In this episode of BEATS WORKING Events, hosts Alysse Bryson and Libby Sundgren are joined by Virginia Frischkorn, founder and CEO of Party Trick, the all-in-one event planning platform revolutionizing both intimate gatherings and large-scale experiences. Virginia shares how her journey from luxury event planning to tech entrepreneur led her to create a tool that streamlines the chaos of party planning, fosters more magical moments, and scales for any occasion—from a cozy dinner party to branded activations. Tune in for actionable event hacks, the latest industry trends, and what’s next for the experience economy.
Resources Mentioned:
- Virginia Frischkorn: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X
- Partytrick: Website, Instagram, TikTok
- Alysse & Libby: Bios & LinkedIn
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Transcript
The following transcript is not certified. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. The information contained within this document is for general information purposes only.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:00:00]:
Flexible and adaptable. I think that’s what we all know from events. It’s like events have to be flexible and adaptable and we have to have plans A through Z ready to go. So something can change and we’re well equipped and the platform needs to be flexible. And I think that’s been a lot of the problem with the event tech that I’ve seen. It’s too rigid. And so that’s why it’s taken us so long to develop this in particular is we want to be able to create those intimate moments in those larger scale events. We want to be able to create something that scales from 2 to 2000 pretty easily, which is a tall order, but hopefully we’ve achieved it.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:34]:
Welcome to Beats Winning the Game of Events, where we share stories and strategies to turn any event or life moment into something unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:44]:
Events are wild and the people who work in them are some of the most resilient humans on earth. If you know, you know.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:51]:
So come with us behind the curtain for a look at their most memorable experiences.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:57]:
As they say, the show must go on. So let’s get on with the show.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:07]:
Welcome back to another episode of Beats Working Winning the Game of Events. I am so excited for today’s guest. Virginia Friscorn is the founder and CEO of Party Trick, the operating system powering the experience economy, which I have had never heard experience Economy before either. And I love that phrase and I really love the name Party Trick. I can’t wait to hear how you came up with it. With a background in luxury event planning and a passion for making hosting more accessible, Virginia launched Party Trek to take the guesswork out of gatherings. Before founding Party Trek, she built and scaled multiple event businesses including Bluebird Productions, an Aspen based event production company. Recognized as a top innovator in the event industry, Virginia is on a mission to revolutionize the way people celebrate, connect and create meaningful moments.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:04]:
Virginia, welcome to the show.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:02:06]:
Thanks Lisa. I’m so excited to be here.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:08]:
How did you get your start? Like maybe, maybe tell our listeners first, just a high level. What’s your elevator pitch on Party Trick?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:02:17]:
Well, the very quick and dirty on Party Trick is gathering is a necessity, not a luxury. We need to be together, right? And I think a lot of people get scared and scattered and it’s like people enjoy it sometimes, but then the whole planning process is totally chaotic. So Party Trick streamlines it. It’s like a virtual party planner in your pocket telling you what to do, when to do, how to do these things. I’ve spent years in the events industry and realized it’s not effortless for people, it should be effortless. We should enjoy the process just as much as we enjoy getting together. So our platform really makes it easy, whether it’s a business or a consumer, with knowing exactly what to do, when to do, how to do it, versus just being a framework. It’s really like loaded and pre baked for you so you know you’re set up for success.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:59]:
And it’s so apropos that we started this episode talking about Libby’s Polly Pocket because Pockets just sounds like it’s going to be a theme throughout this episode. So what was the you spent, you’ve spent years creating luxury events. What was the moment that made you realize there was a need for a tech driven solution like party trick to be in everybody’s pocket?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:03:24]:
Ooh, good question. I would normally answer it with the it was Covid. And Covid really highlighted that gathering is something that we all need to do. However, I’ve thought about this a lot recently and actually goes back before and it started when I had kids and at that time I was running like a couple different businesses in the events industry and realized I couldn’t channel my brain to remember things the same way. And I wanted to grow and I wanted to scale my business. I couldn’t be in all these places and I couldn’t remember as many things. So I had spent years, I spent probably the 10 plus years prior to that documenting all of my processes. So I started my career in luxury hospitality at a five star five diamond hotel, actually wrote all the sops for them in the events like department and sales department.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:04:07]:
And so through that I started documenting everything. I’m like oh wait, I basically built all this out. Wait, why don’t we turn this into a pro? Like basically something that I would build for my own team because I couldn’t be everywhere. I wanted to train people fast enough. Then fast forward Covid came, really accelerated that launched the beta which the idea was hey look, we all are still getting together. Everyone says that they didn’t, but they did. And it was even if it was just like a family movie night or like a little pod dinner game night, people were still gathering and they needed inspiration and they needed the know how. And so yeah, I mean it was kind of one of those culminations of like I wanted to build something cause I knew I couldn’t remember all the things that would go into these multimillion dollar productions.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:04:45]:
But then it was Covid that really like punctuated that everyone needs a tool like this. Like, it’s not just for the pros. Started with, hey, this is a pro tool. And then it came into like, everyone needs to gather and we should just make it easy. And it’s not right now. It’s just way too chaotic. It is so cool.
