With Spring time upon us, now is as good a time as ever to start planning your outdoor team-building activities. The sun starts shining a little brighter, the days last longer, and the weather gets warmer as the chances of rain diminish.

It’s certainly the perfect time before summer starts setting in and the temperatures shoot up, so what options are worth considering since there’s a plethora of choices for outdoor activities in Malta?

Before we begin

Before diving into it, there are two things you need to do first. Step one, consider your team. Planning out an event simply because one person enjoys an activity or set of activities will result in a less enjoyable day out for the whole team. Secondly, establish the budget for the event. Again, success will be diminished if you set out for a particular activity but then strip it down to the bare bones to make it fit the budget.

Simply put, find out what it is your team would love to do that ensures a stronger bond by the end of it all, consider all the options available and determine your budget before committing to the event and announcing it. It sounds pretty straightforward, but it’s surprising how easy it is to get caught up in the excitement and overlook these two critical factors!

To be or not to be active is the question

Once you’ve got feedback from your team, answering this question becomes quite easy, unless it’s a 50-50 split – but don’t worry, there are still solutions to that! Figuring out what your team wants means you’ll be able to decide if their preferred method of winding down is via laser tag, paintball, or a wine-tasting event at a vineyard following a day of art-making.

It’s unlikely that every colleague will have the same tastes or propensity to try new things, so you must ensure everyone is on board with what you’ve got in mind. If you’re looking to surprise them, you’d do well to try and subtly find out what will likely engage them and then take it from there!

Ready-made or tailor-made, we do it all

As event planners extraordinaire here at MYeventplanner, we’ve crisscrossed this island and its sister islands plenty of times and even gone beyond local shores! There’s pretty much no limit to the types of team-building events we offer, whether it’s one-offs that take up just a few hours or ready-made packages of events that will take up most of the day.

Our Action Package has different activities, including laser tag, paintball, tag archery, escape rooms and pistol shooting to choose from. Our Games Night Package can be taken pretty much anywhere, whether it’s a villa you’ve rented for the day or back at the office for some after-hours fun. The Adventure Package means you’ll get to try activities such as ziplining, rock climbing and abseiling, while there are entire Sports Packages that range from watersports to horse riding and everything in between!

We can also help you plan day trips across Malta, as well as Gozo and Comino, along with some good-natured treasure hunting and sightseeing, possibly helping you see Malta and all it has to offer through a new set of eyes!

Let’s make your big day a success!

Even when you’re done browsing through our vast catalogue of team-building event ideas, you’ll be glad to know that that’s not all we offer. If you’ve got something in mind but didn’t see it there, or maybe we’ve helped inspire something else, get in touch with us, and we’ll see about making that idea a reality!

Among the quickly growing trends of 2023 in the event industry, one of them is travelling for business and leisure simultaneously, or as the proper term has been christened, Bleisure travel. So, what is bleisure travel exactly, and how will it disrupt the hospitality and event industry?

How it came to be

The improvement in tech and its adaptability to connect and help us remain online no matter where we find ourselves had two significant repercussions. For starters, we found it hard to adjust and draw the line between where our work life starts and ends, causing it to spill into our private lives. However, as time goes by, we’re getting better at setting boundaries for a healthy balance.

Travelling for business reasons is not a recent trend; however, the above-described facility of taking our work with us wherever we go means we can travel for work and add vacation time. Surveys show that almost 90% of business travellers intend to add time off to their business trips.

How will it affect different industries?

The hospitality industry has already started adapting to this new type of traveller. For example, some hotels make conference rooms and work spaces available to their guests, and there’s plenty to gain from doing that. In addition, guests who can spend both their working and leisure time at the same establishment will likely book a longer stay, whether a lone traveller or a conference group.

Packages, pre-planned itineraries, tailor-made services and amenities can be made available to the bleisure traveller and their families if they’re along for the ride. The rise of remote working means that most will already be used to this kind of setting; all the bleisure traveller needs is a distinct workspace.

For the events industry, it’s an opportunity for organisers to showcase a different facet of their skill sets. While guests will undoubtedly be looking forward to engaging with the event they’re attending, the organiser could handle a package for the guests that highlights places worth visiting, restaurants to experience and how to immerse oneself in the local culture.

COVID-19 caused havoc to the hospitality and events industries; however, this means that they’re ready to embrace the kind of change that brings about a positive revolution.

And we’re ready for the revolution

Planning company events and retreats are nothing new to us; we would instead consider ourselves experts! Contact us today, and we can discuss a whole package for you; location, activities, food and drinks, and team-building events are just a few aspects we can handle for you.

Add in the fact that we can also prepare any travel-themed company merch with your logo on it, and you and your team could soon become the preeminent bleisure travellers of your industry!

As event industry experts, it’s our pleasure and duty to keep you updated with all the latest trends and developments in our area. Some have been in the works for a while, while others have taken prominence over the past couple of months. Either way, read through our five hottest picks and get in touch to see how best to implement them in your events in the future!

