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“There is no problem without a solution"
For decades, Encore has helped bring the Annual InterContinental® Miami Make-A-Wish® Ball to life, making it bigger and better each year. The challenge for the 2022 festivities? Make the event more magical than ever by immersing the participants in an unforgettable experience to increase levels of excitement and inspire greater donations. With Alberto and team on the task, consider the wish granted.
Alberto Castillo
- Thousands of events
- National Ambassador for Encore
- Developed/runs local workshop for Event Managers
- Loves ATVing in the Everglades with his daughters
- Always entertaining guests at home
- Family and faith are his guiding forces
The Challenge
For the 27th Annual InterContinental Miami Make-A-Wish Ball, Alberto and team were tasked with making the gala event more magical than ever in unique, immersive and memorable ways — with just three compressed setup days. The creative ask:
- Stage an engaging opening reception, including a branded publicity “step and repeat” backdrop and reception with silent auction areas.
- Create a “supernature” themed experience between the reception/silent auction areas and the grand ballroom gala event space.
- Bring to life an immersive “NY aquarium” in the grand ballroom for the main dining and open auction event.
- Delight participants with live performances and an iconic entertainer.
- Further surprise guests by executing an afterparty featuring a multi-act cabaret show and nightclub experience, requiring a major room flip in just two hours.
The Solution
Alberto and team worked closely with multiple stakeholders from the hotel, the Make-A-Wish Southern Florida chapter and their third-party designers to make the dream come true.
Solutions included:
- Sourcing people and gear from 20+ regional venues, with Encore working 24/7 shifts over three days.
- Creating a transitional experience between the opening reception/silent auction and grand ballroom that featured a mesmerizing “supernature” LED tunnel depicting the New York subways overtaken by nature.
- Producing the grand ballroom event, including a 140-foot LED wall to create a “NY aquarium” experience with coral-like décor, beautiful lighting and ambient audio that brought the underwater world to life.
- Creating an outfitted performance stage for the live auction and applause-worthy entertainment.
- Quietly flipping the prior reception/silent auction rooms into a surprise afterparty with a multi-act cabaret show and DJ while guests enjoyed the grand ballroom event.
- Perfectly planning and executing everything from staging, video and audio to complex lighting, rigging and power for an astounding start-to-finish event experience, using three highly skilled project managers across rooms and a stage manager for the big show.
| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Technology | |
| Staging Services Scenic & Décor Show Management | Audiovisual Solutions LED Walls Audio Video Infrastructure Services Rigging Power | |
The Result
The inspirational event left both the customers and charity ball participants in awe. The guests were so moved by their experience that it was a history-making year with a record-setting $5.4M raised in just one night. This was more than twice as much as the previous charity ball! For the customer’s vision and charitable event goals, it was truly a larger-than-life dream come true.
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“We are here to support
the client and earn
their trust”
With a customer’s most important dinner of the year coming up, they wanted to ensure the event would be memorable. Their vision? Elevate a traditional dining experience into a festive year-end celebration gala, integrating storytelling, gastronomic, visual and acoustic elements to wow their important guests.
Enter Miguel and team, ready to help deliver a multi-sensory experience set to impress.
Miguel Sanchez
- 18 yrs. of experience
- 1,000+ events and counting
- Loves spending time with his 6-year old son
- Loves playing billiards and video games
- Active gym-goer
The Challenge
Develop the idea that the client envisioned to create a whole experience and not just serve a traditional dinner. Part of the challenge was to achieve synchrony at the time of the service for the 380 guests, thus merging gastronomy with technology, in addition to matching the size of the venue with the hanging points and the space between each table.
The Solution
With the technical experience of Miguel and his team, it was possible to have the same signal that would simultaneously reproduce the content at the 38 tables and individually for the 380 diners.
