In 2001 I was looking for a change, actually formulated a plan and was going to go to graduate school at the University of New Haven for a Masters in Fire Science (the great thing was there was no testing requirements). For 8 years I had been working in auto claims and was tired of the old "IV R/E CV" claims. Fire Science offered an opportunity to stay in the industry but do more specialty claims in the hopes that it would translate into more money (it was actually a sound plan in theory). Suffice to say a friend of mine had been working in the event marketing industry for several years needed a partner for the Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan (run by ignition, inc. out of Atlanta) so I quit Progressive for good in October 2001 and didn't look back. After Caravan finished up the plan was to start grad school on January 2, 2002. After getting shut out of any classes for the winter tri-mester I managed to get a job on the Olympic Torch Relay (also run by ignition, inc.) starting in Topeka, KS all the way through to Salt Lake and even stayed to activate at venues around the city.
After getting a taste of event marketing I decided to forgo grad school and ended getting on the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Open Road Tour (ignition again, don't know what these guys saw in me but I am very grateful). The H-D ORT was 2 year tour that went to did shows in Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Toronto and Dallas. In 2003 we went overseas to Australia, Japan Spain, Germany and then wrapped it up in Milwaukee. That was pretty much the pinnacle of my fledgling event marketing career. One of my teammates recommended that I get a Class A CDL in order to get higher paying gigs, so I did.
So now it all comes to an end. On 8/13/2012 I will start my 1st day as a producer for Momentum World Wide in their Chicago office (still going to work on the Army account). I had thought about going in the office someday and I didn't envision leaving in the middle of the season but the time was never going to be better. Part of me is kind of glad to be leaving the road. Over the last 18 months I've slowly become more and more disenchanted with the life. As for the work, I feel as if I've plateaued and wasn't getting any better at what I did. Maybe I needed a new challenge. It's been 10 years since my last "plan" and there's plenty of potential for this to be a disaster but I'm going to give it a go. For the 1st time in 10 years I will be paying rent and I hope to buy a place by October if not sooner. Since 2005 I've been debt free and now my overhead is about to skyrocket. I'm about to enter the same world as the friends I grew up with. Scary.
It's been a wild ride to say the least. It started out as a lot of fun but as I started working long term gigs it became more like a real job. Eventually I was given a position of tour manager and that meant responsibility, one of the things I wanted to avoid. I've been to a lot of places and met a lot of people, some more memorable than others but that's the way it goes. As they said on the Harley tour, "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey." One journey has ended and another begins.
Here's a list of the companies I've worked for over the years...
- ignition, inc.: Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan, Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary & Coca-Cola Slim Can sampling tour.
- Ripple Effect: The Seussentennial
- Schwan Foods: The Red Baron Flight Club
- Next Marketing: GM Card
- Javelin: Bacardi and Animal Planet Expo
- Momentum WW: US Army
As a driver I've been all over. I've never worked an event in Hawaii (went there on a family vacation when I was in 8th grade) nor Alaska (only state I haven't been yet). Maine is the only other state that I've never worked an activation but I've driven through there many times. Here's where I've worked:
- Alabama: many school blitzes for the Army tour as well as races in Talladega for both the Army and for GM Card.
- Arizona: Tuscon Airshow for Schwan, Holiday Caravan and have driven through many times.
- Arkansas: If you drive across country chances are you'll go though Arkansas or get your truck washed in West Memphis. Worked the Seussentennial (2004) and Holiday Caravan (2006) in state.
- California: Holiday Caravan (2003), Torch Relay (2002), Harley (2002), Army (2007, 2011 & 2012), Red Baron(2004-5), Seussentennial (2004), AP Expo (2006) and GM Card (2005).
- Colorado: Torch Relay (2002), Army (2011), Bacardi (2006). Colorado is where I got run with the Olympic Flame.
- Connecticut: Holiday Caravan (2001) and AP Expo.
- Delaware: GM Card and Army at the track.
- Florida: Every tour I've worked on except the Seussentennial and Holiday Caravan.
- Georgia: Again, just about every tour I've worked on.
- Idaho: Torch Relay. Also it's lovely drive through the state on I-90.
- Illinois: Army, Seussentennial, Red Baron and AP Expo.
- Indiana: Army, Seussentennial, Red Baron and AP Expo
- Iowa: Never worked an event here but when working for Schwan the roof of the trailer I was driving peeled off in a windstorm while eastbound on I-80. This particular day almost put an end to my event marketing career in 2004. I was ready to quit after a harrowing day.
