Hosting SITE NITE at IMEX America in 2024 was an incredible way to kick off the week and showcase Topgolf’s full event capabilities, according to Nick Kopach, senior director, National Event sales programs for Topgolf

"We showcased customized branding, a DJ for entertainment, action stations with created cocktails and a drone show at Topgolf Las Vegas to cap off an incredible evening," he says. "We got some amazing RFPs and ROI from showing planners how you can custom create your own event at Topgolf."

Unique event spaces like Topgolf that offer groups the chance to build camaraderie are increasingly popular with event planners. Not only can planners often engage these venues on fairly short notice with turnkey service, but they also provide a fun team-building atmosphere.

At MPI’s 2025 World Education Congress (WEC) in St. Louis, representatives from several unique spaces presented the session "Unique Venues - How Competitive Socializing is Changing the Game." We spoke with representatives from Electric Shuffle (high-tech shuffleboard competitions), Swingers (the crazy golf club) and Topgolf (high-tech golf games) about some of the interesting events they’ve recently hosted and event trends they’re seeing.

Erin Ward (MPI Tennessee Chapter), senior vice president of sales, US/UK for Swingers, says a recent Fresca Mixed happy hour held at Swingers NoMad in New York was a true showcase of collaboration.

"We partnered with the Fresca team to push the boundaries of what we could achieve within our space," she says. "By leveraging celebrity influence, social media and powerful branding, we elevated the guest experience without compromising the essence of our venue."

It’s not always necessary to feature over-the-top-frills when you’re able to showcase the innate strength of your venue, Ward says, referring to a gathering of 700 local industry colleagues and meeting planners at Swingers Las Vegas that capitalized on strengths such as keeping energy high with an in-house DJ and top-notch F&B from partner Emmy Squared.

"Instead of adding excessive branding or extra décor, we let the Swingers experience speak for itself, proving that our standard offering is already a showstopper," she says. "The result? Over $1 million in booked business from that single event."

Topgolf recently hosted a premium beer, wine and spirits company’s competition featuring new live leaderboard capabilities at 72 venues simultaneously.

"Satellite team building is now an option at Topgolf and the perfect way to engage your associates across the nation and save on travel," Kopach says.

‘SHAPING HOW WE PLAN’

Lou Canakes, CMP (MPI Texas Hill Country Chapter), VP of sales, events for Electric Shuffle USA—which recently hosted the MPI Greater New York Chapter’s winter social—is seeing a rise in larger corporate reservations for groups of 15 to 30 guests.

"These bookings are typically for shorter time-frames with smaller budgets, focused more on quick team outings rather than fully customized offerings or experiences," he says.

Canakes says there’s also a growing demand for online bookings, with more people opting to bypass sales teams and directly book two-hour experiences within 60 days or less, while bookings for premium accounts are showing an increased interest in tournaments and team-building activities.

Swingers’ Ward is also noticing a shift toward shorter booking windows.

"People are less inclined to plan events months in advance, often making decisions closer to the date," she says. "This fast-paced approach means they’re willing to risk availability to lock in their preferred date, which is shaping how we plan our event scheduling."

Clients are also cutting back on extras such as branding and instead opting to create more experiential add-on moments that resonate with guests while being more intentional with their spending, according to Ward.

"We recently launched Swingers Las Vegas with our new Carnival concept and our clients are loving the ability to add on an activity that further connects their team," she says. "It’s all about focusing on what truly enhances the event, without unnecessary frills."

Topgolf’s Kopach is seeing more all-day meetings because it’s easy to segment time for fun or team building, and he says there’s an uptick in B2B-style events, with planners using parking lots and meeting spaces for product launches and roadshows.

READY TO GO

Electric Shuffle has recently been focused on creating solutions for hosting tournaments that can accommodate large groups within a two- to three-hour timeframe all while boosting guest engagement, Canakes says.

"To make it even more seamless, we’ve introduced a new event scoring system called ‘Party Mode,’" he says. "This allows guests to move freely between shuffleboard tables, popping in and out of play as they please, while their scores are automatically ranked on a leaderboard. The leaderboard updates in real time, making it easy to track individual scores and quickly determine a winner at the end of the tournament. For smaller groups, we also offer a ‘Team Mode’ where the winning teams at each table are recognized."

Kopach says part of Topgolf’s value proposition is the versatility of the meeting space, which can be configured for banquet, classroom, theater and U-shape setups. And a planner using more than three locations can streamline the booking process using a single point of contact through the National Events team.

"We also have rooftop terraces, patios, lounge spaces and so much more hybrid space for mix and mingling in addition to our Topgolf hitting bay," he says. "It’s perfect for full-level or full-venue buyouts for over 1,200 attendees, and we can hold over 3,000 attendees in our flagship venue in Las Vegas at MGM."

Ward says Swingers venues are a blend of whimsical, immersive English 1920s-themed "crazy" golf courses and stylish bars designed with plug-and-play convenience in mind.

"Meeting planners love that when they walk through our doors, everything is ready to go—the atmosphere, the vibe and the experience are already in place," she says. "We handle all the details, from F&B to entertainment. This allows planners to focus their budgets on the experiential aspects of their event, rather than spending time and resources creating a theme or building the environment from the ground up."