Location, Location, Location | WM EventsWM Events

What do the Georgia Aquarium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ponce City Market and the Atlanta History Center have in common? These were just some of the sites visited by 100+ attendees at the Simon-Kucher & Partners annual meeting. If you know anything about Atlanta geography, you understand that these important cultural institutions are located throughout the city, and in between, there are many miles of pavement topped with the infamous Atlanta traffic.

So when an international corporation brought our WM Events team on board to plan and coordinate a variety of excursions and events for participants, spouses and families, we knew we needed a detailed road map. We planned an exclusive, three-day tour of some of the city’s most iconic attractions and hotspots that catered to a variety of ages and interests.

With a pool of coaches, minibuses and vans, we began the sightseeing extravaganza with a Behind the Seas Tour of Georgia Aquarium. This excursion brought more than 100 guests to the downtown attraction, and to manage the flow, we created smaller tour routes to both stagger the progression and create more intimate experiences for our guests. We managed this by giving guests pre-scheduled reservations to go on the exclusive tours that were staggered by 15 minutes. With this tour structure, we accommodated the large size of the group, but we sure had to time and plan their routes carefully to keep everyone on schedule!

It was a challenge to coordinate many groups at the same time and ensure smooth circulation, but we knew visitors would benefit from personal attention and the improved views offered by a small-group configuration.

After getting up close and personal with the residents of the aquarium’s 6.3-million-gallon habitat, guests were taken to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they enjoyed beer and wine, hors d’oeuvres and a dinner buffet in the exclusive Delta Sky360 Club before heading to the field for a competitive PPK experience – that’s punt, pass and kick. We worked with the stadium to organize this special challenge and created a scoring system. Guests liked the competition so much that many stayed on the field the entire evening. Touchdown, WM Events!

The next morning, as part of the “Spouse Program,” visiting family members got the opportunity to tour the Georgia Aquarium for their own Behind the Seas ocean encounters. Then at mid-day, guests hopped into the coach to head to the Irwin Street Cooking School and take part in a Southern cooking experience. We were given specific allergy restrictions and worked with the cooking school to create a quintessentially southern menu that was also gluten free. This was definitely a HUGE hit with the group. After learning new skills from an experienced chef and lunching on the fruits of their labor, attendees returned to the Loews Hotel in Midtown to rest before another big night.

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Next, we took them to Ponce City Market, where we finally had the chance to show off our décor skills. Guests partied on the Skyline Park rooftop, partaking in passed apps and cocktails before heading to dinner at the adjacent private event space RFD Social’s Roebuck Room, which offered an exciting view of the city. We topped round tables with designer linens in a cool palette of blue, gray and shimmery white and added silver votives and fresh, garden-inspired white floral centerpieces featuring herbal, fruit and floral elements honoring the character of an authentic Southern garden. Blue uplighting lined the perimeter to add a pop of color to the historic setting. Within the room’s industrial splendor, guests dined family style before being transported back to the hotel.

We could not let these mostly European visitors leave without learning a bit more about our city, so on the final day of the weekend, we took them to the Atlanta History Center. In addition to viewing the museum’s exhibitions, guests visited Cyclorama with senior military historian Dr. Gordon L. Jones and explored the Swan House with a knowledgeable docent. The long walk through time worked up an appetite, and we ended the day’s sights with lunch at Empire State South, where our road-weary travelers revived with celebrated chef Hugh Acheson’s menu of modern Southern fare.

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For our WM Events team, this three-day experience offered us the chance to highlight some of the features that make our city an amazing place to live. It also challenged us to find the ideal activities and locations, then fit them within a strict timeframe and budget. While this client’s previous events had taken place in walkable cities, on-foot transportation was not a viable option in Atlanta. We met the challenges of traffic, summer heat, surprise afternoon thunderstorms, and last-minute changes head on. Thanks to our careful planning and constant communication with our vendors, our group enjoyed a seamless experience. And as for our logistics skills – they were sharply honed.