Our client—a Fortune 100 financial services organization—had planned to celebrate its 100-year anniversary with a “Celestial Centennial” beachfront celebration in Marco Island, Florida. A hurricane had other plans. Damage from the storm forced the client to relocate their 660 guests to The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona six months before their event. Disappointment and tight schedules were overcome to create a glorious and innovative evening that surpassed what the client had envisioned for South Florida. Under the night sky, the company’s top-performing sales staff reflected on the past century of success while celebrating the splendor of the stars—both the ones in the heavens above and each other.
Let's Start at the Beginning
This event marked the 100-year anniversary for our client. To celebrate, they wanted to honor their top performers while making them proud to be part of the company at this particular point in time. Our client also wanted this to be different than any of their other events to highlight the importance of their centennial.
We accomplished this by using event decor, entertainment, and activations to tell a story that traveled through the greatness of the company’s past and future. Juxtaposing traditional elegant decor pieces with edgy and/or new technological innovations encouraged a “future forward” attitude while still exuding elegance. We focused on the celestial theme by finding a variety of ways to “bring the stars to life” using immersive theme décor and activations, making guests feel as if they were among the stars rather than just under them.
Keep Calm and Shine On
Drone Show: We worked with a supplier to plan a completely customized drone light show. Just two days before the event—when the supplier was scheduled to be at the resort for rehearsal—they cancelled. Talk about a frantic moment; the show was pivotal in making our theme come to life. Undeterred, we found a partner who was willing to do anything he could to help. At the time, all of the supplier’s drones were dismantled at their warehouse out of state and there was little time to rebuild them given that we only had 36 hours until the event. Due to the last-minute emergency we hired a private jet from the East Coast to deliver the drones and their crew.
Combatting the Location Change: A big challenge was recreating the essence of the theme they generated for South Florida, while telling a story that celebrated the new Arizona setting. We paid special care to innovatively present their Celestial Centennial theme while still embracing the iconic scenery of Arizona (i.e. using Camelback Mountain) and highlighting it in a subtle way (i.e. subtle Southwestern motifs mixed into the décor).
Space Access: Due to the size of our buildout and production elements, we needed access to the space the day before to ensure that everything was ready in time. Since the Casita Lawn is surrounded by the hotel’s Casita Suites, we had to work with our client and the resort to ensure the client’s group had a complete buyout of the suites so we could move forward with our early load-ins and late strikes.
The Final Exclamation
Our client had rave reviews, saying, “Anyone can create an amazing event, only a few can create an EXPERIENCE that is aligned with a brand’s message and uniquely positioned to set the tone for the next 100 years while honoring [our company’s] culture.”
Unpredictable location change? We’ve got you. Unexpected last-minute issues? Nothing we can’t overcome. It’s what we do!