- Kansas: Torch Relay, Army, Seussentennial, Red Baron and AP Expo.
- Kentucky: Seussentennial
- Louisiana: Bacardi and Army
- Maryland: AP Expo, Army and the Harley Tour.
- Massachusetts: AP Expo, Army, Seussentennial, Slim Can, Holiday Caravan and GM Card.
- Michigan: AP Expo, Army, GM Card and Seussentennial.
- Mississippi: Seussentennial.
- Missouri: Craftsman is in St. Charles so if you're in the event marketing industry, you're going to have to come to Missouri. AP Expo, Army and Seussentennial.
- Montana: Torch Relay and Seussentennial.
- Nebraska: Drove through it several times and stayed there during the process.
- Nevada: Mostly you're working in and around Vegas. Mostly worked the Army tour at the track but we set-up the Holiday Caravan on the strip.
- New Hampshire: Holiday Caravan, GM Card and the Army Tour.
- New Jersey: Englishtown for the Army tour.
- New Mexico: Torch Relay and have driven through, fueled up and stayed overnight. When traveling to and from the west coast you're going to hit the scale in either San Jon or Gallup. It can't be avoided.
- New York: worked some dirt track race in Syracuse for GM card and worked the Jones Beach Airshow for Red Baron.
- North Carolina: The Army tour uses Spevco in Tobaccoville for maintenance of the current assets (Spevco built them as well). Red Baron, Army, GM Card and AP Expo.
- North Dakota: The Fargo Airshow for Red Baron in 2005. If all goes wrong with this move I'm making, my back-up plan is to work the midnight to 8am shift at the Blue Beacon in Fargo.
- Ohio: Slim Can, Seussentennial, Army, Holiday Caravan and Red Baron.
- Oklahoma: AP Expo, Holiday Caravan and Seussentennial.
- Oregon: Seussentennial and Torch Relay.
- Pennsylvania: Holiday Caravan and Seussentennial.
- Rhode Island: Holiday Caravan and Red Baron.
- South Carolina: Army.
- South Dakota: Can't remember working an event here but had to drive through it several times.
- Tennessee: AP Expo and Army.
- Texas: Airshows, NASCAR, school blitzes and the AAB. Every tour except Holiday Caravan.
- Utah: Torch Relay and Holiday Caravan.
- Vermont: I want to say Holiday Caravan in 2001 but I can't remember. Ignition used to have an office in Manchester until they moved out of there by 2004. Maybe they still have a warehouse there. Who knows.
- Virginia: GM Card, Army and Red Baron.
- Washington: Army, Seussentennial and Red Baron.
- West Virginia: No events but I've driven through there a lot. I like to hit the Flying J on I-64 right before the I-77 interchange.
- Wisconsin: Harley Tour, Seussentennial, Red Baron
- Wyoming:No events but stayed at the Clarion in Sheridan several times while working for Red Baron on account of their large parking lot. There's a Flying J off the same exit.
Now I got started in event marketing at a later age so I didn't spend a lot time jumping for tour to tour. I was pretty much interested in long term gigs so I haven't worked on a whole lot of programs. Some of the best events I've worked were on the Harley tour but that had to do more with the venue. Harley was a great time and a huge learning experience. Holiday Caravan was all about volume. We would do 2 activations a day for 5 days then we'd have 2 travel days. It was hard but it was worth it. The best crew I worked with was on the Strength in Action Tour. We were designated Tour Bravo. We were skilled, efficient and the best team of the 4 tours. The photo below was the 2009 members of Tour Bravo, thr gold standard of event crews.
The AP Expo tour was also another group of solid people. Once we got our feet under us, it took me until the 3rd gig to get really proficient, we were really good. The Harley crew underwent a lot of turnover. Our tour manager was asked not to come back after our first event and he took one our best workers with him. One dude who worked in the same tent as I did quit during our 3 activation. That was tough because I had a difficult time doing my job and his absence left me with his work in addition to my responsibilities. A couple of guys were then recruited by ignition to work another tour during the winter break. One dude whom I was rooming with on the overseas leg ended up quitting the day before we were leave to Barcelona. All in all this was a solid group of people. I've lost touch with a lot of them but I hope they're all doing well.
