What impact do the right choices in customized furnishings, lighting, drape and other interior design elements have on events? The impact is significant, essential to the creation of personalized environments that support event objectives, reflect branding and provide attendees with a sense of comfort, delight and inspiration.

CORT Events, the largest U.S. event and trade show furniture rental company, are the leading experts in making this happen. With a wide selection of furnishings, lighting and event drape—and offering free interactive design tools—CORT Events assists meeting, exhibit and trade show planners in creating engaging, functional spaces with one-stop service.

Creating successful environments at events is all about personalization and customization. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to achieve personalized event design that supports the host’s organizational branding. CORT Events is there to enhance event experiences with concepts and products that contribute to attendee engagement and, ultimately, the bottom line.

What measurable results can come from creating an environment that supports branding?

“The key to a well-attended event is to make your branding cohesive and recognizable because a consistent brand presentation has been seen to increase revenue by 33 percent,” writes Katrina Kirsch at Hubspot.

CORT believes that customizing an event with personalized furniture and décor is the key to achieving brand immersion, ensuring that an event is not just a cookie-cutter affair but one that reflects the unique identity of the host. Effective customization is more than just making sure the event space matches and contains the brand logo and colors. It’s about creating an immersive branding experience—an atmosphere that tells a story. Every aspect of the event, from the entrance to stage design, the furniture and décor, ties together to achieve this sense of immersion.

CORT provides the tools and the expertise to achieve immersive branding, including a catalog section with customizable products that allows you to transform surfaces into whiteboards or add the graphic or logo of your choice to pillows, ottomans, tables, bars, lighting and more. You can even display your brand on light columns throughout the event space or transform a bar area with biophilic designs in shades of green that create an oasis with a soothing and relaxing vibe. The possibilities are endless.

The power of color

Choosing the right colors for an event space is one of the keys to creating visually appealing and emotionally engaging experiences. Offering guidance on color choices in sync with today’s attendee preferences, Pantone’s recent color trends report presents a striking palette that emphasizes the need for nature as well as themes of escapism and self-expression. Whatever type of environment is desired, CORT can help you integrate these colors to create spaces that enhance mood and connection among attendees.

The idea behind self-expression in event design is to encourage creativity and personal connection, allowing attendees to see themselves reflected in the space and for each to have a unique experience. Vibrant colors in Pantone’s color trend line such as Lemon Drop and Orangeade are especially ideal for stimulating energy and creativity in spaces where attendees are encouraged to actively participate in discussion and collaboration.

When it comes to creating soothing spaces that reflect today’s need for relaxation and mental well-being, consider color choices such as Pastel Lilac and Blue Chambray. Colors that are inspired by nature such as Watercress or Marlin are effective for creating retreat-like atmospheres where attendees will find a refreshing break and sense of renewal. For food-centric events, a color such as the warm, red-hued Roolbos Tea is especially conducive for creating a cohesive, appetizing environment.

Transformative power of event drape

Drape is another important component in creating a personalization. Not only for lining walls or dividing a larger room into smaller areas, but drape is also a way to create a truly immersive, engaging and memorable atmosphere.

You can put drape to work as a décor element that allows you to devise an environment reflecting the branding and theme of your event as well as the needs of attendees. Drape allows you to create a sense of depth and atmosphere by adding texture, color and dimension to a space.

Drape can provide a unique atmosphere and sense of drama by creating a stunning focal point for the event, drawing attendees’ attention to the main stage or ceremony space.

More than just a room divider, drape can bring your attendees to a specific moment when you use draped partitions to create separate areas for dining, networking or entertainment.

Drape gives you even more control over your event space when incorporated with lighting. Placing colored lights behind sheer drapes gives you the ability to create a soft ambiance for a wedding or gala event. Spotlights on bolder, more colorful drape can contribute to a dramatic atmosphere that is engaging and eye-catching

Capturing cultural trends: Style and service delivered

Along with personalization, today’s events must also appeal to the wide range of generations now in the workplace. Inspiration can come from major pop culture events such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, a phenomenon which managed to unite diverse audiences and shape experiences on a monumental scale.

Staying attuned to cultural trends is key in creating engaging and inclusive experiences. Rather than simply replicating the surface aesthetics of a pop culture moment, however, it’s important to strive for an authentic interpretation that captures its essence and resonance. Dig deep into the underlying themes, emotions and messages conveyed by the cultural phenomenon and infuse these elements into the event design.

This concept was put into action by CORT Events, CTC and other partners during the 2023 Hospy Awards at a celebration called The Hospy’s CTC Eras Tour, which had a theme inspired by the Taylor Swift tour. Although not a Swifty per se, Jack Scafide, CORT Events district accounts manager, soon found himself caught up in the spirit of the event.

“The team’s enthusiasm and innovative thinking were contagious,” he says. “CTC and the team managed to create an inviting and celebratory cocktail hour. I chose pieces that were color matching across various areas while ensuring comfort and not compromising style.”

Once the theme was decided, CORT and the other planning teams collaborated to ensure the event décor aligned with the chosen eras. CTC provided a mood board, supplemented by Scafide’s research and multiple floor plan options.

“The result was amazing!” Scafide says. “Although I don’t know too many Taylor Swift songs, the attendees enjoyed the themed entertainment, AV and food. All you saw were smiles among 300 attendees. Being able to support an industry event is important to myself and CORT.”

Expanding footprint

CORT Events, already the leading U.S. provider of event and trade show furniture rental and transition services with 17 warehouses around the country, is expanding its reach even further, most recently with a new facility in Round Rock, Texas. The location services trade shows, exhibits and events in nearby Austin, San Antonio and surrounding Texas regions.

The expansion into this particular market is especially exciting, according to Damon Ross, senior vice president of CORT Events.

“Austin has a reputation for hosting innovative, exciting events and we look forward to partnering with our clients in this rapidly growing event and convention city,” he says.

Ross notes that Austin hosts such high-profile annual events as SXSW and Formula 1 and is home to well-known companies such as Dell, Apple, Amazon and IBM, all with major operations and campuses in the city. The Austin Convention Center, located in the heart of the city, is undergoing a renovation and is slated to expand to 1 million square feet, with 360,000 square feet in expo space.

CORT Events also operates warehouses in Dallas and Houston to serve the dynamic Texas market.

In-person showcases

Another way that CORT Events is amplifying its presence is by hosting several in-person showcases this summer aimed at displaying its latest 2024 event rental furniture collections. The goal of these gatherings is to inspire meeting, event, exhibit and trade show planners and bring the experience to their doorsteps.

The showcases feature an introduction to new products, as well as highlighting CORT Events’ design capabilities and impeccable service, as well as its nationwide footprint. The open houses are invitation-only, business-casual events in partnership with innovative event spaces and other strategic meeting and event partners.

Among them was a stunning event on June 6 at the W Hollywood, just steps from the historic and iconic Hollywood Pantages Theater, where meeting professionals met with account representatives from both CORT and Enterprise to discuss event needs and discover innovative, personalized solutions for upcoming events. CORT Events transformed the W’s ballroom space with several bespoke vignettes that featured luxe event drape, as well as on-trend soft seating collections, including a robust collection of outdoor collections.

CORT Events will host events in July and August in NYC and Chicago. Through these hyper-targeted, elevated, curated experiences CORT Events seeks to showcase how it can seamlessly transform venues into engaging events that inspire connections and offer transformative events and trade shows.

Learn more at cortevents.com.