Here at Alcorn, we are interested in our community of people — and sometimes it takes a village to bring that community together.
We found the “village” approach useful and inspiring when we were able to merge talents from a spectrum of professionals to present last year’s AAA awards.In a business like ours talent comes at a price, and often it can cause a bit of sticker shock. This especially applies to the big shops, as they have a full stable of creatives — designers, copywriters, photographers, videographers, et cetera — and are able to assign a host of people to a single account.So, being cost-conscious by nature and knowing we had a limited event budget, we reached out to our “villagers” — those professionals whose services we have used in the past — to see if they would engage in a little quid pro quo with us.
When it comes to experiential event planning, our go-to team is HOLLAND collective. From the start, they shared ideas that took our concept to the next level. This group wrangled a warehouse space in the city’s creative hotbed and helped us convert it to a pop-up art event like no other. From the dramatic entry through a mirrored tunnel (our favorite photo op) to dynamic lighting in each room to custom-made reflective media installations by local artists, their team was equally instrumental in making this night feel like no previous AAA event. Additionally, because we were big on ideas and short on funds, the HOLLAND collective team also went to work calling in favors and securing sponsorships to cover some of the evening’s event rentals.
For the digital experience we turned to Tocco Creative, a company we have used many times over because of their unique web techniques. You may recall the theme was “You Be The Judge,” and our team had suggested to the crew at Tocco Creative that maybe we could turn the webcam on the person clicking in to view the event website so that his/her image would be superimposed on the ensuing video presentation. Tocco’s first response to our request was, “I’m not sure that’s legal.” (Insert brief pause here.) But the line to follow was: “‘I’m not sure that’s legal’ never stopped us.”
Next, for our printed items, we contacted T3 Printing, Mailing and Media, our “solution guy” in the printing world. T3 produces beautiful print offerings and — in keeping with our theme of having our membership look in the mirror to judge their creative efforts — our printed pieces were a complex amalgamation of gold foil, unique die cuts and a custom-etched mirror. T3 donated time and a portion of the cost to make our celebration shine.
When it comes to experiential event planning, our go-to team is HOLLAND collective. From the start, they shared ideas that took our concept to the next level. This group wrangled a warehouse space in the city’s creative hotbed and helped us convert it to a pop-up art event like no other. From the dramatic entry through a mirrored tunnel (our favorite photo op) to dynamic lighting in each room to custom-made reflective media installations by local artists, their team was equally instrumental in making this night feel like no previous AAA event. Additionally, because we were big on ideas and short on funds, the HOLLAND collective team also went to work calling in favors and securing sponsorships to cover some of the evening’s event rentals.For the digital experience we turned to Tocco Creative, a company we have used many times over because of their unique web techniques. You may recall the theme was “You Be The Judge,” and our team had suggested to the crew at Tocco Creative that maybe we could turn the webcam on the person clicking in to view the event website so that his/her image would be superimposed on the ensuing video presentation. Tocco’s first response to our request was, “I’m not sure that’s legal.” (Insert brief pause here.) But the line to follow was: “‘I’m not sure that’s legal’ never stopped us.”Next, for our printed items, we contacted T3 Printing, Mailing and Media, our “solution guy” in the printing world. T3 produces beautiful print offerings and — in keeping with our theme of having our membership look in the mirror to judge their creative efforts — our printed pieces were a complex amalgamation of gold foil, unique die cuts and a custom-etched mirror. T3 donated time and a portion of the cost to make our celebration shine.
To set our “Best of” entries apart from the rest, we sought out videographer Joseph Capps. Like all of the other “villagers,” Joseph was all-in and donated his time and creativity to work with our team in putting together a documentary on this group. All of the “Best of” winners were interviewed and had an opportunity to share the ups and downs of their celebrated projects.What did our team of volunteer professionals get out of this? Mainly, it was the opportunity for their abilities to shine in a venue filled with individuals who recognize and appreciate talent — with the hope that some of our creative brethren will think of them next time they want to call upon the most capable resources that move within our creative community.