Clarks Annual Meeting Includes Onstage Dinner, Hockey at Fenway

Boston-based shoe company Clarks held its annual sales and company meeting June 13 through June 15. With a kickoff golf outing in Plymouth, an onstage dinner and award ceremony at Citi Performing Arts Center, and vintage-baseball-themed party at Fenway Park, "the events and meetings are held not only to educate, but to inspire and remind our employees that they are part of a company that is committed to its people," said Jane Feigenson, senior director of corporate events and community relations.

More than 400 guests attended the Tuesday dinner, which followed a daytime product launch at the Charles Hotel. Employees boarded Peter Pan buses and headed to the downtown theater, where they got personalized backstage passes instead of traditional name tags. The evening's program was printed on a so-called "Shoebill"—a Clarks-appropriate take on Playbill—and names of award winners and company updates flashed across screens flanking the stage.

Right before dinner, "the curtain rose dramatically and there was a collective gasp," Feigenson said. "The stage was set for dinner, and it was magical." PBD Events and Bluefin Productions collaborated on a decorative scheme that "contrasted backstage rawness to opulence," she said.

Table Toppers' silver linens swathed the tables, multicolored lights brightened the space, and vintage Clarks ads wrapped illuminated light boxes on each tabletop. A sheer drape at the back of the stage partially hid the team from the Catered Affair, but "guests still could see their shadows and movement," said Feigenson.

The next day's event had a less theatrical and more sporty vibe. Old Town Trolley Tours of Boston transported 250 guests from the Charles Hotel to Fenway Park, where a party on Steinway Deck had live blues, vintage baseball T-shirts with the company's logo, and old-fashioned ballpark fare. PBD Events brought in shadow box tables filled with grass, baseballs, and branded Clarks candy bars.

Guests took tours of the park, hit balls at the batting cages, and then tuned into the hockey game. "Originally, we planned on playing vintage videos of Red Sox versus Yankees games, but it was game seven of the [Stanley Cup finals], so we played the game on all monitors" Feigenson said. When the Bruins won and Bostonians—feeling rather jubilant—crowded into the streets to celebrate, police cars and S.W.A.T. teams gathered to lock down Kenmore Square. "I called our buses and got guests out just in time," Feigenson said.