2015 learning series

2015 LEARNING SERIES
CASE STUDY
OBJECTIVE
CatalystCreativ was selected as the agency for speaker curation and event
production for the 2015 Life is Beautiful Learning Series.
CatalystCreativ’s goal was to curate more contextually
relevant speakers that were geared towards millennials.
We succeeded by having speakers that garnered press worthy moments such as Rosario Dawson, Bill Nye, Coach Carter, Justin Baldoni and Kat Graham.
CatalystCreativ wanted to give brands opportunities to
engage in the Learning Series in unique ways.
CatalystCreativ received sponsorships
from FatBoy USA, UPS, Barnes & Noble, and Mod Furniture for the Learning Series.
CatalystCreativ created different themed days to
create a more holistic approach to learning.
These included: A Force for Good, Shaping the Future, & Challenging the Game.
CatalystCreativ wanted to create content from the
Learning Series that could be utilized post the festival.
CatalystCreativ worked with Critical Focus to
create compelling content.
CASE STUDY
SPEAKER CURATION
CatalystCreativ scoured its network for the most brilliant minds
and captivating storytellers. 34 speakers were selected to inspire
audiences based on 3 themes: A Force for Good, Shaping the Future,
& Challenging the Game. Headliners included Bill Nye & Rosario
Dawson.
PROGRAMMING
SERVICES
Presenters were grouped by days, to speak under the theme they
most aligned with. Programming involved speaker training which
entailed a personal 30 minute phone call with each speaker, a
request for submission of an outline of the speaker’s talk, as well as
feedback on the speaker’s topic and talk content. CatalystCreativ
worked closely with speakers like Anastasia Ashley and Rosario
Dawson on their moderated Q&A’s questions and responses.
GRAPHICS
CatalystCreativ created directional & promotional signage in line
with LIB’s brand look to post throughout the venue and the Life is
Beautiful footprint to encourage attendance to the Learning Series.
Personalized “____ is beautiful”-themed social media squares were
created for each speaker to share on their social platforms. Speaker
presentations were also formatted into a seamless Keynote
presentation for each day. Digital effects and graphics on the main
stage and surrounding LEDs further enhanced the Learning ambience
inside the venue.
CASE STUDY
PRODUCTION
SERVICES
CatalystCreativ hired LIB’s preferred A/V vendor, In Sync Show
Productions, to execute a flawless production. The team also
enhanced the venue space with elegant drapery and modern furniture.
CatalystCreativ’s graphic designer created custom signage to brand
the venue space as LIB’s Learning Series. Outdoor signage promoting
headliners were also designed and placed directly outside the venue
as well as sprinkled around the festival footprint to lure festival-goers
to the Learning Series. We also worked with Critical Focus to create
unique motion graphics aligned with the Life is Beautiful brand and
themed just for the Learning Series that were played throughout all
three days. The setting and show were captured by a photographer
and camera crew. Venue Vegas provided a beautiful and delicious
catering display for speaker hospitality in the green room.
LOGISTICS
CatalystCreativ worked directly with the LIB travel team to secure
flights, hotel rooms at The SLS Las Vegas Hotel, and ground
transportation for all speaker talents and their guests. Credentials,
security, ambassadors, and signage were also coordinated with the
LIB team.
CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
SPONSORSHIPS
UPS’s sponsorship of Life is Beautiful brought Monika Wiela,
Founder of the Give Back Box, to the stage for a fireside chat
between herself and UPS Marketing Executive Jarrod Purdon.
The two discussed UPS’ partnership with Give Back Box to
help consumers recycle old UPS boxes for sending charitable
donations to nonprofits.
FatBoy USA enhanced the venue space with fun and
comfortable furniture for the Learning Series. “FatBoy Pits”
were created with giant pillow-like seating, enjoyed by both
audience VIPs and talent in the green room.
Barnes & Noble worked with 4 speakers to create social graphics to share via their social
channels and promote LIB’s Learning Series. To create social media buzz and anticipation
for speakers to take the stage, Maya Watson, Caitlin Crosby, Geena Rocero, & Rich Roll were
asked what 4 books most impacted them and helped shape their careers.
MAYA WATSON
CAITLIN CROSBY
GEENA ROCERO
RICH ROLL
THEMES
Friday: A Force for Good
Presenters spoke on using their talents and
passions for creating a better world.
TOP SPEAKERS
Caitlin Crosby, Founder of The Giving
Keys, inspired audiences to focus on
creating change by starting with one
person first. Bill Nye discussed the
importance of spreading climate change
awareness and the future of space travel.
