On February 25th, 2010 Encore Creative coordinated a community event for DHL, introducing staffers to the faculty and the students of the Children First Academy in Downtown Phoenix.

As Ollie the Trolley pulled up in front of the school, and the dozens of yellow-shirted DHL employees disembarked, no one could have guessed just how profound an experience was in store.

After a few group photos, everyone assembled in the cafeteria, where we were greeted by Dina Gerdon, the school's Community Resource Director. Dina introduced us to several students who would serve as our guides, as we broke off into several groups for a tour.

After visiting several key areas, and spending time with the kids in the classroom, and on the playground, it was immediately apparent that Children First Academy is an extraordinary place, doing extraordinarly work. They are in need of your support, and we'd be hardpressed to think of an organization more worthy. Here are a few highlights from our day with CFA:

See more videos from Encore Creative on our YouTube Channel.

Encore Creative was commissioned by a local casino to construct a Klinko chip game, based on the popular game on The Price Is Right.

Watch a slideshow of the construction process:

Here's a clip of the game in action:

One of the things that makes Encore Creative such a unique and special agency is the range of skills, talent and resources collected all under one roof.

In our Tempe, Arizona warehouse we have on-site designers, drafters, carpenters and fabricators, making us equipped to construct virtually anything you can dream up!

This versatility, along with our reputation for innovation in the realm of Special Event Planning, brings a myriad of clients to our doors. Click here to see a recent example of a custom tradeshow set build.

Last week Scottsdale Healthcare sponsored a Health and Wellness Expo, hosted by Casino Arizona and produced by Encore Creative.

Check out some highlights here.

We at Encore Creative offer such a wide range of creative services and solutions, that it even amazes those of us who work here!

Add one more professional service to our event services portfolio. With the recent acquisition of a high-end Mutoh 64" large format printer, we're entering a new era in providing custom creative solutions for our clients and partners.

How will this work for you? The Mutoh is THE industry standard printer, the same type used by professional printing houses throughout the country, which makes it (and us) capable of designing and printing everything from conventional meeting signage to  banners and even vehicle wraps!  In conjunction  with our amazing graphic design team, we can now offer you near photo-quality, color-correct  output in practically any size….up to and including theatrical backdrops and wallpaper! 
For the more adventurous customer, our graphic and printing solutions will now extend to custom printed fabric-enabling us to personalize and brand a wide assortment of linen options, up to and including logos, photographs, or custom designs for your table treatments, skirting, or ceiling treatments.

Most importantly, as with linen, florals and our fabrication team, large-format custom printing will allow us to put together bigger and better "packages" and, in doing so, offer our customers much greater quality and value overall-especially  when compared to the cost of utilizing individual single-source vendors. 

Check it out and put us to the test.  We guarantee that we can match or beat any event production company's pricing on graphic design and high end large format printing.

Outside of the event production business, please contact us for bids on any type of retail signs, real estate signs, vehicle wraps or promotional event signage of any type.  Whether you have a golf tournament,  construction project, a fair, or real estate to sell, Encore Creative is now your source for creative solutions that will help you to promote your company more effectively than ever before!

Encore Creative and Triumphant Entertainment have joined to form TriEn, LLC, a company dedicated to producing high end television entertainment productions in Arizona as well as projects across the country.

The partnership brings together Cecil Chambers, CEO of Triumphant Pictures, and Jeff Lowy, President of Encore Creative. Chambers has been a standout in the film industry, producing the feature films Blood Moon Rising, The Crypt and Steppin: The Movie. With a foot in the music world as well, he’s worked with some it’s biggest names, including Destiny’s Child, Michael Jackson, Usher and Christina Aguilera. Jeff Lowy has been in the live entertainment and special event industry for over 30 years, and has produced events for numerous Fortune 500 companies.

The goal of TriEn is to not only produce high-quality entertainment at the local level, but to bring jobs and revenue to the many talented industry professionals of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The programming will be the first it’s kind, with existing Arizona produced programming being predominantly News and Sports related.

Currently there are several TriEn projects in pre-production, all to be shot in Arizona. Cooking With The Legends, produced in conjunction with a successful local startup company called Foodies Like Us, features legendary MLB, NBA and NFL players along with local chefs. The show is slated for a spot on NBA Entertainment Channel and the initial episodes will potentially include luminaries like Bob Lanier, Ricky Henderson, Lafayette "Fat" Lever as well as current players, such as Amare Stoudamire. Shooting begins in April at the Chef's Loft in Downtown Scottsdale.

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Also, in production is the exercise video series Health and Wellness with Jackie Guerrido. Guerrido is a highly renowned Puerto Rican television and media personality, and the series will be produced in both English and Spanish, while a distribution deal is being discussed with Univision.