Libby Sundgren [00:05:01]:
I haven’t used the platform as a user, but I’ve spent a lot of time looking at photos and reading all about it and it like, feeds my logistical, like, planning loving brain. I just am very excited for other people to take a look at it. And you can schedule a demo so that you can test it out. But I mean, that is such a shift from actually, you know, planning events and working, you know, with consumers to moving to kind of that B2B, like digital platform. How do you ensure that the magic and the personalization that you were giving to clients, like I said, when you were helping them plan their, you know, events from start to finish, how do you keep that in the, in the business that you’re in right now? Like, how does Party Trick still deliver that, that magic?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:06:01]:
I think now people can actually have more magic, which is amazing a lot of the time. So when you think about events, an event is an event as an event. So a wedding has the same things. Everyone thinks that their wedding is custom and unique and it is, right, because you have different people and maybe like things are a little bit different. But about 85% of that wedding, which is like the most custom experience in the Avengers world, 85% is the same. That 15% is like, okay, are we doing green flowers, pink flowers, white flowers? Is it modern? Is it fine art? Is it traditional? So that infrastructure, like the operations of like all the vendors that go into play when you need to have them, all of that can be systematized, which allows for that 15% to. That’s where the magic actually happens. And so our platform, if you think about it, it’s like this content rich project management tool.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:06:44]:
It allows for all of those operations to kind of seamlessly come together in one area. It allows for that 15%, the customization to grow and things become more personalized. I was speaking with a large brand and she’s like, well, everything we do is custom. I’m like, well, don’t you book a caterer for every event? Don’t you have rentals for every event? Don’t you have transportation for every event and transport like all of these things? She’s like, well, yeah, you’re right. And I’m like, wouldn’t you rather spend More time creating that really bespoke experience and creating that magic, the stuff that people love, than actually managing all the logistics that can be pretty automated or at least like shaved off over 50% of time. And she’s like, oh, yeah, you’re right. I’m like, huh? So even those things that are highly custom can go on top of our framework and really get you back to that magic. And it’ll also like help you encourage like we used to do something that was like our, our surprise and delight moments.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:07:33]:
And when you think about an event, every event should have this moment of surprise and delay. But a lot of times you’re too busy with like logistics to actually like give that the attention it deserves.
Libby Sundgren [00:07:43]:
And now it’s like surprise when I’m just like making it happen.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:07:47]:
Totally. And now it’s like, hey, what are your moments of surprise and delight? Like we trigger and help the people who are using our platform be a little bit more custom. And this sounds silly, but like I’ve come from this world of luxury events and now I go to these really weird like tech events. And in these events like the, it’s, the room’s too hot, it’s too cold. There’s bar stools in front of the bar which should be removed. There’s no trade pass beverage things that don’t cost money, but they’re just like, would make the event so much better from the guest experience perspective. Right. And so now we can actually remind the person who’s executing who doesn’t really know what they’re doing.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:08:24]:
Hey, these are some best practices that are going to elevate your experience and actually surprise and delight these people who are going to these kind of like crappy parties over and over again. So one, we can encourage them to do it and two, we give them the time back so they can actually, you know, you know, get creative on their own.