CASE STUDY
THEMES
Saturday: Shaping the Future
Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Captains
of Industry spoke on the future of their
respective fields.
TOP SPEAKERS
Justin Baldoni delivered his perspective
on the future of creating content: making
meaningful connection with the audience.
He demonstrated just that by surprising
special guest Claire Wineland, who has
cystic fibrosis and whose dream is to be
a public speaker, with the opportunity to
speak to the crowd for 15 minutes. Kimbal
Musk spoke on the future of food and IN-Q
demonstrated lyrical skill and mesmerized
his listeners with his thought-provoking
poetry.
CASE STUDY
THEMES
Sunday: Challenging the Game
Underdogs, athletes, and those with humble
beginnings shared stories of triumph over
trials.
TOP SPEAKERS
Coach Carter brought down the house with
great energy on stage and messages of
empowerment. Kat Graham drew a crowd
with her talk on her personal journey in
following her passions in both acting and
music. Geena Rocero garnered applause
with her talk on living life courageously,
kindly, and authentic to herself while
fighting for LGBT rights. Rosario Dawson
closed the speaker series with laughter,
lightheartedness, and a few pearls of
wisdom on giving and activism.
CASE STUDY
SPECIAL MOMENTS
Justin Baldoni + Surprise
for Special Guest Claire
Wineland
CASE STUDY
Justin Baldoni, Jane the Virgin Actor & Content Creator at
Wayfarer Entertainment, surprised a special 18 year old girl,
named Claire Wineland during his talk. Justin produces a
docuseries called My Last Days that documents the extraordinary
lives of the terminally ill. Claire, diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis,
has an unmatched optimism and excitement for life. Her dream is
to be a public speaker and to her shock, she was given the
opportunity to do so when Justin called her onto the stage.
Met with a standing ovation from the audience, Claire approached
the stage, cracked a few jokes about her stunned reaction, and
continued to deliver an inspiring and beautiful speech for the
crowd. There was laughter, there were tears, and there was a
courageous, triumphant, young girl who blew everyone away.
SPECIAL MOMENTS
Coach Carter
CASE STUDY
Coach Carter seemed to bring the audience to church as he
delivered a high energy performance on stage about how he
transformed a struggling high school girl’s basketball team into
champions. Coach worked the crowd to receive nods, applause,
and hoots and hollers of praise. At the end of his talk, Coach was
given a standing ovation. And like a charismatic leader running
for presidency, Coach offered to take photos with and shake the
hands of 100+ attendees outside and gift them a signed copy of
his DVD; the audience happily obliged.
SPECIAL MOMENTS
Bill Nye
CASE STUDY
Bill Nye created even more excitement and anticipation of his
talk at the Learning Series by doing a surprise cameo on the
Troubadour Stage a couple hours prior to his performance.
When he took the stage at Learning, he was met with a packed
audience of over 700 guests, including standing room only on
the second floor balcony. Over 1,000 disappointed fans were
unfortunately, unable to enter the venue due to capacity being
reached. Bill spoke on the future of space travel and the
importance of spreading climate change awareness.
SPECIAL MOMENTS
IN-Q
CASE STUDY
National Poetry Slam Champion and multi-platinum winning
songwriter, IN-Q delivered powerful lyrics & poetry to a packed
house. Poems performed included Growing Up Now, Say Yes
America, Sound the Alarm, Home, and 85.
SPECIAL MOMENTS
Rosario Dawson
CASE STUDY
CatalystCreativ moderated a Q&A with actress Rosario Dawson.
Topics included Burning Man & building community, and the
importance of activism and generosity. Dawson compelled the
audience to leave cynicism behind when it came to charity and
lending a hand to someone in need. She urged the audience, “If
you’re going to give, [just] give.” The audience also received a
kind reminder to cherish the current moment and be fully
present instead of hiding behind their cell phones and gadgets:
“Everyone here with cell phone right now, put them down. Be
here.” said Dawson.
