Fall 2024 Newsletter
In this issue
- Smart Event Planning Using AI
- Registration Tips for Streamlined Success
- Facts & Snacks Tip: Alcohol Policy Reminders
- Poll Question: Share Your Holiday Plans
- Team Up with U-M for the Holidays!
- Celebrating Generations of Wolverines: A League Wedding
- Testimonial: North American Paleontology Conference
- Register for November Facts & Snacks
- Spring Commencement 2025: Canopy Rentals
- New Staff: Welcome, Julie Wagner!
- Featured Recipe from Michigan Catering
Smart Event Planning Using AI
When it comes to event planning, excellence is more than just a buzzword—it’s the standard. Achieving excellence, however, requires strategic planning and seamless execution, all while handling unexpected challenges and surprises.
Imagine having a powerful tool that streamlines your even planning operations, enhances the attendee experience, and ensures the overall success of your event. With artificial intelligence (AI), this is no longer just a dream but a practical solution.
Here are five ways AI can enhance your process and ensure a successful event:
- Boost your marketing: Use AI to analyze and understand your audience and create targeted campaigns, then sit back and watch as engagement and attendance improve.
- Automate your tasks: Let AI handle mundane tasks like tracking registration details and responding to questions. You’ll have more time to plan an amazing event!
- Improve attendee support: With AI tools, you can quickly respond to attendee inquiries and make check-ins a breeze.
- Personalize your event: Analyze survey responses to find out what your attendees like and provide them with a more engaging experience.
- Forecast trends: Data is your best friend! Use it to make smarter decisions about venues, schedules, and resources.
We hope these ideas help you create more engaging, efficient, and successful events, providing a superior experience for your attendees and team.
Registration Tips for Streamlined Success
Planning an event involves various steps, with event registration alone including email invites, reminders, payments, and managing lots of data. While it can be overwhelming, each step plays a crucial role in making your event a success.
What can you do to make the work more manageable and still provide a pleasant experience for your guests? Our event planning experts have some strategies to help:
Start with Easy-to-Use Forms
Ask yourself: How will people sign up? What info do I need from them? Once you have answers to these questions, remember to keep it simple. Avoid overloading your form with unnecessary questions. Focus on the most important elements and discard the rest.
Consider Offering Early Bird Discounts
Nudge attendees to sign up sooner by offering discounts to the first [X] registrants or providing special rates for students and groups. Encourage them even more by adding a deadline or a limited number of seats. Finally, make sure whatever you offer is sustainable for your budget!
Don’t Forget Follow-ups and Reminders
After registration, attendees should receive an email with an automated confirmation and digital receipt (if applicable). But don’t stop there! You could also:
- Send timely reminders: Ensure attendees are well-prepared and excited for the event by sending periodic reminder emails. Don’t forget to mention that early bird discount!
- Highlight updates: Use these reminders to highlight changes like new breakout sessions or locations.
- Encourage sharing: Include a call to action asking attendees to share the event with friends and colleagues. (Free advertising!)
- Include calendar notifications: Offer calendar notifications compatible with Google and Apple calendars to keep everyone on track.
Use the Right Tools to Streamline Even more
Digital registration requires having the right tools in your toolbox. While your event may have specific needs, here a few ideas that have worked for our team:
- Attendance Tracking: Keep tabs on who’s in and who’s out.
- Attendee Insights and Data: Get to know your crowd better!
- Form Building: Create user-friendly sign-ups with ease.
- Electronic Payments: It’s quick, easy, and trackable.
- QR Code Integration: Scan your way to a smoother event.
The bottom line? Streamline, streamline, streamline! We hope these tips help you create an outstanding registration experience. By keeping things simple and attendee-focused, you’ll enhance the user experience and save yourself time.
Need help? Contact us! We’ve got the team, tools, and expertise to handle everything while providing you with full backend access to stay informed about your event and its attendees.
Facts & Snacks Tip: Alcohol Policy Reminders
Stay informed with these important alcohol policy reminders to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable event.
Have questions? Refer to the Office of General Counsel’s FAQs or contact the Associate Vice President for Facilities and Operations Office at [email protected].
Poll Question: Share Your Holiday Plans

Team Up with U-M for the Holidays!

