The Wild Life

When working in a destination, it's great to be able to bring events off site to expose guests to as much of the local culture as possible. In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wildlife is a huge part of the area's attraction so The National Museum of Wildlife Art is the perfect venue. Situated on a butte overlooking a 25,000-acre national elk refuge, the museum offers more than 5,000 items of art inspired by wildlife, a dramatic exterior (there is a photo of it at the end of this post) and a beautiful main hall great for events.

As this area is quite open, we created a central focal point -- a sculpture of natural branches and yellow roses that broke up the space and became a background for photos (and of course, the logo was strategically placed). The ultimate compliment came from a guest who asked "You mean that sculpture isn't always there?" We know we've done our job right when we add an element of decor that feels like it should have been there all the time.


We added texture to the white walls of the main hall where the dinner was taking place. This also helped warm up the large space. Purple washes up the stone facade made it even more "cave like" or intimate.

The tables featured centerpieces of yellow roses and elements natural to the area such as these elk horns.


We tried to position the tables in front of the artwork as much as possible. It was great to have the built-in perimeter decor!


The owl and the ... pussycat?? This is Zaid Arriola, AOO's event producer. He's demonstrating one of the features of the evening, an animal trainer who specializes in birds of prey. This owl didn't mind Zaid's presence at all. Come to think of it, Zaid looks pretty cool about the whole thing too! The trainers also brought in an eagle, and a couple of hawks.

This was a nice tie-in with the museum, but I'd recommend it for any event at a mountain resort. Every time we've done it, it's been a huge hit. And there are usually professional trainers in these areas (as well as in desert and tropical zones) who love to teach people about the indigenous animals, birds and reptiles. It goes a long way in helping people understand more and feel connected to the region.

The exterior of the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Enhancing What is Already There

I am all for total environmental transformation when a venue or event requires it. However, there are many venues, restaurants especially, where this doesn't make sense for a number of reasons. Usually, the top restaurants where clients want to hold an event have their own signature look that simply needs to be customized for the event with a few accent pieces. But are other things to consider.

For instance, Snake River Grill is a great restaurant in the middle of Jackson Hole City and the site of an event during a recent multiple-day corporate program produced by AOO Events. Although the client wanted to do a complete transformation with specialty chargers and linens, we determined that for logistical reasons, it wouldn't work and advised against it. For one thing, the tables were of completely different sizes, typical for a restaurant. We would have to get linen that wouldn't fit right, especially on the booth tables, and therefore, wouldn't look right. The same with the chargers. There simply wasn't room on the tables for all the bells and whistles.

Instead, we put our budget into the flowers. The Orange Mocara Orchids were a great complement to the restaurant's decor. Using a clear vase was a great way of not cluttering the tables in the same way that a glass top table is always a good suggestion in a tight space -- they don't make the table seem overwhelming.

And we spent extra money on a custom beautiful black snake skin menu. Of course I would have liked to add linens and chargers; we all like the upsell. But it was such overkill that I had to advise the client not to spend money where it didn't make sense. It's good practice all the way around -- the client appreciated it and the event was better for it.

Oh yes, not to forget the logo gobo! This time it was projected on the fireplace so everyone saw it as they walked into the space.

What A Week!

It doesn't get much better than this at AOO Events. First we learned that we are nominated for The Special Event Gala Awards under the category of Best Decor, Budget Between $50,000 and $150,000 for a corporate event on a rooftop in San Diego (pictured).

The winners will be announced at The Gala Awards, January 15, 2010, in New Orleans. Which means that in addition to being in the company of our fellow nominees, all talented pros, we also get to start the year in my favorite city!




Later on this week we were honored again when Liz Familian, publisher of BizBash Los Angeles contacted us to be on the magazine's Advisory Board. It took us, oh, a second, to accept the invitation!

To be recognized by two of the industry's top publications has made this a week to remember and yet another reason we are all looking forward to what 2010 will bring!!

Got Gobo?

Gobos. We've all used them, but here's an interesting, fun angle on them.

It all began innocently enough... During setup of a recent event, we were looking for logo placement in the lodge where we had the dinner (see blog post of November 10). We couldn’t find a clean wall for the projection. The carpet was out because it was too busy. So we sat there ... staring out the window ... then I saw it ... THE MOUNTAIN!

First we did a daylight focus first. Then as it got darker outside we adjusted it a little and focused it more. This photo is taken about dusk time. It looks like it’s lighter because I played with the aperture on the camera but in the pitch black the logo looked great. Of course I was nervous about whether it would work. Then I was nervous about it projecting on varying landscapes and getting broken up.

But it turns out that as soon as the first guest saw it, the word spread. At one time during the evening, almost everyone was outside taking pictures with it (the photographer figured out a way to shoot a couple in front of it with flash and still get the logo in the background).

It turns out that companies that are proud of their brand and their logo are very happy to see it huge as heck on the side of a mountain!

From that point on during the program, at the client's request, we chose an unusual place to project it. Who knew gobos could be so fun?

Making Magic

I know what you are thinking ... another beautiful tabletop in just another fancy hotel. But would you be surprised to learn that this dinner took place in a ski lodge? The client was!

Worried that their guests were used to five-star venues, they wondered how this very traditional ski lodge would stack up. But I knew by looking at the space that all it needed was a little magic. I turned out the lights, pinspotted the tables, and washed the wood walls and chocolate curtain in warm amber colors. The result was a stunner.

The tables were covered in Wasabi Wave (great name!) from Wildflower Linen. We customized the menu card by utilizing the graphics of the program, tying it in perfectly. The camel roses in the gold leaf container finished the look. And, yes, we brought in Chameleon Chair, which certainly helped as well.

Sometimes the simplest of accents really makes a difference. Here is a simple pillow candle holder on the outside patio tables. The band is warming up in the background.

An Event with A View

How do you get this view for your next event?

Here's how!

This event was held at the Bridger Collier Lodge which is located on top of a 10,000-foot-high mountain at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort resort. The only way up to the lodge is the Bridger Gondola which means a lot to a black-diamond skier, but to an event professional it means a slower load-in than normal. We had a crew at the top of the gondola that took the boxes and props off and put it in piles, and the crew that the bottom that loaded it. It was quite an operation that took an extra day to accomplish.

But it was so worth it!

A front row seat to a spectacular view is embellished with the beauty of a Citron Lamour linen from BBJ Linen and camel roses in gold leaf containers, a stunning combination.

The view of the cocktail party with the gondola in the background.

We've done an event at the top of this mountain more than once and have found the most important things for us “sea-level” folks is to drink tons of water when working at 10,000 feet.The altitude will make you lose your energy really fast and hydrating constantly helps you keep your energy. We've also found that we have to work at about half speed when installing or wel burn out really quick. Now, if you are from Wyoming, not a problem. But it’s not often we do events on top of mountains!

More posts of this "elevated" event to come ...