Two Chicks, Three Seats: The Event Manager's Guide to Industry Trends

On this episode, Kate and Rachel sit down with Cassie LaMere, Founder and Creative Director of the luxury event planning company Cassie LaMere Events, based out of Austin, Texas. Through her company, Cassie plans and executes social and corporate events, bringing event dreams to life with creative activations and experiences. Cassie has especially great experience creating lifestyle events, like influencer dinners and experiences, for her brand clients.

Through the episode, we discuss the power of lifestyle events, how venues can market themselves to attract these lifestyle events, what is hot in events today, what she looks for in her partners as an event planner, tips for starting a business, and more.

Follow along with Cassie's work and journey on her website and Instagram below:

On this episode, Kate and Rachel discuss how hospitality businesses and industry professionals can level up various areas of their business in 2024. They discuss tips and strategies for revamping operations, events, marketing, and personal development.

Take a listen and bring some new energy, initiatives, and revenue into 2024!

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On this episode, Rachel and Kate discuss what is trending for the 2023 holiday events season when it comes to cocktails, recipes, decor, and event activations.

Looking to bring a new cocktail to your menu of specials? Pitch a new theme to a client? Add a last-minute event experience from a third-party partner? This episode is for you! The holiday season is underway, but with parties going into January, there is still plenty of time for final touches and additions.

The duo also discusses ideas and promotion tips for New Year's Eve events and how to use Tripleseat tools to capture final holiday business.

On this episode, Rachel and Kate sit down with special guest, Laurence Brown, Senior Insight Manager at KAM Research & Insights in London. KAM conducts research within the hospitality and food service sectors in order to provide valuable and actionable insight solutions to their clients. Tripleseat and KAM recently partnered on a research study, asking venues about how they manage the event and private dining book process for the festive season.

Listen to the episode to hear about how venues in the UK prepare for the busy festive season, the overall consumer sentiment going into the 2023 festive season, and how venues are managing their festive season bookings.

On this episode, Kate and Rachel sit down with Laurence Stevenson, Head of Sales at Sixes Social Cricket, which is a UK-based competitive socialising brand that offers a high-energy game of cricket alongside food and drinks for the ultimate activity-based experience.

Commonly known as eatertainment in the States, competitive socialising combines activity with top-notch food and beverage, to create a unique hospitality experience under one roof. Competitive socialising has skyrocketed to success in the UK market especially and continues to grow in popularity in the US.

We chatted with Laurence about the competitive socialising business model; Sixes as a brand; the draws to competitive socialising for corporate and social groups; differing consumer demands between the UK and the US; and much more about the benefits of competitive socialising.

On this episode, Kate and Rachel are joined by two lovely guests: Valerie Francois and Paige Pasley, the two co-founders of The Social Butterflies. The Social Butterflies is a Boston-based full-service event company, working from conception to execution on their events within the social, wedding, and corporate event spaces.

During the episode, we talk about the Social Butterflies' creative process, what clients are looking for in their events, advice for starting your own business, and much more. The Social Butterflies host their own biannual event in Boston, Soul and Sangria, bringing together music from DJs and a live band into one event with a drink menu of innovative sangria beverages. Save the date for the next Soul and Sangria event: September 10, 2023 from 3-8 pm!

Looking for event planners in the Boston event market? Follow The Social Butterflies on their website and Instagram below.

On this episode, Kate and Rachel are joined by Latasha James, Founder & Creative Director of James + Park, a social-first video marketing firm serving clients throughout the globe. Latasha is a marketing strategist, digital content creator, and coach with years of experience creating successful video marketing strategies.

Looking to grow your hospitality business' social media presence using video? Latasha gives insight into what social media platforms to focus on first, how to plan out video content, how to get your staff comfortable on video, how to use the user-generated content already being posted about your business, how to edit your video content, and much more on what's hot in social media for the hospitality industry right now. Check out Latasha's picks for restaurants to follow for inspiration on Instagram: @baobabfare and @crossroadskitchen!

