10.21.2026 | News, Featured Homepage, Events, Swag, Open House, Why Stran, 2026
What Our Open House Taught Us About Brand Events
Stran recently opened its doors for Stran-ded at Sea, our annual open house, and we planned it the same way we'd plan an event for any client. Guests needed a reason to show up, something to do once they arrived, and a few moments worth talking about on the way home.
Here's what we did, what worked, and what we'd tell any brand planning its own event.
How do you plan a brand event people want to attend?
Start with connection, give guests something worth discussing, let them participate, put your product in their hands, and carry a theme through every detail.
At our open house, that meant four core moments: a speed dating event, the Women on the Rise panel, a make-your-own merch bag station, and a hands-on product showcase. These were all tied together by a Stran-ded at Sea theme that ran through the music, food, drinks, decor, and games.
Lesson 1: Give face time some structure
We opened the first day with supplier speed dating, an internal session for our sales team. Here's how it worked:
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The setup: 15-20 of our top suppliers hosted tables stocked with their merch.
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The rotation: Every 20 minutes, our sales reps moved to a new table.
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The goal: Give each rep focused time with every supplier to see products in person, ask questions, and gather ideas for clients.
The 20-minute rotations kept the energy up and made sure every supplier got time with the whole team, including the tables reps might otherwise walk past.
What brands can take from it: When you bring your team and partners together, give that time a structure. Set tables, timed rotations, and a clear schedule turn a crowded room into a series of focused conversations, so nobody leaves without meeting the people they needed to see. The format works well for supplier days, partner summits, sales kickoffs, and franchise meetings.
Lesson 2: Give guests someting worth talking about
Next came our Women on the Rise (WOTR) panel, hosted and organized by Michele Pytlinski and Stacy A. Miller. Four leaders from different industries joined the conversation:
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Marie Capone, Marketing Department Administrator, Goodwin Procter LLP
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Shannon Vogt, Sr. Manager, Fuels Brand Marketing, Phillips 66
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Kathleen Vadenais, VP, Strategy & Experience, Fidelity Investments
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Addison Wilczak, SVP of Human Resources & Compliance Officer, Ignite
They spoke openly about finding their voices, advocating for themselves, and challenging expectations.
Stop apologizing for the seat you've already earned.
That was the message guests took home, along with stories of women lifting each other up and creating opportunities for the people around them.
A panel gives an event a center of gravity. Everyone hears the same ideas at the same time, so guests leave with a shared conversation starter for the rest of the day. It also gives attendees a reason to come beyond the networking, which matters when you're asking busy people to give up an afternoon.
What brands can take from it: Anchor your event with content your audience cares about. A panel, a live demo, or a short talk from a customer all work. Choose a topic people will want to keep discussing once the session wraps.
Lesson 3: Let guests Make Something
At our make-your-own merch bag station, every guest walked away with a one-of-a-kind tote. Here's how it worked:
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Start with a blank tote: Each guest picked up a plain tote bag.
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Pick your patches: Guests chose the patches they wanted for their design.
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Watch it come to life: Our team pressed the patches onto each bag right in front of them, creating a personalized piece on the spot.
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Fill it up: Guests then visited the merch tables and chose from a beach-ready lineup of hats, keychains, sunglasses, towels, mini Stranimals, and saltwater taffy.
Watching a tote come together in real time turned a giveaway into a moment guests were part of. Because they chose their own patches and items, they picked things they'll use, so the merch goes home and stays in rotation.
The station also gave people a reason to linger, compare patch combos, and chat with each other.
Watch the video to see how they were made in real time👉
What brands can take from it: Trade pre-packed giveaways for a moment of choice. A make-your-own bag, a customization bar, or a pick-three table all work. Live decoration like on-site patch pressing adds a bit of showmanship guests remember.
The product mix is what makes or breaks it, which is where custom kitting and event merch planning come in: enough variety to feel personal, curated enough to stay on-brand.
Lesson 4: Put Product into People's Hands
Our product showcase brought suppliers, clients, and our sales team together on the marina boardwalk. Here's how it came together:
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The setting: Supplier displays lined the boardwalk, a fitting backdrop for Stran-ded at Sea.
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Who came: Clients and sales reps browsed side by side.
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What they saw: The newest lines from 15+ supplier partners, all in one place.