Libby Sundgren [00:08:40]:
Yeah, they can spend time on the magical part instead of figuring out the logistical like timelines and stuff like that.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:08:48]:
Completely. I was speaking with a client who is managing like 15ambassadors for her brand, right. And it’s, she’s spending the majority of her time just emailing and like sending them cor, like coordinating their schedules and shipping them product and not actually thinking about how do we make this like experience more delightful and enjoyable for those who are actually coming to all these ambassador like fueled events. Like now you can actually like design them and actually create a better experience. And I think that’s what people want. Like time is so precious that if we’re going to go and spend it better be spent well. And nothing’s worse than like you know, getting dressed up, going to some gathering and it’s kind of a waste of time. So it’s a responsibility of in my mind, the person who’s organizing to make the experience worthwhile.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:09:29]:
And now we don’t actually allow them to do that.
Alysse Bryson [00:09:33]:
How is it? I mean to me it sounds like almost like Slack for party people. Like a one stop shop where people can communicate with each other, which I can see being valuable in the weeks and months leading up to an event. But I can also see how value it is like day of the event, like on the ground. Especially if it’s a really big event in like different areas, spread out. Libby and I have done all sizes of events that are mostly business to consumer. I think the largest we’ve ever done is like 2000, 2500. So we’ve never gotten up into the 10,000, 15,000 range. But even at 2000 people, it’s a lot of, it’s a lot of things to manage.
Alysse Bryson [00:10:15]:
So how does that work with a team? What are the pros that they get to experience?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:10:22]:
Yeah. So the way that our platform and like our product works, whether you are. And so in exciting news, our consumer version is coming back very soon. So what’s, what’s thrilling because I love the consumer and I love the consumer experience. Our consumer is going to come back on top of the product. Same thing with small biz and then this kind of enterprise version. And with this version, kind of like you’re talking about it being a Slack, it’s almost like Slack meets Asana meets Canva meets Paperless, Post and Luma all matched together. So events, as you all well know, have this kind of component where you design the event and the experience.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:10:53]:
There’s the planning, so the logistics, there’s the execution. How are you actually executing this? How is it getting put together from a production perspective and then how are you reporting upon it? And our platform manages all of those pieces together. So end to end and from when you’re designing it and deciding what it’s going to look like to even again like what music is playing to the logistics with the vendors, it’ll send reminders to you when you’re executing. So hey, at least you’re doing this in five minutes. This is exactly what you should be doing. It will send notifications to bartenders so it literally assistant. It’ll keep you 100% on track when you’re doing and then even afterwards. Hey, by the way, it’s been a week, you haven’t sent your follow up report and it will pull all the report because we capture all the data and metrics for especially our enterprise clients to help them, you know, determine what’s working, what’s not working and provide that actionable insight to optimize later.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:11:43]:
So it’s nice because this is collaborative tool. Seven different. It’s, it’s so robust which is good and bad. There’s permissions for vendors who are in, guests who are in account owners, event owners and everyone has different level of permission. So you can really truly collaborate and know that like someone’s not seeing budget stuff that they shouldn’t see, but they are still getting the benefit in the helping hand that it’s a centralized source, it’s single source of truth. So for better or for worse, it’s a complicated product that hopefully solves the simple problem of just getting people together in a better fashion.
Libby Sundgren [00:12:17]:
And when is the consumer version going to be back?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:12:22]:
So we had it a very modified version that didn’t have our invitations, didn’t have budgeting until January this year. So it’s end of March 2025 and we’re actually launching it again in about three weeks.
Libby Sundgren [00:12:34]:
So I’m excited.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:12:34]:
That is our. Yeah, it’s, it’s so much fun because it’s great for again, great for kid events, great for housewarming, book clubs, brunches, the bridal kind of component. All those bridal related events are great. Not weddings, but the side events. So consumers back. And it’s great because then you know, the three of us could be planning an event together. And Elise, you can do beverage living, you can do music, I’ll do food. We all kind of like take our pieces of the puzzle and can collaborate on that tool or just have like viewer permissions.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:13:01]:
And if I were planning something with my mom, I’d let her see what I’m doing, but I wouldn’t let her touch it.