Experiential Events

While the rest of this list is in no particular order, experiential events lead the way in 2023 trends and beyond. The name might sound kind of fancy, but it is another way of describing live event marketing that focuses on the experience attendees feel at that moment and how it will continue to affect them once they’ve left the event sphere.

Experiential events are already a highly successful way of getting your existing audience to participate and engage with your brand. Moreover, it’s a trend that will continue growing for the foreseeable future. This is especially true since experience-first events are the next best way to attract new customers.

We took a bit of a deep dive into the subject to pick out our favourite case studies, which you can read all about here.

Sustainability as a priority

Sustainability and climate change have long been items people talk about as objectives for governments and major corporations to tackle. However, the idea is that everyone at any level can make a difference. That extends to the event industry, where many aim to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible.

It’s a trend that will continue growing, including items at events and conferences. From food waste to materials used at the event and during the promotional phases, sustainability is no longer something that will be nice to have at an event. Instead, it is a priority and a must-have to ensure positive event coverage.

Bleisure Travel

Hybrid work and conferences have reshaped the business world as we know it. During COVID lockdowns, this meant working from home and attending online meetings. Tech improvements then meant that conferences adopted this notion, allowing people to attend and participate in events from all corners of the globe, even if they were seated in the corner of their living room.

The next trend of hybrid working has produced the concept of bleisure travel; yes, you’ve read that correctly. It’s leisure, with a “b” for “business” in front of it. It’s the next significant disruption to the hospitality industry. Surveys indicate that almost 90% of business travellers plan to add vacation time to their business trips. It’s a figure that will overtake traditional business travel very soon.

In summary, the days of “business or leisure” are over; the bleisure traveller is here and here to stay.

Increased tech capabilities

When we talk about tech at events, two branches need discussing. One is the tech that attendees experience. Whether it’s event registration, check-in, meeting participation or networking, we want every step of the process to run smoothly. After all, the tech in place at these events is there to facilitate human interaction.

Therefore, that tech is there to increase and improve engagement, networking, and the overall event experience.

The other tech branch to discuss is what event professionals use to assess the event’s success, even in real time. Shawn McCoy, senior vice president at JRA of RWS Entertainment Group, said that information-based tech, especially artificial intelligence, “will continue to have a major impact on how events and experiences are conceptualised, marketed, designed, experienced and priced”.

AI-based design platforms already exist that help analyse guest movement and behaviour within experience sectors. That means that event organisers can create more efficient (read: profitable) traffic streams. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the most successful events will be the ones that make the best use of tech, whether it’s attendee-facing or event surveillance.

In-person events & inclusivity

Probably the most recent addition to the list in terms of inclusivity, a topic that’s become hotter over the past months. As in-person events become the norm again, the industry seems to be taking a good look at itself as it seeks to be as inclusive as possible.

This branches out to different areas, such as live translation to cater to other languages, diversity in terms of panel speakers and making the venue accessible for wheelchair users. There are many different roads to explore when maximising the event experience for attendees. It’s a good idea to speak with an expert team who’ve done it all and can guide you accordingly.

Give us a shout

Now that you know what to include in your event planning for your next big showdown, how about getting in touch with industry leaders who can do more than point you in the right direction? Speak with a member of our team, and we’ll be more than happy to set up a meeting to discuss your options and how to create the perfect event that maximises the attendee experience while reaching all of your targets!

Experiential marketing is a growing trend. Although the name sounds fancy, it’s another way to describe live event marketing. Diving a bit deeper into it, you’ll learn that experiential marketing events are a highly successful way of getting your existing audience to participate and engage with your brand while drawing the attention of new potential customers.

We’ve picked four of our favourites to give you an idea of what kinds of events have done the rounds and been successful over the past couple of years. Read about them below, and if you’ve got some event envy flowing through your veins, give us a shout!

3D-Printed Oreos

Although this activation took place in 2014, 3D-printing tech has come a long way since then and is better than ever. Mondelez International, Oreo’s parent company, linked up with a printing agency capable of 3D printing edible biscuits, allowing attendees at the event to print their own personalised Oreo cookies. Twitter, also part of the activation idea, provided real-time inspiration for cookie-design ideas via hashtags.

We loved the idea that cookies, 3D printing and social media are not necessarily linked items. However, with some creative thinking, all three came together to create a unique experience via a fun and innovative activity. And if this is what they could do nine years ago, imagine what’s possible now!

The Living Portrait of NYC

One thing about Malta is that we take our local culture very seriously, and the same can be said of many New Yorkers and their distinct way of life. Citizens Bank sought to celebrate what it meant to be a local, showing that it was willing to become part of the city too. This was made possible through hundreds of hours of interviews alongside the work of some local artists who launched “The Living Portrait of NYC”.

