An RV, Alcohol, Magic, eBay and looking to 2021 events
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” -Winston Churchill
In March of this year it seemed by all forecasts that 2020 would be a failure. Our team took a pay cut, went on brief partial unemployment but immediately started plotting. Fast forward through an RV, lots of Alcohol, eBay, 1 loan, a Magic show, thousands of emails, hundreds of virtual meetings, and we find ourselves at the end of the year having met our ambitious financial goal we set prior to the pandemic while looking forward to 2021 events.
Sometimes if feels like we shouldn’t be here. Our hearts break for the overwhelming number of industry colleagues that are unemployed or out of business. To not only survive, but grow during this pandemic (we’ve hired 4 new full time staff members!) makes us feel incredibly lucky and grateful to our clients, vendors, and talent. Thanks to our partnerships we’ve been able to continue our philanthropic efforts with the American Camp Association and have sponsored the camp tuition of 52 children when it’s safe to play again.
In practicing gratitude, we’d like to celebrate some highlights from this very unique year. ,
Saving the Multi-verse
Our first virtual event was Micah vs the Multi-verse, a virtual escape room, produced in our COO’s RV during lockdown. Though Micah has since been retired, that experience allowed us to practice our creativity and play during the scariest time for our country and business.
Meeting our Heroes
Experience designer Kelsey’s worst kept secret is she is a giant nerd. So when she was invited to host an experience with geek icon Chef Duff Goldman, she had a 20 minute dance party. We continued producing experiences with some of the best talent throughout the year, featuring chefs and celebs like Richard Blaise, Dominique Cren, Rosanna Pansino and Maneet Chauhan. We’ve learned the talent they possess isn’t simply culinary, but their ability to connect with people across all demographics. Everybody loves food and the people who give it to us.
Growing our tribe
We were thrilled to welcome several new staff members to the Firefly family including Chief Cat Wrangler Reana, Taylor Swift #1 fan Sydney, Streamer Dreamer Paul, and Las Vegas Showstopper Preeti. It would be impossible to do what we do without the right people in the right seats. We feel so blessed to be hiring when so many other companies are facing mass layoffs.
Spreading Cheer
You know how excited kids are to meet Santa? Now imagine those kids have spent the last 9 months seeing no one outside their family. Our cutest event of the year is definitely awarded to the dozens of families that joined us for a client hosted holiday party featuring cookie decorating, holiday jokes, elf dance parties, and private meet n greets with Santa.
Drinking With Our Clients
We found a way to make virtual beer tasting, mixology lessons, and wine tasting a reality by solving supply chain issues for our clients. They found a way to ease the strain of the pandemic stress for their customers via free drinks. Beer tasting was easily one of our most popular experiences we offered and it was a hit.
Finding Connection
Our goal as a company is always to build feelings of connection between employees. As we socially distance and go forward in a remote world, this goal is more important than ever. We cherish every laugh, every conversation that occurs in our events because we know how hard it is to feel alone. To the over 7533 people that have joined us on a virtual event this year- thank you. We look forward to continuing to build connections next year through virtual, hybrid, and safe in person events.
2021 may bring back live events. If it does we’re ready and waiting to lead some kick ass team building events for you. If virtual remains the go-to we’re here for that too with some fabulous new 2021 events offerings. Check in with michael@fireflyteamevents.com for inquiries.