Alysse Bryson [00:13:05]:
So can you connect it with things like Eventbrite or any of those other services that people use for digital invitations right now?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:13:17]:
Because we have our own invitation feature and ticketing feature that we’ll be rolling out. It really will be ours. However, obviously people can use whatever they’d like. But we have kind of like the ticketing component. It’ll come in also at less expensive than what Eventbrite does. Our invitation feature. I know, which is amazing. So we’ll have like the whole event marketing side.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:13:36]:
The invitation feature will feel like a blend of a paperless post Meets Luma. So it’s great for social. And again we’re, we really want to keep consumer first. And whether you’re going to a professional event, like something at a law firm or whether you’re going to, you know, a friend’s party, it’s a party, it should, it’s a gathering, it should feel nice. And I think that sometimes some of the platforms feel too, I don’t know, antiquated, old and too professional. And I think this is supposed to be light, we’re supposed to be celebrating whether, even if it’s just for a meeting, why not? Why not enjoy what we’re doing and sharing time together? So all of our design is really light and friendly.
Alysse Bryson [00:14:12]:
One of the things at the company we work for work P2P that is important to us is to capture the learning of, of all of our experiences and events. You talked a little bit about like the recap and reminding people to put in their recaps and their final budgets and all of that. Is there a place where like can upload all the photos with the photo credit so that everybody involved would have access to those to like put into their own portfolios, et cetera?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:14:38]:
Yeah, definitely. So the nice thing about again the collaborative nature and I think if you’re going to do something you might as well learn from it is we have again really robust reporting but also this great what we call our brand hub. So for our business version it’s called the brand hub where afterwards you can upload photos, share your photos, have all of your post event recaps and reports, any of your kind of like brand approved vendors, your brand guidelines, you can actually operationalize those guidelines. But the nice thing is again so from a planning perspective you can basically personalize with your brand on top of it, but then to basically keep conversation going and can keep engagement, that can all happen on the platform as well. So whether it’s event specific or even just those who are invited into your workspace, so pretty flexible and again highly collaborative. So no more kind of like text messages all over the place or WhatsApp and groups and icloud albums. It’s all again centralized and very easy to access in one spot. It almost feels like again all anything you could kind of want that touches events in one one area.
Alysse Bryson [00:15:39]:
Libby, are you going to be okay?
Libby Sundgren [00:15:42]:
I mean the events that we’re personally planning right now are so small. But I’m already thinking of how I’m going to justify this to my, my other boss.
Alysse Bryson [00:15:52]:
What is the tipping point? What is the tipping Point of, of when an event becomes too big and it’s no longer personal. Like what’s the tipping point in there between the two different areas? So let’s just say somebody was doing. Well you said not a wedding, but like they’re, they’re doing an event and it’s small and it’s like 25, 50 people. And then now they want to do one for 500 people. Like where’s, where does it go from being personalized? You know, your kids party into something a lot bigger if there’s that middle land.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:16:25]:
Yeah, you know, I think anywhere in that 200 to 500 range, I think it’s kind of there. I would say like the way our platform works, we have just a general access. So there’s nothing just like for general awareness. We don’t charge by the amount of people that are coming. It’s all kind of like one fee access. You can have as many people on it as you want. So Whether you have two people doing a date night or up to 500 people, it doesn’t really matter. In fact, we want people to get together over and over.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:16:51]:
Right. And so the idea here is I think even in those larger scale events, you’re going to have those little micro events and so you can create a personalized experience. So if you’re doing a large, how do you create those little pockets, those little vignettes where you can have those personalized experiences even in those large environments. And we can kind of help prompt for those, the product itself. I mean, we started the idea being we want to start hosting at home whether it’s again a date night, 20 people coming over for a cocktail party, 50 people coming over for a 50th. But it does work all the way up to larger, larger scale events. I mean we definitely, our sweet spot is in that repeatable event that brands are doing over and over. And so it could be showing up at a trade show and in that case, you know, you might have thousands of people coming by.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:17:33]:
But like it’s used just kind of in that individual group. It could be used for a concert. It’s pretty again, flexible and adaptable. I think that’s what we all know from events. It’s like events have to be flexible and adaptable and we have to have plans A through Z ready to go so something can change. And we’re, we’re well equipped and the platform needs to be flexible. And I think that’s been a lot of the problem with the event tech that I’ve seen. It’s Too rigid.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:17:55]:
And so that’s why it’s taken us so long to develop this in particular is we want to be able to create those intimate moments in those larger scale events. We want to be able to create something that scales from 2 to 2000 pretty easily, which is a tall order, but I hope that we’ve achieved it.
