what works for the customer base and build the brand story into F&B. "F&B plays a huge part in creating an unforgettable meeting experience. It is one of the most important parts in terms of pulling through an event concept from banquet set-up and coee break to beverages as well as the menu. Together, it creates a holistic meeting experience for the guests," says Ralph Frehner, vice president, food and beverage, Marriott International Asia Pacic. A good event planner does not work in a silo. You can get innovative ideas by engaging DMCs, caterers, venue operators, and AV suppliers in the creative process. By working together as partners, you can ensure a consistent event messaging that extends beyond the dining experience. Technology is also a partner for eective event management. There are many mobile applications to help with event planning, from space planning + APP HIGHLIGHT Social Tables is a collaborative event planning platform that thousands of planners use to discover new properties, submit RFPs, diagram events collaboratively with clients and staff, and organise seating and meals. "Every day, these planners create another 2,000 events around the world with Social Tables." DAN BERGER, FOUNDER & CEO, SOCIAL TABLES SOCIAL TABLES to food budgeting. You have viable alternatives besides Excel to track venue rental. Careful planning can help you reduce food waste. And for any event that involves food, you must consider participants with special dietary requirements. It can be a matter of life and death if caterers neglect food allergy labeling and hygiene. With safe food handling, you can minimise health risks and negative publicity for your event.

• Cover