Prevue: What unique creative touches—from F&B to giveaways—are you incorporating into events?
Musich: We strive to remain conscientious of food waste when creating menus for events. We are once again partnering with PCMA to offer sustainability luncheons at various cities with sustainability experts, this year we are featuring guest speaker Aurora Dawn Benton, “a passionate advocate for justice in supply chains, supplier diversity, and buy local programs”. At another event this year, the meeting planners will be hands on in the kitchen creating a sustainable meal. The amenity for these luncheons will be Aurora’s book and an additional sustainable item.
“Only in Atlantic City can groups . . ."
Only in Atlantic City can attendees step out of a meeting onto the longest boardwalk in the world, to an event at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, the site of the 1964 Democratic National Convention and have the largest pipe organ in the world, the Midmer-Losh play the intro to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody while a 20 piece dance band picks up the song and keeps the party going for hours (Hosting of AMEX INTER[action] 2021). Spend the next day doing yoga on the beach and relaxing as the waves crash along the shoreline.
How can planners work with Visit Atlantic City to create cultural events with a local wow factor?
As a beach town with a rich local culture, we try to stay mindful of all aspects of sustainability in support of the ecological, human, and economic health and vitality of our community. To that end, we avoid paper and rely on QR codes when possible, to share our visitor guides and other information about Visit Atlantic City and the city of Atlantic City. We give reusable water bottles and insert QR codes to keep track of the impact of refilling versus buying water bottles as an incentive (fill it forward). We offer “strawberry” recycling bags as small amenities with a big impact. We patronize our local businesses and often give Bar 32 chocolate bars with clients’ logos at events. Bar 32 has even created “chocolate high heels” for a Miss’d America Pageant FAM amenity. We pair signature coffee from our local coffee shop, Hayday Coffee, with our travel mugs and give spirits from our local distillery, Little Water Distillery and use their spirits at events when possible. One of our client’s and our own personal favorite amenities are the ceramic keychains and coffee mugs from MudGirls Studios, a non-profit ceramic studio, creating one-of-a-kind pottery that employs at-risk and displaced women. Every purchase improves the lives of disadvantaged women in Atlantic City by supporting their craft and providing a fair supplemental income. Whenever we give a piece of ceramic from MudGirls Studios we provide information on how to shop the pieces online, furthering the impact.