Untitled

 2015 IFEA Pinnacle Awards DIVISION: CATEGORY: ENTRY: Festival & Event Critical Component #53 ‐ Best New Event Starlight After‐Party Intro and Background Describing the Starlight After‐Party must begin with an introduction to its predecessor, the Starlight Parade... The Starlight Parade perpetuates an ongoing Portland Rose Festival tradition. An electrical parade was a sparkling feature at the first Festival in 1907, one‐hundred and eight years ago. It was described as the most lavish spectacle of its kind on the continent. Twenty illuminated floats on rail flat cars running along the world’s first long distance power transmission line were a main attraction at the first festival. By the 1930s, this electrical parade faded out, until two decades later when it transformed into the Merrykhana Parade which paid tribute to the Rose Festival's old Mardi Gras days. The Merrykhana Parade, a zany evening affair which featured clowns, calliopes, band music and eccentric floats of all types was a popular attraction for many years. Around 1972, the parade lost control and was described by the police as the, "wettest, wildest, drunkennest brawl ever seen on the streets of Portland." An event similar to the Merrykhana Parade was produced in 1976 ‐‐ the Bicentennial Starlight Parade and came off without incident. The Starlight Parade has continued to grow in popularity every year since. Taking a cue from the Endymion Ball, part of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Rose Festival created a new event in 2015. The Festival decided to throw a party... a Starlight After‐Party! This event was invented to take economic advantage of the enthusiastic audience of one of the festival's most popular nighttime events, the Starlight Parade. Local bands known for their high‐
energy performances, Nu Shooz and Crazy 8s, were opening acts for the perfect party artist, vintage rapper Sir Mix‐A‐Lot. Illuminated features lit up the party after dark, and special guests created a "Keep Portland Weird" vibe in the audience. 1
Description and Purpose / Objective of Event In its 108th year, the Rose Festival is very successful at celebrating tradition and heritage. In 2015, the Festival was looking for a way to change things up. The Starlight Parade was growing in popularity annually and the RoZone at CityFair, the hip waterfront concert venue that often hosted national acts, was scheduled to be dark that same night. As an attempt to fill programming for the RoZone and to capture an already attentive audience at the Starlight Parade, the Starlight After‐Party was born! The event took shape as Portland throwback bands, the Crazy 8s and Nu Shooz, signed on to perform, as well as headliner and Seattle‐based rapper Sir Mix‐A‐Lot. These three bands packed the house! The After‐Party also took advantage of the two set‐breaks to showcase eclectic dancers and singers performing in between shows. As a new event, the Festival needed to get the Starlight After‐Party on the radar of parade‐
goers and potential party‐goers, with the primary goal of driving ticket‐buying attendees ‐ namely parade‐goers ‐ to the After‐Party. Traditional marketing channels were utilized in advance of the event ‐ TV, radio, print, digital and outdoor ‐ but we sought a different way to capture the on‐street parade audience. A "buzz" was generating around headliner Sir Mix‐A‐
Lot, and to take advantage of that, we produced special collateral (postcards promoting 2‐for‐1 admission to the After‐Party) and assembled a special street team. This street team would take 2,000 After‐Party postcards and distribute them to Starlight Parade spectators in the hour prior to the start of the parade. Their distinguishing trademark? The t‐shirts and the back of the postcard displayed a clear and simple statement taken directly from one of Sir Mix‐A‐Lot's most popular hit songs: "...And I Can Not Lie." Target audience / Number of participants Expectations for this new event were set modestly. The event attendance goal was set at 1,500 people to attend the Starlight After‐Party ‐ but we exceeded that goal by 44%. Scanned attendance was over 2,700! The audience steadily entered the gates starting at 7:00 PM to see the two opening acts, Crazy 8s and Nu Shooz. By 10:00 PM, Sir Mix‐A‐Lot hit the stage and the audience had tripled in size. By that time the Starlight Parade just 4 blocks away was leaving the route which prompted a great migration of spectators with '...I Can Not Lie' promo postcards in hand. Post‐parade booty shakin' was in full effect! In addition to the main stage acts, the After‐Party featured musical interludes during the set‐
breaks. Teen PDX, a local partner dancing club, and Westview High School's singing group, Nothing but Treble, graced the stage between Nu Shooz and Crazy 8s. Following the Crazy 8s set, two local dance groups entertained the masses. Portland Thunder Dancers, who usually cheer on Portland's AFL Thunder team, and pre‐professional Jefferson Dancers from nearby Jefferson High School wowed crowds with their moves. Needless to say, the tunes were flowing all night long at the Starlight After‐Party! 2