Alysse Bryson [00:18:12]:
What, what role does AI play in any of this? Have you, have you.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:18:18]:
We are building a couple different functions.
Alysse Bryson [00:18:19]:
Have you jumped into the deep end of the pool?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:18:22]:
We totally have. For better or for worse. There’s a lot that our team uses just from an operation perspective in terms of like how we’re doing some of our design, how we’re filling some of the content in. However, I will say like events, it’s a tastemaking industry and it can’t a lot of AI right now. And like we play how do we hack, how do we get something 80% of the way there and then put an expert. And so I actually have three experts on my team in slightly different verticals that have all been in the events industry. Because what we know as event experts is like chat doesn’t get it. Chat doesn’t get the like high touch things that we know after years.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:18:57]:
I’ve been in the events industry for like 18 plus years. We know how to do things because you just intuitively know it. How do you source, how do you curate? And there’s a personalized touch. So the way that we actually will come at it is again, it’ll give us a jumpstart. We are building two AI features that will roll out from like a kind of. We’re, we think we’re going to name her Polly. We’re not sure. Kind of like it’s a chat bot that’s actually pre programmed.
Alysse Bryson [00:19:16]:
I love it.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:19:17]:
Poly.
Libby Sundgren [00:19:17]:
There’s a clear pocket poly partition right.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:19:21]:
Where it goes back to. And I feel like I know no Polly’s anymore. So yeah, that and then an image generation kind of tool. Because I think people can’t visualize events very well and there’s one that’s kind of out there right now. But when I was doing these large scale events, we spent so much time and money on 3D renderings of events and people would love to be able to see what did we select? How do we actually visualize it? Because it’s really hard. Some people are visual but most aren’t. So it definitely plays a role, but a growing role and we’ll see where it shapes and evolves.
Libby Sundgren [00:19:50]:
Polly, can’t wait to meet you.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:19:52]:
I know she’s cute right now.
Libby Sundgren [00:19:55]:
She’s cute. She’s cute. Party Trick has been described as the Shopify for experiences. So can you tell us what’s next on the horizon for Party Trick? What kind of, what kind of things are up the sleeve and you know, the broader experience economy.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:20:14]:
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting because there’s this whole segment in events that gets forgotten and it’s these small events, it’s these mob brand activations. It’s like you’re berries down the street doing a brand activation or a lot of like the up and coming CPG brands that are doing really cool like media dinners, they’re underserved. And so I look at like what’s next? And the way that we’ve been kind of explained to Shopify, it’s easy for a consumer, really easy for the business as well. Right. And you’re getting actual insight what’s working, what’s not. So that’s kind of the tie in with Shopify. What we’re seeing is that conferences are well served, there’s a lot of tech out there for it. But what I see with the future of events, future of also just like the economy in general is like, people want experience, people want community, they want to foster connection and community.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:21:00]:
And that’s done through in person experiences. And brands are leaning into that acquisition is harder than ever. So we’re focused on like loyalty and retention that is done through in person. And so we can really come in and serve these kind of forgotten events, making them better, optimizing and then providing the business with all the intel, like, hey, this event converted. This one did really well from a, you know, social media impressions perspective. I mean, when you think about events as well and what’s coming up, most people when they plan, they’re like, oh crap, I have to do an event, what am I going to do? And so they just throw something together but not thinking about the clear call to action. Is this to drive conversion? Is it to like, you know, just generate social media impressions and if you know why you’re doing the event, if there’s a clear CTA you can actually measure. And so we can kind of help brands with that because it’s something that they don’t think about often they’re like, oh, I just have to do events.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:21:50]:
Events are trending because all the newsletters right now are like, do events, do events? Do these media dinners do influencer events? And thinking about how do you actually, if you’re going to spend money on it, how do you make it work for you? Well, so one, great experience and two, like learn from, from that experience. So for us, we’re actually kicking off all of our activations, working off an ambassador programs and just in general really supporting that kind of white space in terms of how are we supporting brands that are doing activations after activations over and over.
