Conventa Best Event Award 2017 SHORTLIST: Jezeršek Catering

• Name of the event: Jezeršek catering is celebrating 35 years
• Date: 21.4.2016
• Location: LPP – City bus garage
• Organizer: Jezeršek catering
• Client: Jezeršek catering
• Event type: Corporate event

Q: How would you describe the event and what where the key objectives?

Jezeršek catering is celebrating 35 years of tradition this year and for this occasion we hosted an event on 21 April for our partners, suppliers, customers, and friends. There we presented a new interesting location for large-scale events in downtown Ljubljana. Guests were brought from another location by buses into a main Ljubljana passenger traffic garage, where an industrial set-up was staged. Eight culinary stations where cooks created different dishes in front of guests, leather sofas, two food trucks, band on a truck, barber, a Jameson bar, and even more was waiting to be discovered.

The main goals of the campaign were the introduction of a new location for large events, a new industrial set up, and an innovative menu.

The surprise effect lasted from the creative save the date message till the buses had delivered the guests into the garage an element of surprise surrounded the event. This was supposed to increase interest and it definitely achieved its purpose. The event was expected to strengthen the existing good bonds between the company and its partners, suppliers, customers, and friends, as well as to provide the possibility of reaching out to new potential partners, suppliers, and customers.

The experience began with save the dates, innovative invitations, and reminders, which did not reveal the location, but piqued the guest’s curiosity. Invitations needed to be baked in an oven at 50°C for 5 minutes in order to see the content. The event started in a known location in downtown Ljubljana, from where guests were driven in old buses to the secret location.

At the arrival bus tokens were passed out among the guests and were needed for the bus ride, where they also got the location map with culinary and other stations. The history of Jezeršek catering through time was presented, accompanied by pictures and a description in an old tram car, where guests could see company’s development and milestones. In front of the tram a wall was erected, where guests could write down good wishes and their impressions of the event. All stations had big signs so that guests could find everything easily. A corporate image was made for the whole event, so all signs, invitations, videos, walls, etc. were made in the same color, pattern, and fonts. At every station cooks prepared their dishes in front of guests and interacted with them.

The decoration was planned in detail in order to evoke the best possible atmosphere and guest’s feedback. A selfie box was put in place, were guests could take selfies while “lying” on the lush grass at a picnic. There was a barber to take care of the male guests, while the ladies waited at the Jameson bar, where bartenders mixed up cocktails for them. The whole time old photos and pictures of the event preparation were displayed on a big screen. The whole Jezeršek family held a round table, sharing their beginnings, stories, and wishes on a stage.

The album on Facebook with photos from the event reached 18,619 people, garnering 400 likes and 52 shares. The video from the event with the surprise effect reached 45,056 people on Facebook, with 285 likes and 82 shares. Overall likes on Jezeršek Catering’s Facebook page increased by 422 in the two weeks after the event. We are already feeling the increase in demand for special events and overall catering. Almost all bigger media houses published an article about the event in printed media as well as on TV, their websites, and on social media. The event had an important role for Slovenian catering and event management.

Communication with all the invited guests started through an email campaign and then with inovative save the date invitations. We kept every single detail of the event a top secret until the day of the event. Guest found out where the event is going to take place at the time buses drove them to our final destination. At the event they could comunicate with us through our interactive wish wall, and with a selfie box, where all the invited guests could post their selfies directly to social media. After the event we posted all the photos to our Facebook account and some to our Instagram account. On Facebook we also gave thanks to everyone who was celebrating with us.

We turned an old city bus garage into an industrial styled event venue to show our guests that every kind of place can be turned into a special and individual event.