Last year Sarasota-based gallery owner Rainer Scheer organized his first Chillounge block party, sponsored by Bacardi, on the street in front of his gallery as a way to draw more people inside and provide local businesses networking opportunites in a relaxed atmosphere. Tickets for the inaugural event sold for $15 and attracted nearly 2,000 buyers. This year, spirit brand Cointreau signed on as the title sponsor and Scheer expanded Chillounge Night to Fort Meyers, and then to Tampa on Saturday night, where the event attracted nearly 3,200 people.
“We spend four to five months connecting with people [to get attendees],"Scheer said. "I have a street team that goes to high-end events [in the area], and I give away a lot of my [lounge] furniture to sponsor charity events when I'm not using it, and that helps raise awareness of Chillounge."
Scheer bumped ticket prices to $20 at the gate to increase revenue for the night. Additionally, he added a V.I.P. ticket option for $75 that included free food and drinks all night, as well as reserved lounge seating and a gift bag with sponsor products like cigars from TabacosSantandres Cigars.
Scheer worked with JKL Design Group to design the downtown event space, which occupied a four-block radius surrounding the Tampa Theatre. The team brought in six semi-truck loads of outdoor sofas, chairs, and daybeds Scheer bought from U.S. Tent Rental Inc. to create 50 small lounge areas throughout the event space. The food village had stations where local restaurants like Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant and caterer Orange Blossom Catering sold plates of food and bars poured drinks from sponsors Michelob Ultra and Anheuser-Busch.
New Atmosphere Productions set up a stage in front of the theater for the night’s entertainment, which included a fashion show by designer Sylvio Kovacic, performances from Opera Tampa singers, and a Brazilian samba parade. AJ & the Automatics jazz band played during the downtime between headliners throughout the five-hour party, which wrapped up around 11 p.m.
The Cointreau Chillounge moves to St. Petersburg on November 21 and will take place in Fort Meyers later this year. Scheer plans to expand the event to Winter Park, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Coral Gables in 2010.