September 2015 Fresh Pix
PRESS COVERAGE
SOCIAL MEDIA
TOTAL POSTS FROM SPEAKERS
Instagram: 62
Twitter: 53
TOTAL IMPRESSIONS FROM SPEAKERS
Instagram: 25,046,480
Twitter: 33,062,599
TOP SOCIAL USERS
*From speakers only; does not include followers
KAT GRAHAM
BILL NYE
ANASTASIA ASHLEY
2.78M Followers
2.5M Followers
134K Followers
2.1M Followers
448K Followers
1M Followers
VIBE MAGAZINE
CHRIS COLE
ROSARIO DAWSON
679K Followers
284K Followers
523K Followers
62K Followers
636K Followers
278K Followers
EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI
MICHAEL SKOLNIK
JUSTIN BALDONI
182K Followers
148K Followers
52.4K Followers
248K Followers
29.4K Followers
143K Followers
CASE STUDY
TESTIMONIALS
“Last week I was invited to speak at the Life Is Beautiful festival
in Las Vegas, an event planned, managed, and executed by our
very own Amanda Slavin. Not only were other members of our
group also speaking there, but Amanda’s event was an incredible
experience, one that left a lasting and meaningful impact on all
who attended. I speak at these kind of events all over the world,
so trust me when I say that Amanda and her team did a
PHENOMENAL job, and I could not be prouder of her work.”
Jeff Hoffman, CEO at ColorJar
“I wanted to thank you and your team for
the wonderful experience this weekend.
You all were incredibly helpful and inviting
throughout my time. Please pass on my
gratitude to all that helped put together
the festival and my appreciation for being
given the opportunity to be a part of
celebrating Life’s Beauty.”
Sam Kavanagh, Paralympic Athlete
“What an amazing event. This Idaho country boy is so lucky to be
a part of it. Thank you for all the work you do on it … please know
it makes a huge difference for me and many others.”
Dan Price, CEO at Gravity Payments
“I just wanted to thank you again for all that you did to make Life
is Beautiful a big success! I must say your execution, assertiveness
and attention to detail was simply flawless!”
“You killed LIB!! Really really rocked it.
We do a ton of these conferences and the
organization and logistics of the whole
team was incredible. Thanks for having Q
be a part of it, of course anything we can
do to support. Let’s make it bigger and
better next year :) much love.”
Kevin Hekmat, Manager to IN-Q
Megan Humphreys, Brand & Event Manager at Fatboy USA
CASE STUDY
TESTIMONIALS
“Thank you! We had a wonderful time and you and
your crew were awesome to work with! Thank you
for sharing this with us and taking such good care
of Chris during the event.”
Keith Isola, Manager to professional skateboarder
Chris Cole
“Thanks for your hard work! The speakers I saw
were awesome!”
Tony Hsieh, CEO at Zappos
“It was my pleasure to be involved in the event – and
I have received nothing but amazing feedback. The
entire festival was beautiful indeed – and a wonderful
gathering of like-minded souls. I look forward to more
opportunities for collaboration!”
Erin Schrode, CoFounder at Turning Green
“Thank YOU for all your hard work and selfless
service to the event and making our experience
beautiful! Sending tons of love…”
Justin Baldoni, Actor on CW’s Jane the Virgin
“Thank you so much for everything. Chills. I’m over the
moon about the whole experience.”
Jackie Tohn, Stand Up Musician
CASE STUDY
2015 LEARNING SERIES
PHOTOS
Overview of the set up in the Learning
Series Venue
Tony Hsieh opens the Learning Series with the
story of the birth of Downtown Project
Caitlin Crosby encourages the audience to give
back and to start by focusing on just one person
DJ Allen pumping up the crowd
Thousands of fans lined up outside the
Learning Series in anticipation of Bill Nye
Every seat is filled to hear Bill Nye speak
Bill Nye enlightening the audience that we
are all just specks on specks on specks
An enthusiastic crowd cheers Bill Nye
Emcee Jackie Tohn performing her original
song “Deep Like”
Actor and Activist Justin Baldoni surprising the
audience by pulling Claire Wineland on stage
Special guest Claire Wineland supported by the
audience with a standing ovation
Claire Wineland delivering her inspired, surprise talk on
living life to the fullest in spite of her terminal illness
Poetry Slam Winning Poet, “IN-Q” spits his
lyrical genius to a packed house
Poet “IN-Q” interacting with an engaged audience
Coach Carter delivering high energy and
interaction with festival-goers
Coach Carter dancing with Emcee Jackie Tohn
A line of Coach Carter fans wrap around the
building for his meet & greet
Professional skateboarder, Chris Cole
speaking to the crowd
Fans of every age participated at the
Learning Series
Kat Graham speaking on her personal journey
in chasing her dreams in acting & music
TED speaker, Geena Rocero shares her inspiring
story of “coming out” and living true to herself
Moderator, Amanda Slavin and Headliner, Rosario Dawson
share stories on activism, Burning Man and philanthropy
An attentive audience during the
Learning Series
THANK YOU.