Winding down from a busy springtime with a month-long marathon of festival styling and corporate party activations, we came across some common trends for large-scale conferences and events. Here at Panacea, we wanted to compile the top 5 trends for meetings and conventions to help inspire your next soirée.
1. Health & Wellness Spaces
Helping many clients with the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, we came across a common theme of health and wellness. Clients are integrating wellness aspects to their lounges and events and want to bring in spaces for meditation, hair and makeup touch-ups, nails, and more. Think work out classes, boot camps, and mindfulness spaces. For furniture and decor, this translates to poufs, floor cushions, and low tables for meditation, with layered textiles, rugs and pillows.
2. Community Spaces for Co-Working and Meetings
Many of our clients come to us to help outfit their activations as community lounges where guests can come to check email and have small meetings. This concept is similar to the popular WeWork shared co-working spaces, but in a pop-up environment. Think leather sofas, knit poufs, natural wood side tables, eclectic pillows, layered rugs, and statement chairs. We often mix in a variety of seating types and heights, such as bistro tables and wishbone chairs, or bar height pub tables and industrial-style stools. These spaces may be spread out to create intimate vignettes for some peace and quiet, or they can be larger so guests don’t have to stray too far from the heart of the party.
3. Lounge-Style Audience Seating
A lot of panels and conferences today prefer to have lounge-style seating instead of round tables and chairs, classroom, or theater-style seating. Offering a mix of soft seating in the first few rows, meeting and conference attendees now have the opportunity to lounge in a comfortable chair for hours of presentations. Our clients love the uniqueness and variety of our seating styles: they say that these types of arrangements lend to more engaged and collaborative audiences, giving guests the chance to move about, vary their perspective throughout the day, and mix with different attendees.
4. Natural décor elements: Plants & Greenery
Plants and greenery are a trend that, albeit simple, is not going anywhere anytime soon! The natural shapes and vibrant colors of floral arrangements, shrubbery, and ferns, when styled intentionally, can add a modern twist to a timeless décor classic. Our clients request more raw and organic elements, such as driftwood, succulents, and air plants, or simple bud vases with tropical leaves. Big statement living walls provide a great branding opportunity with high impact. Bringing more of the outdoors in keeps a space feeling fresh and not sterile.
5. Unique Step & Repeat or Sponsor Signage
In today’s internet-driven world, every event space must have a photo booth, and many of our clients are looking for a fresh take on step and repeat signage. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a wooden wall can show a million different brand personalities with customization. At one event, we printed the sponsor’s logo on acrylic and dressed it up with large handmade paper flowers against a blush pink wooden wall. For another event, we printed multiple sponsor logos onto thin wood sheets, which we layered on a walnut stained wooden wall. We have also worked with local artists and florists to turn a brand’s signage into a living work of art. The possibilities are endless to take the tired step and repeat from mundane to marvelous.
Whether it be your annual annual company picnic or the experiential event of a lifetime, here at Panacea Collection, we have everything you need to customize your event space. Interested in learning more about our styling options, or simply want more advice? Contact us today and speak with a specialist!
