Shannon Proudfoot quoted me in her story, Corporate soirées shun the staid for kid-friendly fun, for CanWest News Service, Thursday, October 19, 2006
Irina Patterson, a Miami balloon artist who performs an annual gig at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach and calls herself "the Russian Queen of Balloons," believes the adult attraction to whimsical entertainment is more primal than that.
"Ordinary life is boring," she says, likening the dearth of colourful entertainment in most people's lives to a vitamin deficiency."Each toy or piece of art that I make is handmade, and these upscale customers appreciate it," Patterson says. "It's custom-made colourful toys for grown-up kids."
Here the entire text of the story:
The soggy banquet hall meals and excruciating small talk that were once the hallmarks of corporate social events are being rapidly replaced by sophisticated versions of the magicians, circus performers, loot bags and obstacle courses that typically populate Grade 3 birthday parties.
Event planners say professional adults - especially those under 40 - are jaded by the standard entertainment options available to them and ordinary parties just don't cut it anymore. Corporations are willing to invest large amounts of money and effort in unique soirees for their clients and employees, and as a result kid-inspired activities have become a major trend.
"'Been there, done that' seems to be the biggest thing," says Gary Royea, director of corporate and special events for the Granby, Que.-based entertainment provider Pierre Gravel International, which provides magicians, circus performers and comedians for events all over the world. "We have an aging population, so why not try to relive some of the youth? Let's make it more fun instead of the stuffiness."
Bright Ideas Event Co-ordinators Ltd. in Vancouver started out 18 years ago planning corporate picnics that involved many children's activities, and their present corporate clientele is attracted to surprisingly similar entertainment, including the firm's signature do-it-yourself PartyHats events. Face painting has been transformed into temporary body tattoos that accent evening gowns at galas, loot bags are echoed in elegant take-home party crafts, and caricatures sketched on a digital tablet and printed on the spot are all the rage.
"People aren't as easily impressed as they were 10 or 15 years ago with items, with looks, with images, because they can do a Google search and they can see it," says Bright Ideas president Sharon Bonner. "What impresses people now are themes. I don't mean a grass-skirt Polynesian theme - I mean creativity."
To that end, Bright Ideas is staging a team-building event next week that will see two dozen people in one company's accounting department race around the city on a limousine scavenger hunt. Also in the works is a Winter Wonderland-themed party for 600 employees, for which Bonner is considering furniture carved out of ice and a skating rink in one corner.
Creating an eye-popping party that will fuel water cooler chatter for weeks requires a significant investment; she advises her clients to start with a budget of $100 to $150 per guest.
In recent years, Bonner has noticed a sharp decline in the amount of alcohol consumed at parties - a trend she attributes to drunk-driving awareness, the desire to maintain professional decorum, and health-conscious Baby Boomers. Some food, a dance floor and a DJ were enough to entertain tipsy guests several years ago, she says, but more creativity is required to keep a party going without a champagne fountain.
"People are starved for something to do - they're not into just getting sloshed anymore," she says.
With a candy-coloured stable of arcade amusements and inflatable games, the Toronto-based Ontario branch of Kloda Productions specializes in providing innovative ways to have fun. Evan Aranoff, president of the branch, says offbeat activities provide a "social lubricant" that can save parties from the dreaded post-dinner slump.
"When they see our catalogue, a lot of people say, 'Oh, that's kids stuff,' but the inflatable rock climbing, the sumo suits, the obstacle courses - all that stuff people are renting for corporate team-building," he says.
Irina Patterson, a Miami balloon artist who performs an annual gig at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach and calls herself "the Russian Queen of Balloons," believes the adult attraction to whimsical entertainment is more primal than that.
"Ordinary life is boring," she says, likening the dearth of colourful entertainment in most people's lives to a vitamin deficiency.
"Each toy or piece of art that I make is handmade, and these upscale customers appreciate it," Patterson says. "It's custom-made colourful toys for grown-up kids."
© CanWest News Service