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Scenery Insights of DU’s Arboretum

There is no denying that the University of Denver (DU) campus is beautiful with its green spaces, abundant flowers, and impressive buildings but did you know that DU is a certified arboretum? Below are some special places you should checkout next time you wander around campus!

Right outside Evans Memorial Chapel, a gorgeous venue for weddings, you will find a Weeping Fruitless Mulberry whose native range is China. They bloom in the spring and prefer full sun so are perfect for Denver’s beautiful weather.

Around the perimeter of Carnegie Green, you will find a Common Hackberry which produces small berries that ripen in fall attracting birds and other animals, a Colorado Spruce which is the state tree of Colorado, an Eastern Cottonwood which is the largest Cottonwood in DU’s collection, and a Hot Wings Tatarian Maple which is known for its brilliant red sumaras.

In Harper Humanities Garden, which is often used for outdoor summer weddings, you can find a Thornless Common Honeylocust which turns yellow or yellow green in fall, and a Pioneer Elm which can grow to roughly 50 feet high and 50 feet wide.

Near Daniels College of Business, on the Grad Green, a Green Ash tree can be found. The Green Ash is native to the U.S. and Canada. Green Ash have a fast growth rate as they can grow more than 2 feet a year. Their leaves turn a vibrant yellow in the fall.

We are so lucky to be apart of DU and to help coordinate events around campus so everyone can enjoy its beauty. Planning an event? Check out our website to look through the stunning venues we offer!

Intimate Gatherings and Small Guest Lists

Due to COVID-19, more people are having small and intimate wedding gatherings to abide by policies and guidelines. To prioritize the health and safety of families, couples are making the difficult decision to decrease their guest lists. Smaller weddings allow for a more intimate setting and atmosphere. As COVID guidelines relax, it will be interesting to see if this trend sticks or if there is a wave of large weddings.

Backyard Venues

Outdoor weddings have become more popular due to COVID-19 as it provides a safer environment and allows more space to social distance. Additionally, as guest lists have become smaller, intimate settings such as a backyard are being utilized.

Assigned Seating

While assigned seating is often used for specific family members during the ceremony, more people are using it for all their guests due to COVID-19. Seating groups by pods has also become popular as guests want to know who they are sitting with prior to the event.

Individualized Eating

Formal dinner services, and individualized food displays including mini wedding cakes, have become popular as a safety precaution for COVID-19. While buffet catering used to be the usual choice, couples are choosing individualized options to limit the sharing of utensils and uncovered food. This is made easier when you have smaller guest lists and assigned seating as mentioned earlier.

Live Streaming

As COVID-19 greatly affected people’s ability to travel, live streaming your ceremony has become an alternative option. For those who can’t travel or visit, live streaming is a great idea. While it may seem unconventional, as long as there are no technical issues live streaming allows for more friends and family to be involved and is a great way to record those special moments.

These are just a few trends that have risen since COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines. It will be interesting to see how many of them remain over the next few years, and which ones disappear. All these trends can be difficult to keep up with so why not utilize us for your wedding planning. Our Conference and Event Services Team can help you navigate the difficulty of planning a wedding and ensure your special day is perfect. Check us out on Instagram at going_tothechapel for beautiful pictures and inspiration!

1. It’s Never Too Early to Start Planning

Begin planning as soon as you can. Events take a lot of preparation so start early and give yourself plenty of time. We recommend starting the planning process three months before your event.

2. Create a Timeline

To stay prepared and clear-headed it is best to have a timeline for your event with appropriate deadlines. While not everything may go to plan, having a timeline will help you adapt to any sudden changes and allow you to visualize what needs to be done leading up to your event.

3. Don’t Forget to Delegate

Planning an event is not easy and therefore not a one-person job. Don’t try to plan an important event all alone. Form or find a skilled team who can help you with the process.

4. Utilize Social Media

Don’t forget to take pictures throughout the entire event planning process. While they are great for marketing your event and creating buzz, they are also great memories to have once the event finishes. Whether your event is a wedding or an educational conference, you will want to remember this experience.

5. Stay Calm and Have Fun

Don’t forget to have fun at your event! You worked hard to plan and prepare, now it is time to enjoy it. You deserve it. Stay calm and try not to stress. The hard work is over so interact with your guests and have a good time.