On this episode, Kate and Rachel are joined by Joey Goone, President of Utopia Experience, for a thought-provoking events industry discussion. Utopia Experience is an event and video production company that helps both for and nonprofit organizations produce better and more meaningful experiences.

In the episode, Joey gives insights into a variety of topics, including finding the intention behind event experiences, using videos within events, creating a genuine sense of community at events, facilitating giveback initiatives within events without being a nonprofit, knowing your superpower as a business, and so much more.

On this episode, Kate and Rachel talk about vendors that event planners should be partnering with for future events. After recently attending the Event Planner Expo in New York City, the ladies are inspired by the latest trending vendors on the the event scene. From edible drink toppers for custom cocktails to latte trucks, cotton candy in the shape of animals, unique "disposable cameras", and painting experiences, there are so many cool vendors that can add an extra element of flare to your next event. 

In this episode, Rachel and Kate are joined by Alicia Shiro, Founder & CEO of Aced It Events in New York City. Alicia specializes in one-of-a-kind corporate experiences, conferences, galas, and retreats, working with all types of high-profile clients across the globe.

In the interview, the trio discusses a variety of topics, including the current state of the event industry; the intrigue of members-only clubs and experiences; and how the event industry is making its way into the metaverse. Alicia provides her insight and knowledge on it all. This is an exciting episode that you do not want to miss!

In this episode, Kate and Rachel discuss the importance of using technology in the event industry. They specifically discuss a few different tools and ideas that they have researched and could be used by restaurants and event venues for various pursposes. From survey tools to ice breakers to Tripleseat integrations, this episode covers the event technology bases.

On today's episode, Kate and Rachel welcome in the month of December and dive right into what is pressing on event professionals' minds right now: holiday season events. How can I fill the rest of my event calendar? What strategy can I try to reach new clients? What can I change in my efforts? While yes, the holiday events season is underway and many restaurants, event spaces, and unique venues' calendars are all booked up, that may not be the case for everyone. This episode will give some ideas about ways we have seen Tripleseat customers promoting their event offerings, and perhaps it could give you and your team a fresh idea for a final holiday event season push. Let's bring in the events until the very end of the year (and then into January and February, because many people are celebrating after the holidays, too)!

In today's episode, Kate and Rachel talk about a variety of interesting topics that are trending in the hospitality and events industry right now. These topics include restauranteur Danny Meyer joining the board of Panera Brands with his "enlightened hospitality" influence, restaurant operators making changes to restaurant technology and architecture to improve working conditions, tips for managing event client expectations, and a brand new ghost kitchen concept on the horizon. The creativity of the hospitality industry comes in all shapes and sizes, and every lesson learned is valuable to any hospitality professional listening.   

In this episode, Rachel and interim co-host Azure, are joined by Ashly Whalen, Founder and Owner of Menta Graze. Menta Graze is a luxury experiences business, based out of Mass., offering grazing boards, pop-up picnics, glamping experiences, and much more. Whalen discusses the incredible Menta Graze offerings, tips for creating the perfect event experience (and how restaurants, venues, or hotels could do it themselves), event industry trends, and more in the hospitality industry. Whalen comes from years of experience in the events industry, working closely with wedding planning and creating luxurious events; hence the beauty and creativity behind Menta Graze. Whalen will be presenting at Tripleseat's EventCamp on Oct 26 in New York City. Register below so you can get a little taste of Menta Graze for yourself!

On this episode, Kate and Rachel sit down with marketing professionals Jessika Phillips, Founder of NOW Marketing Group and Christine Gritmon, Founder of Christine Gritmon Inc. to discuss marketing in the hospitality industry. Throughout the conversation, Phillips and Gritmon give insight into the importance of direct connection and communication with restaurant customers, advice for different social media platforms for the hospitality industry (including TikTok), content ideas, tips for promoting holiday season offerings, and much more. These marketing experts come from years of experience and their advice in the episode is crucial for anyone in the restaurant and event industry to hear.