If you’re looking for a unique space to host your holiday celebration, look no further! Here are three reasons to team up with CES for your event this holiday season.
Iconic University Unions Spaces
Reserve a venue at University Unions! We currently have availability at the Michigan Union, Michigan League, and Pierpont Commons. Each location features stunning historical architecture and a variety of spaces that can accommodate groups from 10 to 300.
Flexible Location Options
Have a different location in mind? No problem! We can come to you, both on and off campus. Whether you’ve chosen another campus building or a unique off-campus venue, we’ll do whatever we can to meet your needs.
NEW Holiday Menu from Michigan Catering
This year, Michigan Catering has released a new holiday menu featuring delicious farm-to-table dishes, including:
- Fall harvest salad with butternut squash, apples, toasted pecans, and a pumpkin maple vinaigrette
- Zaatar roasted tri-color romanesco cauliflower with dried pomegranate
- Truffle butter mashed potatoes
- Oven-baked trout
- Breaded smoked gouda and Michigan cherry chicken
- Strip steak bordelaise with brulee onion aioli
- Sauteed campus farm greens and mushroom duxelles in a fall squash polenta roulade
Don’t miss this chance to make your holiday celebration unforgettable. Contact us at (734) 764-2000 or [email protected] to start planning!
Celebrating Generations of Wolverines: A League Wedding
How did you hear about us? We both grew up in Ann Arbor (high school sweethearts), attended the University of Michigan, and have generations of family and friends who were married at the Michigan League!
What made you choose the League as your venue? We chose to get married at the League as a tribute to our hometown and the university that played a significant role in shaping our lives. The League’s enchanting atmosphere, the elegant lighting of the ballroom, and the convenience of the Inn at the League made it the perfect setting. From the start of our planning journey, the wonderful staff assured us that our wedding was their top priority for that special June weekend, and their dedication truly made all the difference.
“Still marveling over how perfect our wedding day was!”
What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day? Our grand entrance into the ballroom for our reception was the most unforgettable moment of our wedding day. We hadn’t seen the reception setup beforehand, so stepping into that beautifully transformed space, surrounded by all our loved ones, was the ultimate surprise. It was a bit surreal and incredibly special. With everyone dancing and cheering, we were overcome with emotion, and I think we both shed quite a few happy tears in that magical moment.
Other details you would like to share? We cannot thank Tonya and the rest of the Conference and Event Services staff enough for being so kind, accommodating, responsive, and organized throughout the whole wedding planning process. We felt confident that they would take care of us; from reserving the venue and communicating with our vendors and coordinators to the catering, bar service, and all the logistics in between—they had our backs!
Testimonial: North American Paleontology Conference
“Conference and Event Services helped with our large academic meeting, keeping things running smoothly even though our attendance was much larger than we’d originally planned. They arranged and managed all of those important logistical details, from meals to venues to off-site trips, letting us focus on scientific aspects of the convention.”
Matt F., Director
Register for November: Facts & Snacks

Thursday, November 14, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. (doors open at 8:00 a.m.)
Michigan League Ballroom
We hope you’ll join us for this free, in-person Facts and Snacks to discuss the benefits of using artificial intelligence for event planning. We’ll also cover trending catering topics. Breakfast is provided!
We hope to see you soon!
Spring Commencement 2025: Canopy Rentals
Outdoor commencement ceremonies have become increasingly popular since the pandemic. To accommodate this growing trend, CES offers tent locations on campus during the spring. Our spacious 60’x120’ tents come fully equipped with tables, chairs, table coverings, and centerpieces, providing a one-stop shop for your event needs.
We still have a few open slots for Spring Commencement 2025 (Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4). If you’re interested and want to learn more, contact Ann-Marie Davis at [email protected].
Let’s make your commencement ceremony a memorable outdoor celebration!
New Staff: Welcome, Julie Wagner!
Julie Wagner brings 7 years of experience to her position as Event Manager. Prior to joining Conference and Event Services, she served as a senior event planning coordinator at The Ohio State University, an event planning manager at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center, and an event coordinator at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Julie obtained a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University and a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University. When not at work, you can find her spending time with her wife and dog and visiting breweries. She’s also a self-professed nerd who loves playing any type of game, including video games, board games, and tabletop role-playing games.
Featured Recipe from M|Catering
City Chicken
Warm up with a comforting dish from our chefs at Michigan Catering! Despite its name, City Chicken features breaded and baked veal or pork, bringing back cherished family memories and Polish heritage. Perfect for crisp weather, it’s a delicious nod to tradition. Enjoy!
Yield: 7-8 people
Ingredients
- 2-pound pork loin or pork tenderloin
- 16 4-inch skewers
- 1 pint peanut oil for browning meat (or oil of your choice)
Flour Mixture
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Egg wash
- 4 large eggs
- 3 ounces milk
Bread crumb mix
- 2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Sauce
- 4 ounces butter
- 4 ounces flour
- 2 ounces minced onions
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cut pork into 1 to 1 ½ inch cubes, then skewer the cubes roughly 3-4 pieces per skewer and set aside.
- Set up a work area for breading. Prepare the flour mixture, egg wash, and bread crumb mix.
- Dread pork in flour, shaking of excess; dip in egg wash, ensuring there are no dry spots; coat with bread crumbs.
- Heat oil in a skillet and brown all sides of the meat in batches. Place browned skewers in a casserole dish with some spacing.
- Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Melt butter in a small heavy-bottom pot. Add onions and cook until aromatic. Add flour and cook for 3 minutes. Gradually add chicken stock and bouillon cube, cooking until smooth.
- Top off chicken with the sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Want more great tips, tricks, and inside information from Conference and Event Services? Visit our newsletter archive!