Obviously some of my favorite times were on the Harley Tour. In Barcelona we went out on for the Festival of St John to mark the summer solstice. Apparently everyone goes down to the beach, drinks, smokes weed, gets naked & jumps in the Mediterranean Sea. The funny thing was, was that there was no law enforcement. At Mardi Gras, there's cops everywhere and there's still not enough. Also in Barcelona some big wigs got us into the Rolling Stones concert at the soccer stadium adjacent to the venue where we were tearing down. So Barcelona was the pinnacle and the Harley Tour was a once in a lifetime gig so it's tough to measure up. The show we did in Hamburg was pretty cool as well. There was a film festival in a public square near our hotel and it was cool to see Easy Rider in German subtitles.We also got comp tickets to the Stones there too. Tough to beat.
As I stated earlier, I haven't worked on a lot of different programs but I've been to a lot of places. Here is a list of some of my more memorable event marketing moments. It's not necessarily a list of my favorite events but the ones that stick out in my mind that are non-Harley:
- Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan 2001: My first venture into event marketing. My teammate was a good friend who'd done this tour for several years. I'm very grateful for him getting me into this filed of work though I'd never say it to his face. His ego doesn't need any more stroking. He's a father of 3 now and is out of event marketing. To this day I don't know what he does for a living. Some of the highlights were an activation we did at Stu Leonard's in Danbury, CT a children's hospital in downtown Boston and when he took the truck & trailer to Rockefeller Center (which wasn't easy considering that 9/11 was barely 3 months old). We even managed to score tickets to see The Fellowship of the Ring by allowing the theater manager to take photos of the lit up tractor & trailer underneath the marquee (not that the deal needed to be made but he offered so we accepted).
- Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte, NC: In 2008 is where Tour Bravo 1st started coming together as a cohesive unit. By the 2009 race, our office handlers marveled about how efficient we were and how quickly the site got set-up. Charlotte is also the home of one of my favorite establishments, Moosehead Bar and Grill. Awesome place with great food that the majority of the teams from the Army tour have made it a must visit stop.
- Wal-Mart, Blytheville, AR: This was on the Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan. I don't remember the exact date but it was in December of 2006. I was dressed as Santa Claus and my teammate would take pictures (we had a throne type set-up around the truck). A couple came by to say hello & Merry Christmas then entered the store. They came back out and gave me some donuts with frosting because as Santa Claus I was "too skinny."
- Michael Peterson concert in Knoxville, TN: This is memorable because the event itself was a disaster. This was in February of 2008. We brought all our equipment to the Knoxville War Memorial or something to that effect. Peterson's tour was sponsored by the Army (he wrote a song about soldiers that someone liked) and Michael (who's a real nice guy btw) would go to local high schools, generate buzz about the show and give out free tickets. That particular week there was a flu epidemic in Knoxville so most o the schools were closed. For all the stuff we brought, we only got 41 visitors. What made it worse was the fact that it was very cold and rainy.
- Atlanta Motor Speedway: There are 2 events that we did in 2008. The Kobalt Tools 500 in March and the Pep Boys Auto 500. The Kobalt race because on Saturday it snowed all day. Suffice to say we (and no other exhibits at the track for that matter) were prepared for snow. Now if we were in Buffalo, NY, this would've been an ordinary day in March but in Georgia, it's a different story. Everything was closed, the race cancelled and very few people were out and about. The client cut the staff but we remained open. The reps from the staffing company (Silhouette's) were actually manning the registration area (thank you once again to Lori and her crew). Because of the snow, the rockwall and the packbots were unusable but we stayed open. I was doing snow angels on the rockwall mats. Eventually someone thankfully decided to pull the plug. My hand was still broken and a glove wouldn;t fit over the cast so I was using a sock to cover my hand. As for the Pep Boys race, we had a massive rain storm on Friday. Not just any rain storm, a monsoon! We sat around for 2 hours jokingly trying to squeegy water out of the site before the powers that be cancelled the day. Atlanta Motor Speedway was where I got to take a ride in one of the Steerman bi-planes from the Red Baron stunt team. That was in 2004. It's pretty cool to say the least to be flying in an open cockpit aircraft.
- AP Expo-Miami, FL: This activation was memorable because of the massive rain storm that caused the cancellation of the final day. It flooded our area and made a mess of everything. The photo doesn't due the mess justice. We were soaked beyond the rational capacity for thought. There was a tag along program with us (none of us liked the guy who was running the program) and their stuff was under water.
- Tropicana 400, Chicagoland Raceway 2004: At the conclusion of this event was when I started driving a large tractor & trailer by myself. I drove the rig back to the hotel on Sunday afternoon then drove back to Schwan's in Marshall, MN the next day. My 1st dealing with heavy stop & go traffic in a huge metro setting. The guys I was caravaning with all congratulated me.