We understand that the headlines coming out of the hospitality and events industry outlets are not all sunshine and rainbows right now. There are challenges; different challenges than the industry faced at the start of the pandemic. In this episode, Kate and Rachel will discuss how those in the hospitality and events industry can work to overcome these challenges and continue in the upward direction. No one has all of the answers, but from what we are learning from our Tripleseat customers, reading about in the news, and seeing in person, this is what we are taking away from the current state of the industry.

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In this episode, Kate and Rachel are joined by Ike Singh Kehal, CEO at Social27. Social27 is a virtual event platform for conferences and beyond, that provides various unique features to take the mission of an event to the next level. During the episode, Kehal discusses the importance of personalizing the event attendee experience, how sales teams can capitalize on patterns shown by an attendee's behavior at an event, three keys to combatting virtual event fatigue, and predictions about what is to come for the future of events. And hint: it involves more niche experiences that restaurants and hotels can help provide. This is an informative episode you do not want to miss!

For episode 50, Kate and Rachel are joined by Jonathan Morse, Tripleseat's Founder & CEO, to discuss exciting Tripleseat product announcements. Tripleseat recently announced the launching of TripleseatDirect, an omnichannel direct booking CRM platform that offers various tools and services restaurants, hotels, unique venues, and caterers need to start, run and grow their on- and off-premise business. With TripleseatDirect consumers can now book, plan, and pay for on-premise events, off-premise catering, and other experiences directly from a venue’s website, social media, and Tripleseat’s EventUp. If you are a current Tripleseat customer, you may already know this as DirectBook, which falls under the TripleseatDirect umbrella. To all our listeners who are interested in streamlining their events businesses even further, take a listen to hear everything Jonathan has to say about the impact of TripleseatDirect, the reason for its creation and the future of the hospitality industry.

In this episode, Kate and Rachel chat about this week's latest hospitality industry news and trends. Take a listen to hear the latest noteworthy stories, like Eleven Madison Park announcing a 100% vegan menu coming June 10, 2021 and how Washington D.C-based restaurant Oyster Oyster makes its takeout supplies as sustainable as possible.

In this episode, Kate and Rachel talk about the latest hospitality and event industry news that is relevant to those who work and socialize within the industry. As many restaurants, hotels, and event venues have been ramping back up to prepare for new initiatives, this episode will keep you up to date on any noteworthy stories you may have missed during this time. Hint: the episode includes talks about a certain wedding food truck trend, a brand new catering concept for at-home parties, and the rehiring labor challenges many restaurants have been facing lately. 

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In this episode, Rachel and Kate recap a virtual panel that Tripleseat hosted called "What Event Planners Want From Your Venue." The panelists included three event planners: Nashville-based Kristi Allen, VP/Senior Manager of Events at AllianceBernstein, Boston-based Mai Miller, Co-Founder and VP of Client Services at The New Normal, and Washington D.C-based Natalie Thomas, Co-Founder of MTG Hospitality. The panelists discuss what they have been looking for in venues, how the event booking process is going, how they find venues, and much more for both corporate and social events.

On today's episode of Two Chicks, Three Seats, Kate and Rachel are joined by Natalie Thomas, Founder and Events Director at MTG Hospitality in Washington, D.C. At MTG, Natalie works as a third-party event planner and saleswoman for venues in the D.C area creating their event programs, one notably being the United States National Arboretum. Natalie has successfully created beautiful weddings at the Arboretum throughout the pandemic with the help of her creativity, marketing knowledge, and incredible vendor partners. Take a listen to the episode to hear all about planning and executing intimate COVID-safe weddings; working with the Washington D.C hospitality community during the pandemic; and what wedding trends and events are to come for the rest of 2021.

On today's episode, Kate and Rachel take a look at hotels and the things that hotels can be doing to succeed in 2021. This episode will be helpful to those who work for hotels, but also event professionals who book events at hotels. With all the changes in daily life over the past 12 months, hotels have also had to adjust and pivot to fit the needs of guests, travelers, and groups with new safety guidelines and interests in mind. Make sure you are sticking with the trends so that your hotel is always top of mind when potential guests and clients are looking to book!