Additionally, TriEn has a teen-only talent show in pre-production, which will be the first of its kind on a major network or cable outlet; as well as "Big Tyme", a singing/talent show for adults for which the company is seeking corporate sponsorships and a high visibility venue. Newly signed TriEn recording artist Ja'nell Johnson is in the studio recording her first demo.

The Phoenix Business Journal has recently featured the new division of both Encore and Triumphant-the link can be found here.

Encore Creative staff were on hand Saturday, providing sound production support for the annual Parada del Sol parade. Now in it's 57th year, the parade is a Scottsdale institution. This year, the spotlight was on breast cancer education, with the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign, the Pink Heals Tour Fire Trucks (which bear the signatures of breast cancer survivors), and Pink Street, a grouping of vendors and non-profits doing their part to provide information and support. The gloomy weather didn't prevent people from having a great time; As one MC said to the crowd, "That's not rain in the air, that's Scottsdale spirit!" We wish to thank our partners, and the public for making this event a success, and are looking forward to next years parade!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is David Kellett, and I am the new coordinator of Online Content and Social Media with Encore Creative. I come to this position with a background in Website Design and Content Development, always with a finger on the pulse of Social Media Marketing.

With a solid Social Media campaign being a key component to any company’s online marketing strategy, you’d be amazed at how frequently it still remains an under-utilized, or even an altogether neglected, aspect of a company’s online presence.

We at Encore Creative are determined not to allow ourselves to fall into that category. We are dedicated to staying ahead of the curve with the creation of this new position and in building upon, and expanding, the foundation already in place.

If you ever have an opportunity to tour Encore Creative’s Tempe facility, one of the first things that you will notice is the magnitude and grandeur of our projects. You will find a prop warehouse, a metal fabrication shop,  a carpentry/paint shop, a floral design department, a set dressing and textile facility (including a very large linen inventory), and a commercial graphics facility (which now includes large format printing capabilities).  All of this under one roof!

There are many fascinating stories here waiting to be told, and I think you’ll be quite impressed with learning about all of the extraordinary and unique talents that the staff and crew of Encore Creative have to offer.

It's been quite a while since our last blog and there are a lot of exciting developments to report. We've completely immersed ourselves and the company into Television production, partnering with Mike Ousley productions on the local production of "Lucky Break", currently hosted by Brad Perry at Lone Butte Casino. I (Jeff Lowy) and Associate Producer Aimee Schwierjohn have hosted live auditions on Wednesday nights, along with the "world's most dangerous DJ", Rob Shakmanwith great turnout and response. I continue to function as one of the three judges along with Jan Ziff of Successes.com and CBS Radio and Linda White Wolf of White Wolf Productions, a platinum Grammy recipient/producer. The show airs on CBS (KPHO) 5 in Phoenix…and we're hoping to renew next season at Lone Butte shortly. If not, we'll be finding a new venue from which to air the locally popular show. You can find it on Facebook (become a fan!) and complete episodes at www.wingilariver.com. Really exciting news-we're in talks with Cecil Chambers, award winning record and film producer, and CEO of Triumphant Pictures on creating a Spanish language show for Univision and a "Teen Idol" show, possibly beginning in March at a local Valley mall….and potentially nationwide in partnership with a very large management company. On the event side, we've produced videos for the grand opening of the new Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino along with a charitable effort on behalf of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona. I'll post those very soon…if not today! We also produced a completely outrageous and high quality Las Vegas-style "Showgirl" review for a promotion at Jobing.com. Check out the videos here soon….along with some pictures in the slideshow below. Thanks to Darcy, our choreographer, Kirsten and Andrea, our costume designers, and all of the crew-Todd, Chad, and the rest of the gang for implementing an on-site dressing room, security, stage and decor, and soundstage. As always, Georgia Varela, operations manager, handled all of the coordination with aplomb. If you get to work with her on your event…you're in great hands. The grand opening of the new Wild Horse Pass Casino and Resort provided us with three days of constant events and production. Thanks to motivational speaker Mike Miller, author of Sales at Combat Speed, and CEO of PrimoSolutions, LLC, Emil Miller of Phoenix Sound Labs and countless others for their support and superb efforts. Andrea Vote, our floral designer, and her team, have been cranking out hundreds and hundreds of outrageously creative and stunning arrangements for numerous events. Pics are attached….check them out! Our new showroom and foray back into the social markets have been extremely successful and special thanks go out to Goodwill Industries for giving us great opportunities to work with them on events, Scottsdale Health Care, who now asks us to organize their health fairs and the Novak, Blumenthal, and Dortwiler families for giving us the chance to demonstrate our wedding coordination expertise and creative input into their events-from linens and chair covers to centerpieces, entertainment and floral arrangements, candles….anything needed for a great event. Lots more to come….we're doing all types of printing in-house, created ATM machine covers for several local casinos, and are producing a spectacular Jazz Brunch in Chandler, with local luminaries like Alice Tatum, Sherry Roberson, Jerry Donato and Augie Mendoza, Tim Downs, and soon-Bridget Maynes, Delphine Cortez and Margo Reed (tentatively). The Encore Band is making a resurgence, displaying it's 30 years of experience and "chops" at a recent event with long-time members Greg Anderson, Randy Walker, Joe Schofield, Dave Schmidt, Claudia Maynes-Burkland and new rising local star Jermaine Johnson-discovered at the Lucky Break competition. Lots of old stand-bys but also a new Michael Jackson set, some Jason Mraz, Counting Crows, Journey, and pop hits by Coldplay, Sara Bareilles, and lots more. Corporate and social clients should definitely check out the new look and playlist. Again, a lot more has gone on…and I'll follow up soon with video and photos of events for local companies like ReBath, Clean Cab, and large corporate events for Genentech, Marsh (on the road in Dallas) HP, and many more. Stay tuned….we're going to return to a weekly (or more blog) to entertain you over the holidays. Finally, a shout-out to my son Sam Lowy, who is directing the ASU improv troupe, Barren Mind, participating in the university's sketch comedy troupe, Farce Side, and working on his own projects, "Marvin's Room", Tempe's first independent Improv group, with shows at the Madcap Theaters every other Friday night, getting his stand-up skills honed at ASU's Comedian's Club, and, like all young performers, working in the Encore warehouse in his "spare" time. Check out Marvin's Room on Facebook and become a fan!