These are just a few key tips to help you plan your event but do some more research. You can find lots of advice and tips online. If you’re looking for an event venue, take a look at our website! The University of Denver has venues for every occasion and with the help of our Conference and Event Services team, your event will be a huge success.

The impacts of COVID-19 and the introduction of new technology have changed the landscape of the events world. The highly used platform, Zoom could give unforeseen stress to some. These tips and tricks can make using it a breeze!

Waiting Rooms

As an added security feature, you have the option to enable waiting rooms to individually admit participants into a meeting. This can prevent so-called “Zoom Bombings” and ensure your event stays on task! As an added option you even have the option to send messages to those in the waiting room to ensure they can “re-name” themselves to match the name on the roster. To enable this option:

• Click on the “Security” icon once you have opened/started a Zoom Meeting and you can enable a waiting room for guests.
• You can also do this while setting up a Zoom Meeting on the Zoom website.
• This allows you to “admit” guests into your meeting to avoid Zoom Bombings.

Breakout Rooms

Zoom has the added feature to place participants into “breakout rooms” to further encourage dialogue. To create these rooms:

• You can click on the Breakout Rooms icon and set up rooms manually or randomly.
• Once open, you can broadcast messages and pop in and out of these virtual rooms.
• If you choose to have attendees register ahead of time, you can pre-set up these breakout rooms using their names. Just make sure when they log onto to Zoom, they use their registered email account.
• Watch out! If you are co-hosting a meeting, and someone reclaims host while you are in the process of creating a breakout room, all your work will be lost.
  • Trick: You can switch hosting when breakout rooms are open, and work will be saved.

Setting Up Registration Links

To help you gauge the number of participants you may have in your meeting, Zoom has the option for guests to register ahead of time. This will also allow you to create breakout rooms ahead of time on the zoom website as mentioned above. To create a link:

• Go to zoom.us and schedule a new meeting on your licensed account.
  • You will see an option to enable attendee registration link.
  • You have the option to set up a recurring meeting (see below), and if so, can allow registrants to register for one meeting only, multiple meetings, or one at a time.

Customizing Registration Links

You can actually also add some touched to your registration link to make it fit in more with your company or event! This can include adding images such as a company logo, or a custom message with more event information.

• Once you have set up a registration process, on the Zoom page (browser), you will see an option for “branding.” You can set up logos and images and even add a description of your meeting for a personalized touch!

Locking a Meeting & Removing Participants

To assist you ensure your meeting has added security, you have the option to permanently remove participants (such as Zoom Bombers) from joining and even disabling the join meeting option!

• By clicking on the security icon in Zoom, you can enable a waiting room, and even “lock” the meeting to prevent new users from joining after beginning a meeting.
• To remove a participant, click on participants, and hover over the participant’s name. You can then remove them.
  • Note: Once removed, they will not be able to join the Zoom session on the unique ID again.

Recording Sessions (Local & CLOUD)

As participants may not always be able to attend your event, you can record your event and have the option to share your recording with attendees. To do so:

• Once in a Zoom meeting, you can hit “record” and it will save to the Zoom server or to your desktop. It will email you when it is ready for viewing. This could take up to 24hrs.
  • Note: The recording will only record the face of the person who is speaking, and not the screen sharing.

Polling Question

Zoom has an added feature to help ask questions or simply gauge the mood of a room with polling questions. These can be given out during a Zoom session, and then have shared results with all attendees.

• In a Zoom meeting, you can click on polling to send questions out and share results. Questions can be set up in advance or during the meeting on the Zoom web-browser for your meeting.

Participant Interactive Buttons

To better see how your Zoom room is, or to get reactions, Zoom has added a set of reaction buttons for attendees.

• While on Zoom, participants can hit the “Reaction” icon for a thumbs up or clapping icon. If they click on “participants” they can see more interactive buttons such as “away” “go faster” “need a break” etc.…

Recurring Meetings

To help save time when setting up meetings, you can select “recurring meetings” so that guests can join a Zoom session using the same link, even if they are occurring days apart.

• While setting up Zoom meetings online, you can hit recurring meetings from the browser Zoom. This will allow attendees to use the same Zoom meeting ID every time, and you will have to start each re-occurrence before they can join.

Written by: Paul Lee

We’ve all seen the graphic that shows a circle that represents your comfort zone and outside of that is another circle that represents where the magic happens. The question then becomes, how do we get there? How do we jump into the magical bubble?

