MPIOC has been fortunate to partner with City National Grove Anaheim in promoting their amazing Block Party’s with KitchenSync and other fun virtual events.
We are pleased to bring you the following message from our Sponsor:
Staying Connected through the Kitchen:
In all my years in the event industry I would never have imagined I would be spending a great deal of my time planning and executing virtual cooking classes. I mean, we are in the industry where we promote “face to face” meetings and events, in our field most of us do not make a hard push for “virtual”.
Then came Covid-19, and we all dropped to our knees. No gatherings, what?! Now what will I do? The first few weeks our Special Events team spent many hours on cancellation calls, contract terms, and checking on our clients to make sure they were okay.
Well, after week 2 in the mandated stay at home order, I started to think hard on what we could do to keep in contact with our valued clients. And something came to mind…. About 5 years ago I wanted to come up with an idea that would engage clients at our venue, in the “flesh” I mean. Cooking classes came to mind, I loved to cook, it is actually a passion of mind, a hobby, and cooking classes are expensive, so I thought why not, let’s try it.
Kitchensync was born… get it “sync” as in network. Not your normal kind of networking where you are squinting to see name tags and shaking hands, but the kind where your clinking glasses and giving thumbs up after you’ve seen someone create an amazing Spring Pot Pie, when they have only boiled water.
Our classes are full, with waiting lists, everyone who has been begs to be invited back… because it is fun, it is relaxing, and they are learning from a trained Chef. It becomes a family environment all in an hour and a half.
So back to no gatherings…. I thought what about a virtual Kitchensync, I mean, Zoom was everyone’s new BFF, so let’s see if the clients and vendor partners are interested. Yep… they were not just interested, but grateful to be doing something that would bring them connection to the events/meeting industry again.
The first class was a success, so fun to see everyone, all of them talking on Zoom to one another missing each other, and meeting a few new comers… it was “Brady Bunch” style, but fun to see the real side of these people, in their sweats on their sofas, meeting their pets, and their families in the background. Our Chef Thomas Ramirez was just as terrific virtual, a true future Foodnetwork star!
The Grove team was so happy with how these folks embraced it, we decided why not open it up to our concert fans, other event related industry folks, and the general community, you know, living true to the We Are In This Together.. so come one come all.
Wait, why stop there, what else can we do… the Groves/Nederlander Concerts creative Marketing and Public Relations team came up with the City National Grove of Anaheim Block Party series where every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00PM you can enjoy and celebrate, Music, Brews and Food!
The Grove is a big believer in supporting our local small businesses, it is so important to patron them right now so they can survive and get through this. We use the Kicthensync platform to get the word out and inform our audience of what is available for them, and usually at a discount.
Last night was our third Kitchensync since all this madness happened, and we had over 100 registered. We are so pleased with the result. Our goal was to keep our clients, concert fans, and community engaged, and it is working, we are proud to offer some comfort to those that have supported the City National Grove of Anaheim all these years. We are here, in good times and in bad… but I am starting to see the light, I hope you are too!
I encourage you all to pivot however you must to keep your company engagement happening, your clients will appreciate you more when this is all over. Please join us for our next Kitchensync or Block Party, visit our Instagram for details, (citynationalgroveofanaheim), invite your friends, invite your family, it’s actually something you can do together, “without being together”.
Okay…. I have to go fix my make-up for my next Zoom call…. Stay safe, stay healthy… and SYNC UP!
Candi Lombard
Director of Special Event Sales and Marketing
City National Grove of Anaheim/Nederlander Concerts
Past President - MPIOC