On July 30, event furniture rental giant CORT Events invited 200 industry leaders and tastemakers to a five-hour garden-themed open house on the ninth floor of New York City’s iconic Rockefeller Plaza. The event took inspiration from the venue’s adjacent outdoor event space—where a foliage-filled oasis offered a respite from the traffic below—and featured different seating, table and chair configurations, and décor arrangements for guests to both admire and engage with.
Here are the five notable trends CORT chose to showcase, along with insights the company’s executive director of marketing and merchandising, Kevin Dana, shared with TSNN on-site.
1. External offers
When asked what CORT’s most popular pieces are right now, Dana said, “I think we should start with outdoor products in general because since the pandemic, a lot of events have been outdoors for reasons we all know. But since then, outdoor products and outdoor events have become more popular throughout the year.”
Speaking about this trend, Dana noted that just a few years ago, less than 10% of CORT’s inventory included outdoor offerings. Today, up to 25% of the company’s products are either intended for an outdoor event only or an indoor-outdoor event. “When we launch products today, we try to think, ‘Can we design this to be suitable for the outdoors?’” Dana said, noting that “95% of the products that CORT buys are developed in-house.”
According to Dana, events are making more efforts than ever to incorporate an outdoor element, regardless of the market or time of year. For example, the Las Vegas Convention Center is adding an outdoor plaza to the facility’s Legacy Campus, Dana noted, as part of a $600 million renovation expected to be completed in 2025. That’s after adding a 20-acre outdoor exhibit area to the convention center in 2017, as TSNN previously reported.
But for destinations that simply can’t host an outdoor activity in the winter, Dana said the focus on the outdoors translates into a greater focus on sustainability. To address this, CORT has adopted a circulation model that sees the company refurbishing previously rented furniture and then selling it at its retail centers so it doesn’t end up in a landfill.
2. A focus on luxury and VIP experiences
Dana acknowledged that budgets have changed in recent years. However, companies “will spend the money necessary to achieve the objective of the event,” he said. To capitalize on that, CORT has promoted VIP seating for large conferences, an area up front with plush seating, Dana said.
“Most conferences in hotel ballrooms use ballroom seating, which is small chairs in a row. But what we are promoting is the idea of VIP seating at the front, which encourages people to come to the front,” he said, joking that no one usually wants to sit in the first two rows.
An added benefit in addition to added convenience: “You can sell sponsored spaces in VIP locations up front,” Dana said, noting that CORT already successfully tested this type of sponsorship at the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE) conference in Denver in late July.
For event professionals looking to get inspired by this sponsorship option, Dana explained that NACE’s conference theme was “seasons,” so CORT built four VIP seating areas in colors that referenced spring, summer, winter and fall, and NACE was able to sell each of those vignettes as VIP seating.
“It’s another way to generate revenue through sponsorships, and it’s also a way to treat your VIPs and VIP guests,” Dana continued, adding that CORT initially focused on luxury offerings for important guests during the pandemic. At the time, an individual but comfortable seat with its own side table and power source was valuable real estate to acquire, so offering it was that “extra mile” that’s important for companies to show a potential client, valued partner or vendor they’re looking to impress, Dana added.
Lately, however, Dana said companies are increasingly moving away from individual seating options in these VIP areas in favor of couches or loveseats, because those seats encourage the impromptu meetings attendees crave while still providing comfort.
3. Personalization
“It’s going to continue to be more and more important, extremely important, in the coming years,” Dana said of custom elements in furniture and event decor. “As our customers become more sophisticated, they’re all looking for something more, something personalized, something customized to their own brand. And they all want to do something different.”
CORT now offers a multitude of customization options, including custom table decals, specially designed bars with unique logos (or with LED lights in a brand’s signature colors), and custom chair covers that simply zip together. CORT has also recently introduced repeats, accent lighting, and draping in an effort to be a one-stop shop for many event decorating needs where customization is commonly requested.
For items that can’t be customized, CORT has focused on modularity to give a piece of furniture a personalized look, Dana said, referring to its Chelsea collection. Many chairs in the CORT collection that don’t boast a company logo, for example, have seating options available in more than 10 colors with interchangeable styles and bases. “For a trade show in particular, it’s important to be able to offer a wide enough range that customers don’t have to go out and buy something. They can rent something, and it’s better for the environment,” Dana added.
Speaking about the additional sustainable benefits of modularity, Dana said CORT also offers custom slipcovers, which customers can keep and reuse long after a rental piece of furniture is returned and continues its circulatory model.
4. Electric furniture
One thing that hasn’t gone away at corporate meetings, events, and trade shows is the need for attendees to stay connected. Despite the auto-responder “OOO” emails set up, attendees typically still need to check their email or log into their drive to access files. In the past, this need required attendees to leave the place where all the action is happening to find an outlet.
However, CORT now offers a range of furniture, including a range of dining and coffee tables, side tables and even soft seating, that are equipped with electrical outlets, Dana said. That means attendees don’t have to leave their primary workspace to plug in or charge their devices. “And any time you can create a space in a booth or an exhibit where you can invite an attendee to come sit for a moment, linger, maybe charge their phone, that’s good, because then you can talk to them for longer,” he said.
5. Focus on functionality
“While people typically have an aesthetic and design in mind that’s inspired by a theme or brand, it’s actually the functionality that’s most important right now,” according to Dana, who said CORT is increasingly asking its clients, “What’s the goal of this event?”
While design remains an important element, “organizers are becoming more thoughtful about how they design spaces to make sure they meet all of the different needs of their attendees, because everyone is at a conference or meeting for a different reason, and that can change throughout the day.” So, Dana said, instead of getting specific requests for themed furniture, for example, CORT is being asked to design quiet workspaces, expansive networking areas, and designated nooks for fireside chats as well as one-on-one meetings, all for a single event.
When asked how furniture can be arranged to suit the purpose, Dana said, “If you use high tables, for example, if you don’t put bar stools next to them, people are more likely to come in, gather, and network. But if you just put four bar stools around it, four people will sit there and probably not move around as much.”
Photo credits: Hechler Photographers
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