Regrets, I’ve had a few
Why missing one mocktail detail still keeps a field marketer up at night
Every guest at an executive dinner deserves an incredible experience, regardless of what’s in their glass. Full stop. But back when I was running the 6sensory Supper—an event concept I performed 20 times during my tenure at 6sense—I designed one specific activity where it was undeniably better if everyone was imbibing.
The concept revolved around the senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and, naturally, "the sixth sense" (seeing dead people).
For the second course, we focused on smell using wine aroma kits from Le Nez du Vin—sleek boxes containing numbered vials of isolated wine scents paired with a field guide to master tasting notes.
The first two vials represented grapefruit and pear. My job was to scavenge the restaurant’s wine list for a Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre boasting both notes. If the sommelier came up empty, I’d pull a emergency bottle of 2021 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc out of my luggage—a wine practically overflowing with "vibrant citrus, green pear, and stony minerality."
The guests, of course, were flying blind. On my cue, everyone would uncork Vial #1, take a deep whiff, and shout their guesses on three. Usually, a few sharp noses would call out grapefruit. I’d then instruct them to take a sip, watching their eyes light up as their primed brains instantly picked up the grapefruit in the glass. We’d repeat the exercise for Vial #2 (pear), which proved much trickier.
It was a crowd-pleasing, interactive hit. The problem? The activity was high-proof by design. It created an immediate, subtle awkwardness for anyone who wasn’t drinking.
During our very first internal dress rehearsal, I knew a team member was pregnant and abstaining. Wanting her fully immersed, I challenged the bar director days in advance to craft a custom, off-menu grapefruit-and-pear mocktail—not an easy ask, given how rarely bars carry fresh pear and grapefruit juice. With enough runway, the bartender nailed it, allowing her to play along seamlessly.
My regret? I failed to standardize that solution for the road. Out of nearly 200 executives who experienced the 6sensory Supper, only a handful didn't drink—including another pregnant guest at my final event. Looking back, I should have been traveling with a fresh grapefruit and a small flask of pear liqueur in my carry-on for every single city.
Is packing fruit across state lines a completely unhinged level of event prep? Maybe. But that single missed detail will haunt my field-marketing soul until the end of days.
The Takeaway for Field Marketers: Exceptional executive dinners don't happen by accident; they happen in the edge cases. When you craft experiences where every guest feels catered to, you turn a simple dinner into a deal-closing memory.
Planning your next executive dinner series? Let Dinner-led Growth handle the micro-details—from venue selection to emergency mocktail kits.
