Chase Court brought an outstanding team of creative event professionals together who donated their goods and services to produce the 2015 Man & Woman of the Year Kick-Off Event for the Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Arriving guests knew something special was happening even before they entered the gate. It’s not every day that you encounter a living statue! Michael Horne from Big Biz Entertainment got their attention in a big and unique way.
Michael greeted each guest at the garden gate and put a program in their hands, guiding the guests into the venue and setting the stage – and the smiles – for the event beyond.
A living statue photo op with the Maryland Chapter’s 2015 Boy of the Year, Mikey Thurin! Mikey was diagnosed with leukemia at age four. He’s thirteen now, and a spokeskid for the fight against cancer.
Select Event Group used the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s organizational colors of black, red, and silver in the fabulous table linens and matching chiavari chairs and seat cushions. The whole effect was, in a word, elegant.
The food and drink was simply outstanding! Rouge Fine Catering has been working with Chase Court and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for all four years that Chase Court has been hosting the kick-off event. We’ve worked together to develop it each year into a more and more spectacular experience. Our planning is centered on providing the best possible overall experience for motiving the Man & Women of the Year candidates to raise as much money as possible to help stop blood cancers.
The menu was extensive, with passed hors d’oeuvres including crab cakes; bacon straws; le petite cochon; mozzarella, tomato, and basil canapes; and Vietnamese spring rolls. Dinner offered Tandoori chicken with garden salad, a slider bar with mini cheese steak, pulled pork, portabella sliders with hand-cut kettle chips, and a taco station with ground beef and fried tilapia tacos. Mini cheese cakes and petite chocolate mousse caught everyone’s attention for dessert.
Technicracy Event Production transformed the Chase Court ballroom with on-theme uplighting, video imaging, and sound, seamlessly integrating all of the technical production into the overall event design.
This year we left behind the limitations of using an LED projector with a projection screen, which confined image presentation to a single location in the room and to the 20-minute live-presentation time, and went to two 60″ video screens placed opposite each other in the middle of the ballroom, against the walls. That put them in the center of all the action. They ran through the night with on-message loops supporting the event itself and the larger cause.
The visual presentation using the 60″ video screens – which are the same width as the old projection screen – was vastly superior to the old method. The image quality, viewer attention, and overall effectiveness of the presentation all improved significantly. A bonus: the video screens and supporting pipe-and-drape became continuous, attractive, visual focal points.
Technicracy set up their control center in the small balcony over the entrance to the catering kitchen, visually and physically out of the way of guests. They tied music and sound reinforcement from their computers and microphones into the in-wall ballroom sound system, providing sound that was even and balanced throughout the room, output from nearly invisible speakers.
The Chase Court ballroom looks best without exposed tech equipment and supports, so a key production goal was to keep those things out of sight. Technicracy did an excellent job of hiding hundreds of feet of cable, hardware, and electronics.
The net effect of each event professionals’ contribution was a stunning event that looked, worked, and felt great.
Invited guests were the 16 Man & Woman of the Year candidates and their key team members, who collectively have a goal of raising $500,000 in the next ten weeks to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society stop blood cancers.
Thanks to all of the event professionals and their companies for their contributions of time, talent, and product. Each one listed below gave above and beyond our already-high expectations! Thank you very much!
Special thanks to Beth Prensky, Campaign Director, Special Events for the Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Beth is the client-side event producer, has listened to me say, “What if we…?” for four years with great patience, and is incredibly dedicated to the work of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Make a contribution to the Man & Woman of the Year campaign and help stop cancer.
Venue: Chase Court
Catering: Rouge Fine Catering
Lighting, Sound, Video Production: Technicracy Event Production
Photography: J. Thomas Photography (Images above by Chase Court.)
Table Linens and Chair: Select Event Group
Living Statue: Big Biz Entertainment
How I ask event professionals to help:
Almost everyone, including our event production partners, has a connection to the dread disease that is cancer. For some of us, myself included, it’s intensely personal. So I ask the question, “Will you help us stop cancer?”. That needs no explanation. I clearly lay out the high production expectations, the timeline, and of course, that their contribution is a gift to the millions of people that the work of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society touches. That simple and direct method has brought outstanding event professionals to give of themselves in spectacular fashion.
—David