With professionalism, it was possible to maintain excellent communication, successfully coordinating all those involved (venue, business partners and our production staff),
By capturing the different elements in a layout, it was possible to adapt the technical needs to the infrastructure and hanging points of the venue.
| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Creative | Production | Technology |
| Event Strategy & Design | Audiovisual Solutions | |
The Result
Thanks to Miguel and team’s technical expertise, collaboration with all parties and innovative mindsets, the gala was a memorable celebration for all attendees. Due to the team’s collaboration and dedication to each detail, the more than 380 guests experienced a truly unique gourmet dinner adventure. The attendees left impressed by the year-end festivities, and the customer was equally pleased, delighted at how Encore had helped plan, synchronize and transform their critical event into a unique sensory experience.
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“When better is possible
good is not enough”
Eager to attract new distributors, jewelry designer Sara Blaine was planning a special event at Le Meridien Atlanta Perimeter to showcase her jewelry collection, eSBe. The event would be crucial for her small business, so she needed each of her current and new custom designs to dazzle. Enter Jazz and team – ready to deliver down to every last illuminating detail.
Jazz Thomas
- 10 yrs. of experience
- Over 1,500+ events
- Known for being "rock steady"
- Photographer for community-oriented events
- Proud owner of a pet cockatiel named Pepper
- Enjoys learning about new event technology and tools
The Challenge
With her jewelry showcase event just one week away, Sara visited the venue for a pre-event walk-through. She mentioned that she wished the ballroom where her custom designs would be displayed featured daylight lighting, which she felt would really make all of her jewelry pieces shine. As a natural troubleshooter, Jazz sprang into action to execute on her vision. The Solution
With over a thousand events under his belt, Jazz was able to use his lighting expertise and personal research to determine which new LED daylight fixtures would provide the right wattage, brightness and light beam pattern to source them. He then worked with Le Meridien to replace 25 key ballroom lights above the showcase tables with the new bulbs to ensure both Sara and her jewelry would be radiant at the event.| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Technology | |
| Show Management | Audiovisual Solutions Lighting Solutions | |
| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | ||
Technology | ||
The Result
Thanks to Jazz’s solution-oriented mindset, Sara’s event was a success. She was incredibly impressed with Jazz’s initiative, technical problem solving and the end result. The venue was equally pleased. The lighting fixtures he installed added such brilliance to the space that the venue itself decided to not only keep them in place but matched all lights in the ballroom to preserve the same ambiance. As for Sara, she continues to utilize Le Meridien and partner with Encore for her events, having seen Jazz go out of his way to elevate each detail, creating the right environment for an excellent experience.
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From routine challenges to the moment of truth that threatens to derail your event, our people solve them
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“The right partnership transforms challenges to successes”
With 300 of a financial customer’s top investors flying in from all over the world for their Annual General Meeting in France, the stakes were high. The ask? With 14 fund meetings in two days, in
two different venues, provide a digital logistics solution for a five-star experience.
With Jo and team on the job — Consider it done!
Jo Merriman
- 20+ yrs. of experience
- Hundreds of events & counting
- Artist & actress
- Loves to travel
- Enjoys helping friends spark their creativity
The Challenge
A finance organization was preparing for their Annual General Meeting (AGM), and the stakes were high. The customer needed to plan a seamless experience for 300 of their high-value investors, who were flying into Avignon, France, for the event from around the world. Yet with 14 fund meetings in just two days at two venues across the city — and different groups attending each — the customer needed a polished and simple-to-follow system to ensure the international attendees had a seamless experience. This included an easy way to receive any last-minute changes to the agenda, speakers and/or locations. Enter Jo and team, ready to deliver.
