Don't forget, Round Two of our casting calls begins tomorrow, July 28th and extends through Thursday the 29th! http://twitter.com/encore1creative2010/07/27
The 4th Annual Zonies (Arizona Event Industry Awards) took place on May 14th, 2010, with Encore Creative selected as a finalist in the categories of Best Entertainment and Best Decor. Encore staffers, Michelle Magana and David Kellett, who put together the company's entries, were on hand for the awards dinner, which was held at Chase Field's Suite Lounge.
The evening's events commenced with a Networking/Cocktail Reception, during which time, guests were able to review all of the finalist's entries. Dinner was served during the awards ceremony, with a break at the mid-point for for some live entertainment from the local dance troupe Foot Klan. A highlight of the evening was when guest were taken on a guided tour, down through the stadium's corridors, past the dugouts, and right onto the grass of Chase field!
Encore Creative congratulates all those who took home a Zonie award!
Eric has been working in a sales or management position for nearly two decades. He started his career in sales shortly after graduating from college in Minnesota and quickly worked his way into a management position. An opportunity arose in management with a world renowned healthcare organization, which ended up bringing him to the Valley in 1998.
While working full-time as a manager in healthcare, he attended graduate school in the evenings earning his MBA. He left the healthcare industry to go to work for a start-up marketing company, returning to his sales roots. Eric has been working in various upper management positions since, including working as the VP of Sales and Events for the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce before joining the Encore team as a Sales Manager.
In his spare time Eric enjoys watching and playing sports. His two favorite sports are golf and baseball, so summer is always fun! Some day Eric would like to elevate his golf game enough to qualify, and play, in a national tournament on the amateur level. He lives in Scottsdale with his wife Susie and cat Nancy.
With a number of our bigger shows in the spotlight lately, I wanted to point out one of the key components to making these productions successful; the minutiae, and I don't just mean nice napkin rings, but awesome details. Here are a few examples:
Rubik's Cubes
When we were asked to plan a 80's Themed Special Event, our creative staff came up with the idea for these bright, glowing 2' Rubik's Cubes. These were designed and constructed by our own talented people, and required over one hundred individual stick-on pieces per cube, all of which were placed by hand.
Mad Hatter Hats
A local resort nightclub celebrated its second anniversary with an Alice in Wonderland themed party. Our decor included oversized playing cards, flowers and mushrooms, as well as a new items custom made for this event; including a clockface entry arch, a 5' birthday cake prop, and these hats, styled after The Mad Hatter. Our seamstress made several hats in a variety of colors, right here in our own sewing shop!
Tiffany Wedding
There's no mistaking the special color of blue that's synomymous with the elegance, taste and style of Tiffany & Co. Our designers came up with this stunning blue and white motif for a wedding in the Scottsdale community of Silverleaf, where we matched the table linens and chair covers of Tiffany's trademark blue, with centerpieces, florals and ceiling swags. Sparkling crystal tableware and shimmering gemstone accents pulled together all the elements of this lavish look.
At Encore Creative, we have a warehouse filled to the rafters with Props, Sets, Stages, Furniture, Lighting, Linens and Tableware. We have Treatments for Ceilings, Floors and Walls, as well as Furnishings for intimate settings or large scale events. Our event planners, along with on-staff florists, printers, fabricators and creative personnel, all strive to bring something fresh to every show. We'll wow you and your guests with something special that you haven't seen before, and may never see again.
Give us a call today at 480-736-2800, or come on down to our Tempe warehouse for a tour.
Tracy O’Brien comes to us from an event management background – having started in the business as an intern for the United States Bobsled Team.
While in Las Vegas, she worked for GES Events and worked on large sporting events that included: Major League Baseball All*Star in Cleveland & Denver, National Football League Superbowl in New Orleans, Alpine Skiing Championships in Vail, ESPN Extreme Sports in San Francisco, etc…
While at the Hard Rock Hotel she produced over 90 corporate events in seven months that included: a large scale circus for Skechers, a huge tent concert for Steve Madden, a car show in the parking garage, a high-roller wedding with over 1000 guests, the 1200 guest extravagant Playboy Party with Hugh and the Bunnies, etc…
The last seven years, Tracy has been working in destination services, catering and sales for Scottsdale and Santa Fe resorts. After returning to Arizona, Tracy chose to return to her crazyland love of events.
The weekend of March 5th-7th was an especially busy time for the crews of Encore Creative, as we were setting up a number exciting events for the employees of Marsh USA.
The Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale was the venue chosen to host, and the expanse of it's grounds along with the multitude of meeting spaces was ideal for presenting several distinctly unique events.
The weekend was planned around a spectacular awards presentation, but guests arrived to find a number of other activities to keep them busy in the meantime; including an Ice Cream Social and a Western-themed cookout.
The idea for the Ice Cream Social came together spontaneously, as a result of a visit to our props warehouse. It wasn't the first time this has happened, and undoubtedly, will not be the last. From time to time, clients visit our warehouse with a specific idea in mind, but as they tour our facilities, the magnitude of what we can do here starts to become apparent. With our huge collection of stages, sets, and props in the building, it's easy to see how ones imagination can start to run rampant. Oftentimes, clients sign off on a more comprehensive order than initially anticipated. In this instance, our Malt Shop set, and our Ice Cream Cone Highboys Tables sold themselves.
Meanwhile, while our crews were finishing up work on the Glow Lounge and putting the finishing touches on the Awards Ceremony, I was spending a lot of time going back and forth between the two spaces, and recording the progress. You can see an overview in the clip above, and some more details in still photographs 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!
Eric has been working in a sales or management position for nearly two decades. He started his career in sales shortly after graduating from college in Minnesota and quickly worked his way into a management position. An opportunity arose in management with a world renowned healthcare organization, which ended up bringing him to the Valley in 1998.
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!