Alysse Bryson [00:22:18]:
I love that. You know, Libby and I went to the Northwest event show recently and one of the things that we noticed, you know, we have been going to that show for, I don’t know, 10 years, 15 years. And there’s many years where it feels like it’s the same show over and over again. But this year, this year felt different. It was noticeably fuller with, with more vendors and more people at, at the convention. And then like one trend that I noticed that was that I had not noticed before was a pop up crafting experience. Whether it was decorate, you know, a trucker hat or a canvas tote with patches, or it was a huge group paint by number mural or it was some other kind of crafting, you know, at a table experience. What and that might be, I don’t know if that’s, you know, specific to the Northwest, but I’m curious what trends that you might have be noticing that might be emerging.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:23:14]:
I think the rise of trying to get people engaged versus just going to a cocktail party is like so spot on. And like, I mean you saw it whether it’s again, we’ve seen a lot of bouquet bar. I think that started trending hardcore last year. So making a bouquet bar, make your own bath salt kind of funny again, some of oyster shucking classes, those are getting really big. We’re seeing, I feel like they’re, they trended and then they went away and now they’re coming back again. Something where you can get people to again interact with their hands because then they let their guards down. It’s almost like you put a kid in the back of the car, right? You’re driving your kids home from school, you get the best, most engaged conversation and you put them in front of you or across the dinner table and they don’t want to engage. And so any sort of like crafting something where you can kind of engage, it’s also easier to bring people who don’t know each other together.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:24:00]:
So if it’s like a networking event, if you can jump in and start doing an activity, it’s an easier way to kind of like spark conversation instead of just walking up to a group cold. So I see that. I’m glad that you started to Notice that trend. I think it’s a really fun way of like, how are, what are we going to do tonight? Like what’s the activity essentially?
Alysse Bryson [00:24:18]:
Yeah. As a crafter I was very excited. I was very, very excited to see this as a trend taking off. I also noticed at the show this year there was more of the on the forefront. There was marketing around alcohol free cocktails. Are you seeing that as well?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:24:35]:
Yeah, completely. It’s. I mean I’m in Colorado and the rise of NA here is huge. Like people just don’t. I spend a fair amount of time in New York and I feel like people are drinking still pretty heavily there, but like and here, huge rise of na. NA is on the rise. We work with a lot of different non alcoholic brands. As someone who really rarely drinks, like I work all the time and I have two young kids, I’m a single mom.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:24:58]:
So I love the NA trend and I love that it’s becoming so common. I love that it’s no longer like a thing of hey, you have to, you, you, you go to an event and feel like you have to have a cocktail. You can now have a non alcoholic cocktail instead. But huge trend and I think it’s a really great one.
Alysse Bryson [00:25:16]:
I love Colorado because it does feel very similar to the Pacific Northwest minus you guys don’t have as much water, obviously. Did I read a headline correctly that Sundance is moving to Boulder?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:25:30]:
It is, yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:25:32]:
Wow, that’s a big, that’s a big deal that I, and I love Boulder. Boulder is adorable. So I was like that’s, that’s a. But that’s. It’s been, I mean that’s, it has been in the location it was at for a very long time, right? Probably over a decade.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:25:49]:
Yeah, I think it was like almost 20 years even. So I think it’s going to be huge. Big shift. I think it’s been in the works for a bit, but I think Boulder’s gonna be thrilled to have it. I think it’ll be do some wonderful things for the state and also fun to get like a different vibe here in Colorado. Aspen in particular has had this huge boom with like entertainment but specifically in the music realm with Snow Lodge coming in, Palm Tree Festival. That’s really shifted the vibe here and I do think the culture is just evolving a little bit out of just like the X Games culture and some of the like heavy like you know, all the athletes, especially in Boulder. Boulder’s such like athlete central.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:26:28]:
So it’ll be amazing to kind of bring a different level of like Richness and activation to Boulder in the Front Range.