Last year we started working with Lone Butte Casino and Mike Ousley Productions out of Birmingham, Alabama on the production of a television show called "Lucky Break" as a promotional tool for the casino and an opportunity for local talent to compete for weekly prizes and a grand prize audition with record producers in Las Vegas or Nashville. Encore worked closely with the casino, transforming their Cascades Lounge into a full-blown television studio. We helped obtain the proper lighting and sound equipment and designed and built a great stage set for the backdrop to the performers appearing on television. The lounge now serves as a television production facility on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I was asked by the marketing department to serve as one of three judges, and as it turned out, I was the consistent weekly judge, appearing in 24 of 26 episodes including the semi-finals and finals. The show turned out to be very successful on a number of levels. Hosted by Chris Parker, morning drive-time DJ at Mix 96.6 in the Phoenix market, there were hundreds and hundreds of contestants who signed up to perform Karaoke, provided by killer DJ Rockin Rob (Rob Shakman) and be judged on a scale of 1-7 (21 being a perfect score-go figure!) by the three judges. Chris Parker was a great host and the post-production handled by Ousley's team did a more than respectable job. Working through a couple of production issues, and in an effort to improve the viewer's loyalty and the content of the show, we proposed several new ideas in conjunction with the marketing team at Lone Butte, led by "Chaz" Fowler and including Lananh Tran and Larry Lynch. The improvements included "auditioning" contestants, interviewing the weekly winners and creating a human interest angle which would provide the viewer with insight into the contestants and changing the show from a talent show to a full blown "reality" show. Encore now produces the Wednesday night portion, bringing people into the lounge and taping the performances. In addition, we select the contestants for Thursday night tapings, and do the on-air interviews. Aimee Schierjohn, our newest hire and recent graduate of University of Arizona's Business School handles all of the contestant contact, organization, confirmation, and interviews. The first week went extremely well….great turnout in the lounge on both Wednesday and Thursday, with local singer/actress/writer/publisher, Laurie Fagen handling the hosting duties and Jeff Lowy, Jan Ziff (returning from last season) and last season's overall Finals winner, Becky Witter, handling the judging duties. Follow this blog for more information, which will keep on coming. We have great advertising rates and sponsorship opportunities available, so please contact us for some great deals on airtime as well as product placement and on show mentions, etc. It's a great way to get your company's name out in the local market on a show that is watched by locals, that has great ratings in the market and great overall exposure. Pictures, videos, etc., will follow. In the meantime, you'll note that our homepage is also serving as a landing pad for contestants to pick their artists and songs for the competition. Here's a clip from one of last season's shows: If you're in marketing at a casino outside the Valley area, this show could be produced in your market as well and bring you great returns on a very reasonable investment. Contact us for more details. It's a turn-key marketing product and tool that your audience and your community will LOVE! Encore Creative helped Lone Butte Casino and Mike Ousley Productions is now marketing the production throughout the west coast U.S. for night clubs, casinos and other venues interested in driving traffic and creating brand and customer loyalty. Themed shows, like "You Wanna Be A Country Star" or other themes applicable to your market are also available. Check out Lucky Break on Saturday nights on KPHO, channel 5, at 10:35pm!!!