9 Things You Never Knew about Inaugural Events
The 2009 presidential inauguration was unprecedented in its media coverage — but here are nine new things event pros can learn from it.
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In politics, sponsorships are not about politics. “It’s not about politics, it’s about reaching this demographic,” said Jennifer Bruenjes, who consulted on Netroots Nation’s Yes We Can Party. She’s seen interest grow among mainstream companies in sponsoring events for organizations like Netroots, which is an online community for progressives. Why? It all comes down to the numbers. The online community tends to have greater education and income and be passionately engaged. That’s why Chipotle and Papa John’s Pizza signed on as sponsors of The Big Tent (a home base for bloggers and new media) during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, she said. “They don’t want to be seen as partisan, but they recognize that this is an important thing to be a part of,” explained Bruenjes, who served as event director for the space.
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The Democrats are more fun. “It’s always fun with a Democrat because you get the name entertainment,” said Tim McGill, CEO of inauguration general contractor Hargrove Inc. The Opening Ceremony concert “We Are One,” which kicked off the inaugural festivities, didn’t disappoint. A stream of A-listers from Tom Hanks, Tiger Woods and Jamie Foxx to Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks and Beyonce spoke and performed. And this festive atmosphere can be a boon for those in the event business. “I heard someone say once that they were looking forward to the Obama presidency not from a political point of view, but professionally, because the Democrats party more,” recounted Ajay Patil, co-founder and partner of Halethorpe, Md.-based Showcall Inc., which produced the Texas State Society Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball, among other high-profile events.
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Doing every inauguration since Truman doesn’t guarantee you the contract. Is bidding for the inauguration contract a formality when you’ve done every one since 1949? Definitely not, said McGill. “We go into it as if we’re going to go fight for any other big job that we go after, and we anticipate it to be highly competitive.” Hargrove’s creativity was the key to winning the contract this year, he added, in addition to its considerable experience and the scale at which the company can operate.
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Even the event planners have war rooms. The first thing Hargrove did, even before securing the contract, was create a workflow system that could accommodate the huge amount of work and short timeline. The result was a “war room” where nine people — the head of each department — worked, streamlining communications and reducing the potential for miscommunications.
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The work is so intense, Hargrove’s own customers can’t volunteer. Hargrove doubled its on-site workforce in order to keep pace with demand for this inauguration. Interest was high — including up to 100 customer requests. “We actually have a lot of customers that want to volunteer and be part of it,” McGill reported. “We tend to shy away from it, however, because the intensity of the workload itself can be misleading.”
- The campaign’s design has nothing to do with the inauguration’s. “Once the campaign is over, it’s over,” said David Solsbery, Hargrove’s executive design director. “We don’t embrace any of the artwork, taglines or graphic styles from the campaign.” Solsbery’s team did get one directive based on the campaign, however. “We were told, ‘No columns!’” he said. (The staging behind Obama when he gave his acceptance speech in Denver, which featured columns, was criticized as overly grandiose.)
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Out with the Texan event people, in with the Chicagoans. “The events business is completely relationship-based, so if there’s a company that did a lot of Obama campaign stops, I think it’s pretty likely that we’ll see them do their best to capitalize on that relationship,” said Patil. Indeed, Fergus Rooney believes it’s likely that his company, Event Architects, will set up an office in Washington, D.C. The Chicago-based event management and production agency had previously worked on a large-scale fundraiser to kick off Obama’s presidential campaign and consulted on events for the campaign, as well as being involved in the event planning and production of a number of official inaugural events, including the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball. “A great number of people saw our work and we believe it will influence our ability to gain work in D.C. and political circles,” said Rooney.
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There are no VIPs during the inauguration. Managing expectations for her group was a challenge for Sharon Jarrett, who planned the Pink, White & Blue Children’s Inaugural Ball for Jack and Jill of America — Southeastern Region. “This is a group that’s kind of used to VIP status,” said Jarrett, who is president and CEO of Jarrett Affairs & Productions LLC. “Well, you’re not VIP that weekend. Nobody is.” Adds Jaci Reid of Westin Reinhart, “In D.C., it’s really hard to say who’s more important, a celebrity or an administrative official. If former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shows up, you have to give her a certain amount of respect. … You have to determine who is VIP versus VVIP.” Westin Reinhart was the PR firm for the Creative Coalition, which threw a star-studded inaugural ball.
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Actually, they can all just get along. With so many events, D.C. venues were hosting events almost continuously. Did that add up to a lot of event planners getting into each other’s hair? To the contrary, say many planners involved. John Forrester, chief operating officer of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation, worked with other groups holding events at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, where the ICCF’s Inauguration Conservation Gala was held. They were able to reduce costs for all three groups by sharing a tent outside the building for food preparation, in addition to coordinating on lighting and sound, he said.
Onsite reporting by Event Solutions’ own Editor Rachel Globus. Tweet us your comments: @EventSolutions and @rachelES