Overall revenue / Description of sponsor In its first year, Starlight After‐Party revenue was a challenge to predict. As the budget was created, the question on everyone's mind was, 'How do we pitch a sponsorship with no previous measurable results?' Revenue from a presenting sponsor was quickly identified as Lyft, a ride share company just entering the Portland‐scene, who was hungry for immediate exposure to the city. From there on out the event was known as the Starlight After‐Party presented by Lyft. With $20,000 in the bank from the new presenting sponsor, the second question emerged, 'Will anyone even show up?' Lyft proved to be both a revenue‐producer for the event as well as a promoter. The ride‐share company provided its drivers with a supply of 1,000 After‐Party promotional postcards starting ten days prior to the event, sharing the "...And I Can Not Lie" message with Portland‐area passengers. This encouraged use of the sponsor's ride share service to attend the festivities and an economical way to attend the event. Total Starlight After‐Party admission revenue was $24,890.50, exceeding the budgeted admissions goal by 60%! Of this total revenue, $9,776 was generated in walk‐up sales on event night, with $2,336 of that revenue directly tied to the redemption of the promotional postcard. This single new event had an expense budget of $13,950 and revenue of $44,890.50, generating more than $30,000 new dollars for the Festival, as well as creating a considerable buzz in the community. Duration of program (start to finish) Starlight After‐Party Run of Show: Time Performer 6:30 pm Doors Open 6:40 pm ‐ 6:55 pm Laura Ivanice 7:00 pm ‐ 8:00 pm NuShooz 8:05 pm ‐ 8:10 pm Teen PDX 8:15 pm ‐ 8:25 pm Nothing But Treble 8:30 pm ‐ 9:45 pm Crazy 8s 9:55 pm ‐ 10 pm Portland Thunder Dancers 10:05 pm ‐ 10:10 pm Jefferson Dancers Sir Mix‐A‐Lot 10:15 pm 12:00 pm Doors close 3
What makes the event unique & creative? The Starlight After‐Party concept was inspired by the Endymion Ball, but organizers knew that Rose Festival wasn't Mardi Gras, nor did they care to go back to the wild drunken days of the Merrykhana Parade in the 70s. Event organizers had to get creative by channeling the Mardi Gras party atmosphere and making it 'Rose Festival'. The event took off as it became sandwiched between two concurrent and already popular Rose Festival events, the Starlight Parade and the waterfront venue at CityFair. By promoting the After‐Party at both events, the event soared to success with great attendance, meanwhile not detracting revenue from the existing events. The Starlight Parade, CityFair and Starlight After‐Party became mutually dependent instead of competitive. In fact, specially selected Starlight Parade entries were invited to attend the After‐Party for free to add to the unique whimsy of the event. Frighttown zombies drug themselves to the party following the parade, Star Wars stormtroopers came with glowing lightsabers in hand, and the Mysti Crew of Nymbus clan brought the Mardi Gras flare that the entire event was created after. Between the costumed parade groups and the eclectic groups of side performances filling the mainstage sets, the Starlight After‐Party provided continuous entertainment till the last zombie was standing. Presenting sponsor, Lyft, helped create a PINK party vibe with great giveaways and onsite signage. Known for its hip and trendy pink mustache branding, Lyft provided all After‐Party attendees with glow‐in‐the‐dark pink Lyft‐branded bracelets. The glow bracelets replaced lighters as the performers sang into the wee‐hours of the night. Between the bright glow of the bracelets and the wild concert lighting, Lyft's custom stage backdrop framed the evening's performances. The backdrop was smattered with floating Lyft logos in a step‐and‐repeat pattern that radiated pink everywhere. Just outside the RoZone gates, a Sky Tracker Searchlight let Portlanders up to 20 miles away know that there was a party going on! Overall effectiveness / Success of program Event attendance blew our expectations out of water, coming in 60% higher than our budgeted goal. Food and beverage numbers added to the financial success of this event ‐ people came down to party, eat and drink! Alcohol sales at CityFair were up 66% over 2014 (when there wasn't an after‐party), and combined food and beverage revenues were up 54%. 4
Another measure for success was the creation of a welcoming party atmosphere. Rather than the "wet and wild drunken brawl" from the mid‐70's Merrykhana Parades, a quirky, festive and safe vibe permeated this inaugural event. Sir Mix‐A‐Lot's set included crowd interaction with his top hit tunes, delivering an upbeat and energetic performance. No arrests were made, and the only "problem" encountered at the end of the evening were people wanting to linger and enjoy the atmosphere and each other's company even longer, past midnight. We will want to examine ways to extend this party further into the night in the future! 5