- Boston Garden, 2/28/03: This was when I was working on the Coca-Cola slim can sampling tour. This particular night was the coldest night Boston has seen in 5 years. We were "guerilla" sampling on the night of a Celtics game by the arena (the name has changed a lot since then so I'm going with Boston Garden). It was so cold that any condensation on the lip of the can froze within seconds. If you left a can out too long, the contents froze. Ignition gave me this job as something to fill the gaps in-between Harley gigs (the tour was in process of going overseas) and some of the other guys from the Harley tour got to work on this program as well.
- Pocono 500, June 2007: On Saturday June 9th the team threw me a surprise party for my birthday. It was a nice gesture that I will always remember.
On June 10th (day of the NASCAR race) the crew had a wager as to what could torn down first, the entire site (which myself & 2 other guys handled) or the tower trailer (which the other 4 guys took care of). I think we lost but it marked the 1st and only time one of the guys worked hard (he always bragged about it but I never saw it).
- Daytona 500 & Matanzas High School, February 2008: As I've stated in a previous post, the 1st few months of the Army tour in 2008 were rough on everyone. The Daytona 500 was out 1st big event with all the new equipment. It seemed like elements were moved around 3 times and the original layout was scrapped. The last day the brand ambassadors worked without a break and someone made us stay open an extra hour. We started tearing down at 4pm and didn't finish until after midnight. We had about 20 people on the teardown (my hand was broken so I was all but useless) and everyone was a bit on edge.
We had a school visit on Tuesday 2/19 at Matanzas HS. When we arrived at 6am, we found the only spot where we could set-up and started to unpack (we didn't do a very good job of packing the trucks for the next event, a lesson learned the hard way). All the JROTC rep wanted was the rockwall and because of insurance reasons we couldn't offer it. So after the 1st period, his classes no longer came out. It was a nightmare. We finished packing up at 9pm and we still had to drive across the state to the Gainesville area. That's when one of my core guys tells me he's going to quit. I begged him to stay on at least until my hand was out of the cast and he reluctantly agreed (he's still working on the tour btw). On a side note, I actually don't mind hanging out in Daytona as long as its not a race weekend. There's a Holiday Inn Express right off of I-95 that has ample truck parking and it's next to a Miller's Ale House, which is a really nice establishment (it's a Florida chain though). That particular area has got some good spots (mostly chains given) but when the race is in town, all bets are off.
- Eerie County Fair, 8/15-8/19/2007 near Buffalo, NY: The dates may not be exact but our next event was the race in Bristol, TN and the date of the race was 8/25. This was memorable because I was still sick after the Watkins Glen race, the hotel where the team was staying didn't have enough rooms for all 7 of us so Pops & I stayed at another location which turned out be nicer and it was also the scene of an epic in team argument. The argument wasn't that big a deal but it was over the hours of the event because we were going to work split shifts. As guys were tossing around their ideas (I stayed out of it because I didn't care when I worked) one of the other guys who I'll refer to as "Rookie" kept adding his opinion where it wasn't needed. So after a few minutes Pops asks "Rookie" politely to stay out of it. Then our handler bursts out with, "Pops that's enough! Leave 'Rookie' alone, he's untouchable!" "Rookie" was very adept at getting his shots in so there was no reason for our handler to jump ugly like he did but it happened. The handler would later go on record as never using the word "untouchable," he only got involved because his father was there and he didn't want his father seeing this. In fact, Pops would later state that I made up the "untouchable" comment. I never did. In retrospect the argument should've never have happened, especially at a sacred moment as Outback Night. Also memorable for the the "Rockwall Goddess" and our run in with Patty at a bar after we tore down.
- Seussentennial Tour, March 2, 2004 in San Diego: March 2 is the birthday of Theodore Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss. The tour had been scheduled so that we woulod hit his old home town of San Diego for his birthday gala. It was memorable because it was a formal event and I had to dress up like this....
It was a lovely event with guest speakers and we even got an appearance from his widow (his 2nd wife).
So those are some of the memorable dates from the road life of my event marketing career. It was a lot of miles and a lot of laughs (not mention aches & pains). I wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank the gods that I got out of claims when I did.
Earlier today I dropped my old crew at the airport. No fanfare just a "take care" and "see ya on down the road." Never was I one of those guys who sent out an email when I left a place stating how it was a privilege working with everyone, not that there's anything wrong with that but it's not me. I enjoyed working with the all the guys over the years (there were a few exceptions of course) but that time is done and it's time move on.
On a final note, here are some of my favorite over the road songs:
Thanks for your time.
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