This experiential campaign lasted ten days and did more than simply show that it was happy to be part of New York. It also gave the locals a chance to see themselves from a different perspective; the eyes of their neighbours.

Similarly, there’s plenty to celebrate about being Maltese; maybe it’s time to remind the locals just how great they are. Is your brand going to be the one to do it?

M&M Flavour Rooms

Food and beverage companies regularly seek to create new flavours to keep their current audience engaged while drawing in new members to the fold. The best way of going about this is not set in stone, so whether you rely on a team of scientists to create the best possible flavour, quietly test options in forum groups or just go all out in public, it’s really and truly up to you.

That’s precisely what M&M’s parent company Mars, Incorporated did. By setting up an immersive pop-up experience in New York City, people got to experience M&Ms like never before. Different flavours were experienced via “flavour rooms”, complete with their décor and smells, with various snacks and drinks available, including M&M-themed cocktails.

The takeaway is that there’s more than one way for your customer base to experience your brand. If it’s food, look beyond taste. If it’s clothes, look beyond your physical store. The other key point is that your customers are best positioned to tell what’s working and what’s not with your brand.

Experiential campaigns are a surefire way of connecting with your customers, learning about them and yourself (your brand), and providing them with another way of enjoying your product.

The Secret Kind Snacks Farmers Market

A big deal is made of quality ingredients that go into certain snacks, and rightly so. However, KIND Snacks wanted to show just how healthy their snacks are. Hence, they devised an innovative contraption involving a fake vending machine.

People looking to get their hands on a snack from the vending machine had the machine open up and lead them to a farmers market, with baskets of fresh produce available for free. While we’re well aware that the “free veg” mechanism might not resonate with everyone, it’s the idea of aligning the brand with the healthiest food available. And if it’s home-grown, then so much the better!

The surprise of the interaction makes this experiential event work, and the promotion is done via social media. Whether you align with influencers or encourage people to come to pick up their fruit and veg in a different way, it’s another way of engaging people and encouraging them to be healthy.

Get your thinking hat on

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to engage current and potential audiences by tapping into their curiosity. Outdoor experiential events celebrated on social media can quickly go viral, especially if you’re positioning your brand in a new and exciting way.

If you feel your brand is due to refresh or a product launch, get in touch with us today! We’ve got plenty of ideas already, so get your thinking hat on; let’s brainstorm and develop an experiential marketing campaign that will blow people’s minds and your competition right out of the water!

With February right around the bend, two significant dates should be marked in your calendar for different reasons. First up, Tuesday, 14th February is Valentine’s Day, and Carnival between Friday, 17th and Tuesday, 21st February, closely follows.

You might be asking yourself what the point of celebrating these events is in a workplace environment. However, there are plenty of reasons to do so for both, so we’ll take a look at them separately!

Valentine’s is about appreciation

While the notion of celebrating Valentine’s Day at the office might be strange to some, it’s a celebration of something more than love. It’s about appreciation, which is something the workspace always needs.

How can you show appreciation to your staff on this special day? Decorating the place is definitely a start, and speaking of starts, a late one is also an option. Giving your team the morning off to allow them some special time with their loved ones means that they can join later in the day feeling refreshed.

Alternatively, you could have your team on-site as usual but order breakfast for the whole squad! Bagels, fruits, pastries and pancakes will set the tone, along with decorated tables and flowers. Goody bags are also a handy option if you’re unable to prepare a whole spread, especially if you’ve got remote workers on your roster.

If your mornings are busier, you could host an afternoon tea party instead. Whether hosted on-site with complete décor or virtual with themed attire, it’s one way of showing appreciation towards your team and having a bit of fun with Valentine’s Day!

Speaking of fun…

If Valentine’s Day is all about showing appreciation for others, then Carnival is where all the fun can truly take place. Your first step should be to determine the theme; once that’s settled, everything else will fall into place. Your budget, location, food, and drinks all centre around your theme. After that, you can start planning the activities for the event itself.

Consider your team and what they’ll enjoy doing; that will dictate where you’ll be better off hosting the event. Games such as bingo, wheel of fortune and mini golf are almost always crowd pleasers, but a must-have is a “Best Costume” competition with an adequate prize! That’ll ensure your team will put effort into attending the event out of their own will and into their costume.

Your food and drinks should also reflect your theme; if it’s an American-style carnival, then hotdogs, burgers and cotton candy will set the mood. However, no carnival in Malta is truly complete without some imqaret and prinjolata, so make sure to have a handy supply of those too.

Need help setting up? We’re here…

This early part of the year tends to be busy for everyone, and with both Valentine’s Day and Carnival coming up pretty soon, you might want to do yourself a favour. We’re experts in handling any type and scale of the event, so if you’re worried you might miss a detail or two when planning these events for your team, just give us a shout! Drop us an e-mail or call, and we’d be happy to help you, no matter the budget you’ve got in mind!