When Gatorade C.E.O. Chuck Maniscalco opted to hold the company's annual managers' conference in Sarasota—far away from the bitter cold of Chicago, the company's headquarters—he called upon Sheri Wagner and Angela Silvani of event-planning firm Star Trax to create an unforgettable agenda, starting with an opening-night dinner that would be fun, upscale, and most of all, unusual.
How would the planners accomplish this from their Southfield, Michigan, office? First, they searched the Internet for cool venues. They booked the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota for the group's three-night, four-day stay. They then found an off-premise venue to kick off the festivities. They'd heard about Circus Sarasota's Big Top, a 55-foot-tall, red-and-white striped tent that stands for less than three months a year to house Circus Sarasota, a local show that runs only in February. Without even seeing the tent in person—just on the Web site—they booked it.
Star Trax hired and worked closely with Stefanie Berry of SHOWORKS to produce an event that would work with Gatorade's "Defy Gravity" conference theme and leave a lasting impression on the 125 attendees. They opted for a Big Top theme, which, of course, mimicked the attributes of the venue itself. Using a red and white color scheme and plenty of stripes, Berry built two custom bars, each sporting a cherry-red lacquer top and a white velvet facade and accented with six-inch-wide red velvet stripes. The dance floor, where a high-energy aerial acrobatic group produced by Metropolis Productions performed gravity-defying stunts, had a similar look. The 21- by 21-foot patent vinyl floor was made of four-foot-wide red and white alternating panels.
A total of 16 tables—eight square and eight triangular—were set with white china in varying shapes. The tables were dressed in either all red or all white, with matching Chiavari chairs. Each centerpiece, which was the same shape as the table it sat upon, had two layers—an acrylic shadowbox, which was lit from within in the color of its respective table linen, and a wooden box that sat atop the first and was painted the same color. Each vessel held approximately 150 gerbera daisies, roses, orchids, tulips, and other flowers. Striped mouth-blown vases adorned cocktail tables.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein
How would the planners accomplish this from their Southfield, Michigan, office? First, they searched the Internet for cool venues. They booked the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota for the group's three-night, four-day stay. They then found an off-premise venue to kick off the festivities. They'd heard about Circus Sarasota's Big Top, a 55-foot-tall, red-and-white striped tent that stands for less than three months a year to house Circus Sarasota, a local show that runs only in February. Without even seeing the tent in person—just on the Web site—they booked it.
Star Trax hired and worked closely with Stefanie Berry of SHOWORKS to produce an event that would work with Gatorade's "Defy Gravity" conference theme and leave a lasting impression on the 125 attendees. They opted for a Big Top theme, which, of course, mimicked the attributes of the venue itself. Using a red and white color scheme and plenty of stripes, Berry built two custom bars, each sporting a cherry-red lacquer top and a white velvet facade and accented with six-inch-wide red velvet stripes. The dance floor, where a high-energy aerial acrobatic group produced by Metropolis Productions performed gravity-defying stunts, had a similar look. The 21- by 21-foot patent vinyl floor was made of four-foot-wide red and white alternating panels.
A total of 16 tables—eight square and eight triangular—were set with white china in varying shapes. The tables were dressed in either all red or all white, with matching Chiavari chairs. Each centerpiece, which was the same shape as the table it sat upon, had two layers—an acrylic shadowbox, which was lit from within in the color of its respective table linen, and a wooden box that sat atop the first and was painted the same color. Each vessel held approximately 150 gerbera daisies, roses, orchids, tulips, and other flowers. Striped mouth-blown vases adorned cocktail tables.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein