By Kat Thomas
This year Event 360 partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to host 15 of their St. Jude Walk/Runs across the country over three weekends. After two years of virtual events, it was more important than ever for St. Jude to produce an incredible experience to bring their community back together for a nationwide month of live events. We covered three time zones and took more than 1.1 million steps in the process. To say it was a success would be an understatement. Participants, volunteers, staff, and kiddos alike wore smiles as we supported St. Jude’s mission.
St. Jude revamped their events to “bring the hospital to life.” It was imperative to them that each participant receive a similar experience no matter which city they were participating in. And the inflatable game was on point! Across the nation participants wrote why they participate on a giant 14-foot square inflatable cube, the centerpiece of the festival, and also posed in front of the inflatable I ❤ St. Jude letters. The Kid’s Dash was full as they wore capes and ran laughing across the finish line. The Kay Kafe was full of nourishment and the Honor Garden was a true tranquil mission moment honoring those lost. It’s important to us that our client’s vision is brought forward in each moment on our events.
This meant creating new infrastructure and plans, and making adjustments to sites from previous years. From purchasing to production, from planning to execution, just about every teammate at Event 360 (and our team360 rolodex) had their hands on this project. While challenging at times, it really proved how vast and skilled our team really is. I feel as though I’m bragging when I say I’m able to work alongside such resourceful, resilient, efficient, and passionate people.
Most of our events didn’t experience weather issues, but it wouldn’t feel like a massive success unless we had to endure some rain, extreme heat and 25-mile per hour wind gusts (remember those inflatables!). Thankfully the team pulled together to complete each event successfully and safely for St. Jude. I, for one, am proud of the work and that we were able to deliver for St. Jude after having a few years off. It was a weekend for the books!