Not every person who works in the events industry is an outgoing extrovert who has a seemingly wide comfort zone circle. This may come as a surprise considering the events industry thrives on bringing people together and collaborating with teams of people. For those of us who are introverts, working in this kind of world can be somewhat intimidating. That’s why it is important for people working on events to prioritize professional development that focuses on escaping your comfort zone.

Facing Fear

Networking, public speaking, delivering bad news, and even initiating small talk are common anxieties in many workplaces. What if I’m no good? What if I embarrass myself? What if people won’t like me? These questions are asked by our fear. If you want to eliminate fear, if you want to grow outside of your comfort zone, there are a couple of things you can try:

• Remind yourself other people feel the same way you do
  • You are not alone in your anxious feelings. Everyone is on their own journey towards growing out of their comfort zones. The work people put into their growth is not always visible. It may appear that your colleague is the most confident person in the room, but you may not be aware of the work they are putting in to come across that way.
• Find a source of conviction
  • What are the values that are driving you to grow outside your comfort zone? Do you seek respect from your colleagues? Do you want to enhance your skills and develop professionally? Allow those values to motivate you to take the first step out of your comfort zone.
• Customize your behavior
  • As mentioned above, everyone is on their own journey towards growing out of their comfort zones and this experience of escaping your comfort zone is not one size fits all. So find what works for you. For some, it may be wearing an empowering outfit or carrying a good luck token. For others, it may be writing a script of talking points that can be rehearsed beforehand. Personalize your growth so it can be more meaningful and impactful for you.
• Aim for clarity
  • Dealing with anxiety may cause you to focus in on the extremes. Experts call this “catastrophizing” which is where you dwell on the worst case scenario. On the other extreme, some people won’t do anything if they think it won’t be absolutely perfect. Either extreme debilitates you from achieving growth. Seeking clarity, or a physiological middle ground, is a good way to get a more realistic perspective.

As we all grow out of our comfort zones and expand into the place where the magic happens, it is important to also practice forgiveness. This journey will likely not be linear. But what matters is the time and effort that you are putting in on enhancing yourself.

Information provided by:

Green, Sarah, host. “Escape Your Comfort Zone.” HBR Ideacast, Harvard Business Review, 9 February 2017. https://pca.st/hHtd

With my second year at DU just a few weeks away from being completed, I have attended, worked, and helped plan over 80 events. These events range from small business meetings for external companies, to a 90’s themed event for students complete with jumpers, a gourmet French fry food truck, and a fanny pack decoration table (yes, it was as incredible as it sounds!). Seeing these events come to life on campus has made me realize what a wonderful place DU is, and how perfect it can be for an event venue. Living and working on campus has given me a unique perspective that I am excited to share with you! I’m going to give you the inside scoop of what exactly makes DU a special place to host events.

The Campus

When I was making my college decision two years ago, I knew that DU has a great business school, but one of the main things that sealed the deal for me was just how beautiful the campus is. Nearly every building is made of beautiful red brick, which I believe truly matches the Denver aesthetic. A few of them even have different colored towers and domes that can be seen across campus and from the city. Not only do the buildings look classy, but DU is also designated as the Chester A. Alter Arboretum, so there’s a large variety of beautiful trees around campus. Add to this the tranquil water features between the library and the school of International Studies, and you have a space that makes for incredible photos! Whether you’re getting married or hosting an educational conference, your guests won’t want to stop taking pictures, and neither will you!

The Food

I’m a college student, so of course I have to mention food! Typically, the food for most of the events on campus is provided by our catering company, Flavours by Sodexo. As an Intern for the Conference and Event Services team, I have been able to attend many events that have used Flavours by Sodexo catering. I have also had the privilege of attending their tasting events where they introduce new items on the menu. Not only is the food absolutely incredible, but the presentation is stunning, making for Instagram-worthy photos! Events in the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management however, have food prepared by their own Knoebel Events staff. The food prepared by Knoebel Events is just as mouthwatering. I have personally worked on their banquet staff for over a year now so I’ve had the chance to taste most of the food on the menu, and they have a wonderful variety! Both Sodexo and Knoebel Events are extremely cautious when it comes to allergens too; when made aware of allergies beforehand, they will be sure to have a special dish ready for the guests who need it. Whether your event is catered by Sodexo or prepared by Knoebel Events, your guests will be sure to leave with full, satisfied bellies!