The Solution
To deliver a smooth event experience, Jo and team recommended that the customer create individualized itineraries for each participant, which would minimize the number of relocations between venues and accommodate for travel time. Under their technical guidance, the customer was able to equip participants with pre-event access to Chime Live℠. With this technology solution, each fund investor only needed to look at their phone to see where they needed to be and when. Any last-minute agenda changes were available immediately.
| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Technology | |
| Onsite Chime Live technical support | Chime Live | |
The Result
Thanks to Jo’s creative problem-solving and digital solutions, the team navigated the customer’s multi-session and -venue logistics challenges, delivering a flawless event for their high-profile participants. With Chime Live, everyone made their meetings at the right venue and on time. The platform’s easy-to-use yet powerful tools equipped audiences with enhanced engagement opportunities during the meetings as well — a benefit the customer already regularly used Chime Live for. The technology also ensured the customer had valuable post-event analytics at their fingertips. Both the customer and participants were delighted with the experience.
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From routine challenges to the moment of truth that threatens to derail your event, our people solve them
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“Where there's a
will, there's a way"
Nicole and team were unexpectedly given four hours to transform a hotel suite into an event hosted annually for women in leadership and VIP customers. Just 45 minutes before guests arrived, they learned an unexpected, framed sign for a major sponsor was too large to move up to the room. But that’s okay. This is what Encore’s people do every day.
Nicole Russell
- 20+ yrs. of experience
- 1,000+ events
- Single mom, 1 son
- Loves to travel
- Life coach/mentor
-
Plays piano, sings karaoke and
is a fan of 80s music
The Challenge
Encore in Sydney, Australia, never hesitates, even when there is a change in plan to the original timeline. This is exactly what happened when an unexpected late checkout left only four hours to set up an annual VIP event for key customers. Plus, an unexpected oversized framed branding sign for a major sponsor didn’t fit in the elevator or stairwell, and it couldn’t be disassembled. Just 45 minutes from doors opening and with two merchandise lines on display, it would have been an incredible missed opportunity to not set the stage.
The Solution
Noticing the sponsor was in a frenzy making calls for an alternative branding solution, Nicole thought fast on her feet with an idea. She engaged her production team to provide the perfect solution. The Encore team obtained sponsor approval and raced into action to deliver a monitor and supporting gear to the suite. The Coach® Australia logo was provided electronically and placed above the purse line display for all to see with 10 minutes to spare. Collaboration, on-site solutions and creative problem solving helped the team overcome unexpected obstacles.
| Key Solutions Used in This Story | ||
|---|---|---|
| Technology | ||
Audiovisual Solutions | ||
The Result
With years of experience guiding the collaboration, Nicole led her team to seize the opportunity of turning the hotel suite into a special event for all participating. The client was thrilled to have such a successful event, and the sponsor was relieved to have their last-minute problem solved. The invitation-only luxe event was a brilliant success, and everyone got the VIP treatment.
Explore More Stories and Solutions.
From routine challenges to the moment of truth that threatens to derail your event, our people solve them
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We See Solutions.™
“Our team can
accomplish amazing
things together”
Our team was tasked with creating five events for a Papal visit in five locations over three days for more than 200,000 people – with just 45 days to prepare. Enter Chris Baker and team.
Chris Baker
- 16+ yrs. of experience
- Thousands of events
- Married with a rescue dog
- Disaster relief volunteer
- World traveler
- Adrenaline junkie
The Challenge
The request came from the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops for Encore to help produce the Pope’s visit to Canada. Our team was tasked with creating five events in five locations over three days for more than 200,000 people – with just 45 days to prepare. The Solution
The challenges and requirements for each event location were completely unique. Enter Chris and team. Using Encore’s extensive resources available across Canada and North America, the team designed a plan including hundreds of people, individual crews for each site, lots of infrastructure, tons of gear, large LED walls with delayed audio, plus an eight-hour cargo flight across country to Baffin Island, the last stop. The Result
While the challenges had short turns and were immense, the people of Encore saw solutions, and enabled the Pope to present his message to more than 200,000 people in five different locations. In short, it was a miraculous success.
Explore More Stories and Solutions.
From routine challenges to the moment of truth that threatens to derail your event, our people solve them
flawlessly. Explore their stories.