We’ve all gone to a place in our routine and see that everything is not how we remember it. The space has been spruced up for an event taking place, or a temporary attraction is set up.
Many people believe you need a highly specialized space for your event, complete with permanent fixtures, speakers, and the like. What if we told you there was a way to transform ordinary locations on your college campus, such as student unions, conference rooms, and courtyards, into extraordinary event spaces and attraction venues?
How to Transform a Regular Location into Event Space
You can really transform any space into an event space. There are restrictions, however. Some attractions will require flat ground, and some should be done indoors. You also have to consider size. How much space will a certain attraction take up?
These variables all depend on what kind of entertainment you want to bring to your event. So while planning your event, you should ask
- What do I want to accomplish with my event?
- Where am I going to center my event?
- How much event space do I need?
- What kind of attractions do I want to bring to my event?
The possible attractions are truly endless. A great number of things you might think are permanent fixtures can be portable. An Ice Skating Rink, for example.
One of the more creative examples is a college starting a Pop-Up Comedy Show and making a full-on comedy club out of individual rooms. With live entertainment being more popular than ever in 2026, this makes for an exciting idea for creatively transforming mundane space into an amazing experience
Once you decide on your attraction, be it Mobile Escape Rooms, Blacklight Bowling, or a giant Inflatable Obstacle Course, you can start planning your space around your event.
How to Make Normal Space Become Special
Now your space is likely an everyday location without too many interesting features. Let’s take a student union, for example. To transform this space into a college event, it has some pros. This space is generally centralized and has openness to it, and sometimes impressive architecture, but other than that, it’s a blank canvas
Our jobs as event planners are to transform this space into a unique and memorable experience that guests and participants will enjoy and be excited for. To do this, we have to use a few tricks to get people engaged.
Have your Event be Visually Loud
Depending on your attraction, this might already be covered; an Inflatable of some sort will always be big, bright, and colorful. If you are choosing a less distinct attraction, you might need to put in some additional effort. If you are doing a DIY Tie-Dye T-Shirt Event, you might just have tables set up and will need to put in extra effort to make things noticeable.
To be visually loud for an event like this, you want to change the space as much as possible, bright table cloths, signage, lights, and everything else you can think of to stand out from the ordinary.
Have your Event Actually Be Loud
You probably don’t want to deafen your participants with how loud your event is, but you also want to turn heads from a distance. Music is a great option for this.
Basically, any event you host can benefit from music, whether the music be exiting and invigorating for something like Laser Tag, or the music is calm and collected for an event like Zen Gardens. Music will help your guests be in the right mindset for the event and has the added benefit of making your event stand out.
Also, what helps with the loudness is having people be seen and heard. Some events are easier and harder. But the more people you have nearby your event, the more the space will transform into a memorable experience.
To do that, you want to advertise and promote your event as much as possible. Get your attendance count high, and people will see and hear that your event is not just another day, but something truly special.
Disrupt the Everyday Routine
Oftentimes, people will go through their daily routine, and each day blends as part of the “grind.” We’ve all done it. Your event should seek to disrupte someones routine and break them out of it. Guests can’t enjoy your event if they don’t engage with it.
Being loud both in visual and audio will disrupte someones routine, but not if they don’t see or hear the event. To ensure someone will actually stumble across your event if they don’t know about it, put it in a central location that can be seen from a great distance away.
Decorate Appropriately to Keep Your Event on Theme
Once you have your event and location set, and it’s event day, decorate as much as you can. But make sure to keep your decorations themed around the attraction or event you are planning. If you are planning a Halloween Event, keep things spooky and fun with ghost stickers, orange and black coloring, and other Halloween decorations.
Someone should be able to look at your event from a distance and get the gist of it. Like all things, depending on your attraction or entertainment, this can be easier or harder, but it should stand out regardless of the actual event.
How to Transform a Space Easily
You’re probably reading this and thinking it sounds like a lot of work. We at Neon Entertainment specialize in bringing extraordinary experiences to normal spaces. We have all kinds of portable events and entertainment that will transform your location by default into a memorable and engaging event that will be beloved by your guests. So if you are interested in transforming your space, check out our Many Events and attraction options and Contact Us today.