The Possibilities

At DU, you aren’t limited to a couple of classrooms or a gym when you book a space for an event. There is such a wide variety of venue spaces that can accommodate any kind of event! We’ve hosted high school robotics competitions, outdoor concerts, weddings, and even held a presidential debate in 2012! Even after living on campus for two years, there are still spaces that I “discover” all the time that are just calling out for an event to be held there. Whatever your event dreams, we have the perfect space for it!

These three things are just a glimpse of what makes events at DU so special, and I hope that you’ll personally come discover everything else that the campus has to offer soon!

Written by: Hannah Hinds

The impact of COVID-19 has sparked a new way of thinking about event planning and event management. For an industry that thrives on bringing people together, the events world has adjusted to creatively continue gatherings by hosting them online.

There are a lot of benefits and challenges that virtual events present. We break it down for you and highlight some of the key things to consider when going virtual.

Benefits of a Virtual Event

You don’t have to cancel       

There is nothing more disappointing than working tirelessly on an event and then it cancels. If you are able to pivot from in-person to online, it allows you the opportunity to still connect with your audience.

Potential for a broader audience

A venue can seat a certain capacity, however with online events you are able to stretch your guest count. You can also reach a wider range of people from different states or counties who might not have been able to travel for an event.

Putting your creative hat on

Hosting virtual events is new for many people so it allows the opportunity to really think creatively. Finding ways to deliver your content to your audience does not have to entirely be limited to the World Wide Web. Mail materials to your audience ahead of the event so they can be more engaged during the program. Do a drive-by to promote your event to the locals in your community.

Challenges of a Virtual Event

Engaging the audience

It is easy to zone out while in a Zoom meeting, so it is important to think about how you can make your audience interact during your virtual event. Introductions beforehand (depending on the size of the audience) along with a fun fact may be a good icebreaker to get people comfortable talking. Point out the raise hand or the Q&A features on Zoom so that the introverted guests have an option of getting their voices heard. Changing up the screen views will also help keep your event from becoming stale.

Standing out in the sea of online invites

First impressions are everything. Put thoughtful time into marketing your event so that it grabs people’s attention and makes them want to carve out a moment of their day to get online with you. Communicate reminders to make sure your guests don’t forget about your event too.

Quick Tips

• Create a detailed run-of-show and make sure everyone working on the digital event has a copy
• A private run-through before the event launches is a good way to work out any technical difficulties
• Ask for feedback after the event to see what could be improved and what was successful

“It was the time when they loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity.”

― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

The inescapable truth surrounding 2020 weddings is many of them will look different from what was originally planned. Couples have pivoted from having family and friends gather together to watch the exchange of forever’s in person, to digital congregations of eyes watching from their screens in their own homes. Some couples have chosen to entirely postpone their big day, while others obliged to physical distancing practices and had incredibly intimate ceremonies. No matter the path chosen, the difficulty of quick adjustments is an added stress during an already tense time.

It is important to remember however, that during this time of disappointment from changed or cancelled plans, love remains constant. Love is not cancelled and will continue to be the light that lifts you up. While formal celebrations of love have been put on hold for the time being, it doesn’t mean love cannot still be celebrated. The simplest way is by telling someone–a partner, a parent, a sibling, a friend, anyone who holds a place in your heart, “I love you”. Showing your love doesn’t always mean speaking your love. Cook your special someone a meal. Write a thoughtful note and send it. Be an active listener while they share about their day. These gestures allow love to fully bloom.

We continue to think about the time when we will be able to reconnect in person, gather together to celebrate love and the unifying of two hearts in our quaint Evans Memorial Chapel. We miss showing you the beautiful space and being a part of your special day. Until the moment arrives when we can celebrate in person, let us celebrate you from afar! Thank you for continuing to call and inquire. Thank you for your continued support on our social media pages. Thank you for keeping love alive!

See you soon!

CES Wedding Team

CONTACT INFO

Conference & Event Services
University of Denver
1745 S. High Street | Denver, CO 80210

Phone: 303-871-4333 | events@du.edu

CAMPUS MAP

HAVE A QUESTION?

CONTACT INFO

Conference & Event Services
University of Denver
1745 S. High Street | Denver, CO 80210

Phone: 303-871-4333 | events@du.edu

CAMPUS MAP

HAVE A QUESTION?

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