Libby Sundgren [00:26:35]:
Okay. We have a segment here called Winning the game of Events, and I am hoping that you can share a fun or unexpected hosting hack that always surprises people. Maybe not always, but most of the time surprises people. We host Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Fourth of July for family and friends. Oh, and New Year’s Eve. And so we routinely have parties of, you know, 30 to 60 people. And I would love to add a new hosting surprise to my no bag of tricks.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:27:16]:
Okay, well, a couple small things. I feel like this one trended a while ago, but I won’t let it go. And it’s small, but one day I’ll let it go. I don’t know when the small but, like, the frozen ice cube. Interesting ice cube trick. It’s not so much a trick. It’s just like, it’s a little moment of surprise and delight. I love doing custom ice cube.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:27:37]:
Different shapes, different things inside of them, glitter inside of them. You put fruit inside of them. I’ll do in the winter, like, the long ones with, like, the cinnamon sticks inside of them for, like, a hot toddy. So if you think about Thanksgiving, how can you create it’s. It’s slightly small and unexpected. It’s not like a interactive thing, but it. I will say it, like, always works. Conversation.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:27:57]:
The different size cubes, everyone gets that. That’s kind of, like, old and done, but, like, trying to, like, mix it up. That’s a weird one. The other one, and because I’m, like, into senses, I like ascent spaces. But you want to be careful with, like, not scenting too much and, like, throwing something off with food. So whether it’s, like, it’s just like, it’s a. Again, it sets a tone. It also, like, will imprint in people’s brain in a different way.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:28:19]:
So it’s not about engagement, but when people walk into your house. Okay. Like, it’s like, I love my scent pot at Christmas time, and I always have it. I would, like, put it on a crock pot with tons of spices. Again, you want to be mindful not to mess with. It’s like the whole hosting experiences about food. You don’t want to kind of throw off the scents with food, but scent is a big one. I also like the sensibility of hack when it comes to icebreakers.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:28:43]:
Most people ask silly icebreakers in terms of, like, favorite trip you’ve been on or. Or what did you do? What? Like, you know, they’re. They tend to not actually be that additive. I love doing one that’s Kind of what’s your favorite piece of media you’ve consumed recently, whether it’s a book, a podcast you listen to, because then it actually takes something that’s actionable. So those are kind of like an easy way to interact and bring in a new tip that kind of will add a little bit of value. So those are like, small.
Libby Sundgren [00:29:11]:
I love those, though. And scent is such a big one because if you walk into a house and it doesn’t smell very good, you. You will remember that part.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:29:20]:
Yeah, yeah. Well.
Alysse Bryson [00:29:22]:
And at the event show. Sorry to keep bringing it up, but one of the conference speakers, he did ask everyone to take a post it and write on the post it something that you’ve been watching or listening to lately. And had everybody stick their post it in one area, which then you could. You could go by and take a picture of it. And now you have like 30 ideas and you can see where any, like, you know, repeated things were. So I thought that was very clever. It was way more clever than two truths and a lie. So.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:29:50]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:29:51]:
And I love the idea of the edible glitter in the ice cubes. I never thought about that. I have, I tried during the pandemic, I tried to put like, rose petals in ice cubes and a few. And fruit, a few random things, but I did not think about trying glitter. So that’s a good one.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:30:09]:
Yeah. Animal glitter. It works really well. Again, kids love that one. I think that, like, if kids like it, it typically will surprise adults later. So I think, like, what would my kid play?
Alysse Bryson [00:30:18]:
Yeah.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:30:19]:
And so, like, they love again and again the glitter. Glitter inside things. Again, the cinnamon stick, the roses and the fruit. It’s harder. But again, the frozen. They love even frozen orange juice inside. So they’re orange juice. It’s just a surprise and delight.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:30:34]:
Frozen coffee. People have done that for years, but it’s still kind of surprises. So I don’t know. I love, I love bringing that one back. It’s been around, but I love it.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:44]:
What about. Is there like a party favor or a swag item that you’re like, this one just always works. It always works. It doesn’t matter. It’s classic.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:30:53]:
I’m a big fan of the Polaroid camera. I mean, I even, like, I was just on spring break with the kids and I both. I got them both cameras and they love those. They. We did a 40th birthday party for actually one of my old, old clients. He pulled us out of, like, student retirement to do this 40th, and we had the cameras around People were nuts. They always love them. So again, not as like a swag takeaway, but having those.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:31:16]:
I mean, costumes, people love changing their. I feel like when people put on, like big hats and sunglasses, their personality changes. So late night, bring out the costumes. Cameras, no matter what, always tend to go over pretty well. So I don’t know, there’s something about a Polaroid that, like the vintage throwback, but then the immediate gratification and people should get sillier with those. People get silly in front of an iPhone. But people get silly when you have like a poll. Right.
