Meet RSVP – The Woman Behind The World’s Best Pop-Ups

If you’ve ever tried to plan a Facebook event for more than ten friends, you’ll know that it can quickly turn from fun to pure frustration. Now imagine that times fifty, and throw in food prep, ticket sales and the general public for good measure…

Organising large scale events can be a hard lesson in multitasking things you know nothing about and while this can be one heck of a joy ride, it can quite understandably, be the undoing of many promising projects.

That’s why you need to know about RSVP; the tech start-up behind organising some of the best pop-up events across the globe.

Combining seemingly endless bouts of creativity, a fantastic knowledge of food and great chefs with innovative technology and a start-up attitude, RSVP is the kind of company that speaks directly to the heart of what we love.

We spoke to CEO Tiffany Ng, about how identifying a problem and learning how to fix it (whilst having no formal training and a genuine passion) can be a winning combination for helping others (and yourself) achieve success.

Tell us about RSVP…

Like many other startups, we started off in a basement. Actually, it was a basement beauty clinic my colleague’s sister owned at the time and lent us to use on the weekends for our initial phase.

RSVP was born out of a need. For so many years, I had been creating my own elaborate pop- up experiences with Silver.Spoon in different cities and locations (Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, the US) despite not being trained in this industry.

So I figured for about half a decade that all the obstacles we were running into from conceptualization to planning to marketing to execution were just the never-ending learning curve. During a few conversations with industry colleagues around the world, I realized I wasn’t the only one facing these problems although most others had proper training.

That gave rise to many late-night conversations and a bit of daydreaming while exhausted after producing an event. The topic often times turned to something along the lines of, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a way to create these wonderful events, which we love, without breaking our backs under the weight of trying to wear ten different hats? What if we could make this manageable despite the already razor thin margins? How can we fix this broken way of working?” That constant daydreaming turned into a search for the existing solution, which I quickly realized didn’t exist…

So my co-founder, Martin, and I took it upon ourselves to build a tech tool that addressed the specific needs of the pop-up dining industry. In essence, RSVP gives organisers the opportunity to host their own pop-ups and provides the tools for them to make it happen. We are redesigning the way the industry plans, runs, and measures their events.

We were also very conscious of the previous attempts at ‘helping’ this segment of the industry that did little more than take exorbitant ticketing fees in exchange for the potential promise of more tickets sold to an additional database. So then and now, the core of what we do needs to speak the industry’s language. RSVP is built to offer simplicity, reliability, consistency, and security. However small these pop-ups may seem to the outside, we are talking about the livelihoods of chefs and Organizers with a dream; nothing is trivial, and we understand that all too well.

RSVP is built to offer simplicity, reliability, consistency, and security. However small these pop-ups may seem to the outside, we are talking about the livelihoods of chefs and organisers with a dream; nothing is trivial, and we understand that all too well.

Who’s the food-loving person behind RSVP?
I think we all share a common love for food. We place importance on having passion for what we do, and to be able to have that, you have to love food.

Although I have the most industry-specific experience, my team actually finds it amusing how I’m not particularly connected with the who’s-who or gossip about the 50 Best, for example. That’s where Miguel, our Head of Communications, really demonstrates his expertise.

He’s a respected food influencer in his own right, and the depth of knowledge he brings to the finer workings of chefs around the world is invaluable. Then there’s Kristian, one of our partners who runs Bon Vivant Communications and is a culinary ambassador, who is known by Forbes as having one of the best rolodexes in the world. I have a feeling’s he’s one of the most well-dined people I have personally met.

Who are some exciting foodies that you’ve worked with?

In terms of exciting Organizers, who are also foodies, we have been helping One Star House Party with their global pop-up tour (currently in Cape Town). We’re also helping Clou, the 2016 Danish Restaurant of the Year, facilitate their Tokyo pop-up that’s coming up. Just recently, we planted our flag in San Sebastian with a year-long series of collaboration dinners at Paulo Airaudo’s new restaurant, Amelia. Kamilla Seidler, the 2016 Latin America’s best female chef, kicked that series off last week.

The highly-lauded Dining Impossible series is also handled by RSVP. It may look like it from the above examples, but we don’t only work with fine dining / starred Organizers. Those just happen to be some of the exciting cross-border ones we’ve been helping.

We just launched in London a couple weeks back and are starting our own curated series of pop-ups in various venues in collaboration with our London Ambassador and restaurant luminary, Jon Spiteri. Both well-established and promising young chefs will be featured as we grow this series. Keep an eye out as we host the first pop-ups at the beautiful Design Museum in Kensington.

You’re based in London; what are your favourite places to eat in your city?

These days, it is difficult to know which city to call home. For the past years, I had been splitting my time between Copenhagen and Lisbon, with a stint in Gothenburg thrown in there. Although I managed to pare it down to two cities, London has been added to the picture. All these cities have an abundance of options, and my ‘favorites’ list runs a little long. I do have a soft spot for Zé da Mouraria in Lisbon, Yamagoya Ramen (pop-up) and Rochelle Canteen in London, and Relæ for dinner / Restaurant Palægade for lunch in Copenhagen. I also recently discovered The Noble Rot, which might become my new hideout.

Why do you think pop-ups have become so popular?

Pop-ups have been around and popular for a long time. I think it’s just come to the public’s consciousness in the past decade. That alone speaks to the longevity and value of pop-ups within our dining culture. I believe diners have increasingly sought out pop-ups because they are growing weary of a similar dining experience regardless of the restaurant. They want something fleeting, of the moment, and to be taken out of their comfort zone.

At the same time, chefs are realizing that opening their own brick and mortar grows increasingly expensive and unsustainable with the current margins. So they use pop-ups as a means to either test the waters and build a following, or to avoid the restaurant route. Both are great news for the industry.