Supporting Question ‐ What challenges / obstacles did you foresee / encounter in creating the program, and how did you handle them? With any new event, organizers had many challenges that were tackled head on: Challenge: What if nobody comes to the Starlight After‐Party? Solution: Traditional marketing channels were utilized in advance of the event ‐ TV, radio, print, digital and outdoor ‐ but we sought a different way to capture the on‐street parade audience. The Festival needed to get the Starlight After‐Party word out there, and get it out fast! We used our existing event promotions for the Starlight Parade to advertise the new event. A "buzz" was generating around headliner Sir Mix‐A‐Lot, and to take advantage of that, we produced special collateral (postcards promoting 2‐for‐1 admission to the After‐Party) and assembled a special street team to get parade‐goers to transition to party‐goers once the parade was over. This street team took 2,000 After‐Party postcards and distributed them to Starlight Parade spectators in the hour prior to the start of the parade. Of the total Starlight After‐Party revenue, almost one‐third of it was generated in walk‐up sales on event night, and 10% of that revenue directly tied to the redemption of the promotional postcard. Challenge: What ticket price do we put on the event? Solution: Ticket price was set low enough to pack the park this first year and create a buzz. $10 per ticket proved to be affordable for attendees and cover costs of the new event. Challenge: What talent out there can carry this event and help promote it on their own? Solution: The After‐Party needed acts to appeal to all ages, to parade‐goers, and acts that could fill a before‐during‐and‐after party. Old school was the answer! Portland bands Nu Shooz and Crazy 8s appealed to the locals, while vintage rapper Sir Mix‐A‐Lot's tunes have remained popular through the decades and brought in the young and the old. Challenge: This event needs a sponsor. Solution: New TNA provider, Lyft, was on the lookout for quick promotions in Portland. They identified the Rose Festival, Portland's Official Festival, and the Starlight After‐Party as a great fit for their company. Lyft added both cash and promotion for this brand new event. Furthermore, as Rose Festival's Official Ride‐Share partner, Lyft provided a dedicated promotional code ('RoseFestival') for a free ride. On Starlight Parade night and nowhere to park, this offered party‐goers a great way to get down to the Starlight After‐Party! 6
SUPPORTING MATERIALS INDEX Supporting Photographs
•
Starlight After-Party
Promotional / Marketing / Media Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
Volunteer T-shirts
Promotional Rack Card
Print and Electronic Advertising
Social Media Mentions - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (2 pages)
Rose Festival Souvenir Program
Electronic article
o OregonLive, Starlight Parade taps Sir Mix-a-Lot to headline inaugural after-party:
Rose Festival 2015 (2 pages)
7
Supporting Photos
Starlight After-Party
The perfect t-shirt design.
11 of the 13 volunteers pose for a quick
photo before hitting the streets.
The postcard - front...
...and back
Rose Festival Advertising
Starlight After-Party
PDX Pipeline, electronic ad
The Oregonian, print ad
PDX Pipeline, electronic ad
Trimet, bus ad
Willamette Weekly, print ad
Social Media Mentions
Starlight After-Party
STARLIGHT AFTER-PARTY
presented by Lyft
Saturday, May 30
7:00 pm - midnight
Rose Festival RoZone at Waterfront Park
Join us for the first-ever Starlight After-Party in the Rose
Festival RoZone, featuring headliner Sir Mix-A-Lot plus special
guestsCrazy8sandNuShooz.Specialilluminatedfeaturesand
entertainment will be highlighted in between acts – it’s the
perfect place for post-parade booty shaking!
The Starlight After-Party will feature:
Sir Mix-A-Lot
Sir Mix-A-Lot parlayed a gonzo tribute to women with large
buttocks into hip-hop immortality. But even before he struck
crossover gold, Sir Mix-A-Lot was one of rap’s great D.I.Y.
success stories. Coming from a city — Seattle — with barely
any hip-hop scene to speak of, Mix-A-Lot co-founded his own
record label, promoted his music himself, produced all his own
tracks, and essentially pulled himself up by the proverbial
American bootstraps. Even before “Baby Got Back,” Mix-A-Lot
was a platinum-selling album artist with a strong following in
the hip-hop community, known for bouncy, danceable, bassheavy tracks indebted to old-school electro.
22
Crazy 8s
Known for big horns and a unique combination of ska, punk,
and funk, the 8s are marking the 30th anniversary of their
secondalbum,NervousinSuburbia,featuringhitsthatreceived
considerable mid-80’s local airplay, “Scratch & Claw,” “Touchy
Situation,” and the title track “Nervous in Suburbia.”
Nu Shooz
FoundedbyValerieDayandJohnSmithin1979,NuShoozisbest
known for its instant smash hit single “I Can’t Wait.” Other hits
to make the Billboard charts include “Point of No Return and
“Should I Say Yes.” Nu Shooz returned to the recording studio
with the 2012 release of “Kung Pao Kitchen” and hit the stage
in 2014 for the FREESTYLE Tour around the Pacific Northwest.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
RoseFestival.org
Ticketmaster outlets • 1.800.745.3000