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In our Then and Now series, EM revisits previous event marketing trends to find out where they’ve gone since we first reported on them. Are they old hats and has-beens? Or is that past up-and-comer a future best practice that’s now an industry standard? In this double-stuffed installment, we re-examine event registration systems, which we reported on in February 2007.

If you are ready to turn over the keys to that fleet of gas guzzling shuttle buses at your next event, you’re not alone. For the third year in a row, asset management company Janus Capital Group has used pedicabs to transport athletes and their families during the annual New York City Triathlon held the third week in July. The company sets up transportation stations where families can hop on after the athletes start the race and get dropped off at the finish line. Then the athletes get a lift after the final stage of the race instead of having to walk an extra mile and a half back.

Michael McNally, brand relations director at LEGO, recalls being fascinated as an 11-year-old on a shopping trip with his mom at Columbia Mall, in Columbia, MD, where the LEGO World Show was on exhibit.

“I remember distinctly in the center court of the mall seeing the Mark Twain house, a red Victorian made completely out of LEGO bricks,” the self-confessed former LEGO kid explains. “For me, that was, wow, amazing. I looked at my mom and said, ‘I want to build that when I get home!’”

Conventional wisdom dictates that the best way to woo those hard-to-impress c-suite decision makers is to fly them all to the Seychelles, put them up in the swankiest all-inclusive resort, buy them a few rounds of golf and along the way, chat up your product. The thing is, sometimes it’s better to leave the gravy at home and focus on the meat.

This year’s Cisco Live! event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas was a five-day paid conference featuring content-packed days and nightly networking opportunities.