Libby Sundgren [00:31:40]:
Because it’s not going to live forever. Maybe, but it’s just in that one space. It’s not, you know, going to end up on Facebook so completely.
Alysse Bryson [00:31:48]:
Are you seeing any different trends with photo booths as a whole? I feel like, I mean, they’ve been around forever now. They’ve really run their course. I’ve seen them all, but I. I don’t know that I’ve seen anything like really new or fresh in that area in a while.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:32:04]:
I don’t think I’ve seen anything fresh in a while. I mean, there’s a 360 booth. I feel like people have kind of like the glam booth. It’s been there, done that. I think they’ll continue to stay because people will just want that. I’m seeing a trend right now in 3D, so kind of like the 3D visualization, so the events are being captured and then people can go back and relive them with like VR glasses. Those are kind of cool. We’re seeing that more so.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:32:27]:
And that’s actually been really great for like, venue tours, but less about. Because most people don’t go back and like, have the goggles and actually get to watch the parties they’re going to. And nor do they actually really want to. I think for special events they do. But that’s. That’s actually an interesting trend that’s starting to pop up right now as well. So kind of like the VR experience at events and kind of reliving the moment.
Alysse Bryson [00:32:48]:
Yeah. I actually hope VR is around to stay. I got really into it in the Pandemic and then. And I haven’t used it a lot lately, but it’s only because I’ve just been busy doing other things. It’s not because I don’t like it. And I definitely think there’s some interesting things that can be done in the VR space, especially at events.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:33:08]:
I think there’s time and place for it. I think it’s not for all Events, I think again for some special one off to go back again, relive the moment. I think it’s really helpful for event vendors to kind of show things off because it’s hard to see like if I, if I were a venue and I’m going to start my career at a venue, I remember I helped them do the Matterport tour and a lot of times. So that Matterport technology is what people use in real estate a ton to go see his face, being able to visualize his face in VR. We. So I’m such an amazing sales tool. So a lot of event people, like, if you’re in entertainment, that’s a great way to kind of help and support as well. But I think it’s harder like actually at the event as an attendee, but more from like event vendors to kind of incorporate in their practice.
Alysse Bryson [00:33:50]:
Well, this has been so much fun. Virginia. Can you please tell our many listeners where they can find you?
Virginia Frischkorn [00:33:56]:
Definitely. So come find us@partytrick.com or on Instagram @party trick, TikTok @partytrick and sign up for a consumer account. We are again opening that up again very soon and consumer memberships are free on our platform. We want to make hosting accessible and easy for all.
Libby Sundgren [00:34:13]:
That’s awesome.
Alysse Bryson [00:34:14]:
Ah, that’s so fun. That’s so fun.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:34:17]:
Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:34:17]:
And Libby, I think you need to do a demo for the bigger packages too.
Libby Sundgren [00:34:20]:
I’m going to have to because you know what, the events that we are doing really are small, but they are repeated activation events. So I do think I’ve got a case.
Virginia Frischkorn [00:34:32]:
Got a case for this. Love it. Love it. Amazing.
Alysse Bryson [00:34:37]:
Well, that’s a wrap for this episode of Beats Working Winning the Game of Events. If you have an idea or want to reach out, please email us at infoatsworking show. And please remember, every detail matters, every moment counts, and no matter what, the show must go on. Thanks for listening to Beats Working Winning the game of events where we explore what it takes to make moments unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:35:02]:
If you’re leaving with a little more inspiration, a little more perspective, and a big sideache from all of the laughing at our funny jokes, then we’ve done our job.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:12]:
Beats Working is a work P2P production. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review us on your favorite podcast platforms.
Libby Sundgren [00:35:22]:
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