Friday, March 30, 2012

Behind the Scenes-International Prostate Cancer Foundation Gala


Well as most of you know my blogging regarding my work with the International Prostate Cancer Foundation's Gala has been focused on the stationary I produced for the event. Today I would like to let you in on the behind the scenes work that went in to producing this event. There were obviously some key contributors that made Dr. Patel's dream and vision for the Gala come to life. 


Like with any event the day started with formulating a game plan. Once I got some direction from Lisa Stoner of E Events on when things needed to be staged on tables my assistant Jules and I got to working! The tree seedling favors shown below all had to be individually placed in glass vases for presentation at the dessert reveal and as I worked on getting those ready Jules (pictured below) was hard at work sorting all the place cards. For any of you that have done this before it is no easy feat. Place cards have to coincide with the guest list and then be strategically placed at each place setting so they are both functional and a contributor to the overall table design. 



Jessy Rivers of E Events Design (pictured below) was busy doing A/V testing with Ben Lawless of Kaleidoscope Event Group. All the video, sound and lighting elements were coming together once piece at a time. It was great being in the room because as more lighting is introduced you really begin to see the room transform. 


And as you know, what would an event be without stunning floral and decor. Jesus from Raining Roses was able to design life size trees as focal points of the stage. Being that we built the whole marketing campaign for the IPCF around a tree you can imagine why these pieces were so key. 


Crates of chargers were stacked waiting to be placed at tables as pipe and drape was being installed. Just behind Lisa and I you can see how Kaleidoscope is doing pin-spot and perimeter light testing. PS. I love this shot below as it shows us as the super-heros in the shadows, which is what we must be to pull off something this amazing and grand with so many moving parts and pieces.


Planning sessions went on throughout the day with Lisa Stoner and Jessy Rivers from E Events and Jane McLean from The Waldorf Astoria Bonnet Creek, our host venue. Topics of conversation according to Lisa; when the choir should begin singing, when dinner service should begin and most importantly for any dessert lover like myself when the dessert reveal should be scheduled. 


Dr. Patel was able to pop his head in during the afternoon and see the set of the room in full swing. With him there Ben Lawless was able to test and get final approval for all videos, voice commands, slides and music cues that were happening during the evening. 




The IPCF Gala was a complete success and went off flawlessly thanks to the key players I mentioned above. Special thanks to Jeffrey Stoner of Stoner Video who took all the amazing above images and Over-the-top Linens that provided all the table linens. Patel and his team were overjoyed by the attendance and overall success of the event. I was honored to be part of such a dedicated and talented team and look forward to the next one! 

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