A product photo tells you what something looks like. Holding it tells you whether it's worth putting your logo on. On the boardwalk, clients could pick items up, compare suppliers side by side, and ask questions on the spot, the kind that rarely come up over email. Having sales reps and suppliers in the same space meant those questions got answered right away.
What brands can take from it: If your event features a product or service, make it hands-on. Group items by theme or use case so guests can picture where each piece fits in their own programs, and keep someone nearby to answer questions.
The setting matters too: a space that fits your theme makes browsing feel like part of the experience.
Lesson 5: Commit to the theme
Stran-ded at Sea started with a simple fact: our new headquarters at 500 Victory Road in Marina Bay sits right on the water, so we let the whole event lean into it. The theme was yacht rock, and it showed up in every detail:
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The soundtrack: Smooth late '70s and early '80s hits all night, with live music on the boardwalk and a DJ to carry things into the evening.
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The drinks: A signature cocktail waiting at the office bar the moment guests checked in
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The Hurricane
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Seas The Day Lemonade
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Mojito Cooler
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The dress code: "Come Sail Away." Guests were invited to dress the part in captain's hats, boat shoes, gold-button blazers, and loud florals, and the best dressed got a shout-out.
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The games and raffle: Games with real competitive stakes and a raffle with prizes worth sticking around for.
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The food: Food and drink all evening at Siros Restaurant on the boardwalk.
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The decor: Classic castaway cutouts and tropical touches throughout the space set an island-meets-yacht vibe from the moment guests walked in.
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The language: Even the invite stayed in character, with check-in "credentials," a "Merch Marina," and a list of "Frequently Anchored Questions."
The theme shaped the merch too. Towels, sunglasses, hats, and saltwater taffy fit the beach look and still earn a spot in someone's everyday routine. Themed merch only works when people want to use it once the event is over, so the design should nod to the theme without depending on it.
Guests tend to remember the small things such as the drink with the funny name, the song playing when they walked in, the game they almost won. Those touches show the host cared about the experience, and guests carry that impression back to the brand.
What brands can take from it: Pick a theme and let it guide every choice, including music, food, drinks, decor, games, dress code, and merch. Start with what makes your venue or brand unique, the way our waterfront HQ inspired ours. A clever drink name costs nothing and gets people talking. For merch, choose items that fit the theme and still hold up as everyday pieces, so the event keeps working after guests head home.
When it comes to events people remember, it really is all in the details.
Planning Your next event?
Stran-ded at Sea came together through a handful of memorable experiences, one theme that tied them all together, and merch woven into nearly every part of the day. Your next event can work the same way.
If you have one on the calendar, our team can help you plan the merch, kitting, and creative that make it unmistakably yours.
We might even have some great drink names for your event too!
FAQ
Q: What makes a brand event engaging?
A: Engaging events give guests something to do at every stage: a structured way to meet people, content worth discussing, a hands-on activity, and products they can see up close. Passive events, where guests mostly stand and listen, lose people early.
Q: How do you get attendees to network at an event?
A: Use a structured format, such as timed rotations, speed dating, or assigned tables. At our open house, sales reps rotated between supplier tables every 20 minutes, which gave every supplier time with the whole team.
Q: What kind of merch works best at events?
A: Merch guests choose for themselves tends to get used most. A make-your-own bag or customization station lets people pick items that fit their routines, which keeps your brand in use well past the event. Live personalization, like patches pressed onto a tote on the spot, adds a moment guests remember.
Q: How do you keep people at an event longer?
A: Give people something to look forward to as the event goes on. Live music, a DJ, games, and a raffle with prizes worth staying for keep the energy up, while interactive stations like a make-your-own merch bag or a product showcase encourage people to linger, talk, and come back for a second look.
Q: How do you make a brand event memorable?
A: Commit to a theme and carry it through the details: music, food, drink names, decor, games, dress code, and merch. Small, consistent touches are what guests talk about afterward, and they make the whole event feel intentional.
Q: How do you choose a theme for a brand event?
A: Start with what makes your venue, location, or brand unique. Stran's new headquarters sits on the water in Marina Bay, which led to a yacht rock theme that shaped the music, drinks, dress code, games, and merch.
Q: How can Stran help with event merch?
A: Stran helps brands plan and produce event merch, including product sourcing, creative direction, custom kitting, build-your-own stations, and fulfillment. Our team works with you to match the merch to the goals of the event.
More Resources:
Elevate Your Branded Merch Strategy
