It’s the second week of my “Tour de baseball,” officially known as the Colonial Life broker marketing events and I can’t determine if I love baseball more or less after surviving my travel schedule. To give you an idea of my the past couple of weeks, I’ve mapped out a quick rundown of events (or as we like to call it, my “run of show”)

5/3 – Fly to Philadelphia for the Phillies-Cardinals game
5/4 – Work out of hotel in Philadelphia
5/5 – Drive to Pittsburgh for the Pirates-Cubs game
5/6 – Drive back to Philadelphia for my flight home
5/7 – Day in the office
5/10 – Fly to Boston for the Red Sox-Blue Jays game
5/11 – Fly Home
5/12 – Day in the office
5/13 – Fly to Miami for the Marlins Mets game
5/14 – Fly from Miami to New York for the Yankees-Twins game
5/15 – Fly home

Now, I’m not going to lie, baseball is by far my favorite sport, but I think I’ve seen enough hot dogs, nachos and bud light to last me a few months. However, as much as I love to complain about traveling, I will say that the program could have not gone any better.

The local brokers received tons of on-site experiences, ranging from a meet-and-greet with Phillies legend Jim Eisenreich, to being on the field for batting practice at both the Marlins and Pirates games. Maybe I’m biased, but I’d be doing back flips if someone offered me any of those experiences. Oh and did I mention that the 2007 World Series trophy was in our suite at Fenway?

While all of the events went off without a hitch, I can’t say the same about my personal travel experiences. It never ceases to amaze me that there’s always one thing that goes wrong when I travel. Maybe that’s user error, but I highly doubt it. This time, it was the fact that the parking garage outside of Fenway Park took my keys to move the car throughout the game, but never returned them to me after (I.E. they lost them.) After 30 minutes of trying to figure out a solution with the attendant, I noticed that my driver side car window was wide open and the keys were in the ignition! I can’t imagine telling my boss that I couldn’t get home from the game because my rental car stolen.

Until next time, stay classy, Internet…

Schnitty

All the way from the small town of Alton, VA we bring you the third Grand-Am hospitality event of the year at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This may sound a little cliché but honestly, VIR is an experience that you would have to see firsthand to truly appreciate the type of atmosphere surrounding the race. The 2.5 mile road course is cut out in the middle of the woods with a picturesque setting to accentuate the track. Think Little House on the Prairie meets Days of Thunder. In all seriousness, the rolling hills and antique barns offer a very unique setting unrivaled by any other track that you may have visited. All in all, it makes for a very relaxed at-track environment which, as anyone who works in racing will attest to, can be a rarity and is certainly appreciated.

As with any business trip we take here at a|i|m, we like to enjoy ourselves while we’re away. I mean, who says that our events have to be all work and no play? Unfortunately, as you can probably imagine, there is not all that much going on in South Boston, VA (where our hotel was) so we have recently come up with our own little VIR tradition to help keep us entertained: bowling. This marked year 2 of the bowling extravaganza in South Virginia and, sadly, it did not quite live up to the enjoyment that we had year 1. Although the competition and the company were definitely enjoyable, something about a bowling alley that has no music playing makes for a fairly dull experience. Bowling without music is kind of like being the only person out on the dance floor…it makes for some awkward moments. As always though, we made the most of it and ending up having a pretty good time. At the very least, we were able to take this picture of some pretty amazing shoes so that alone made the trip worth it’s while.

Race day is here and we’re all set for a day of good racing and a solid hospitality program on behalf of SunTrust…that is, if the rain holds off. Needless to say, the weatherman’s prediction of heavy thunderstorms was not quite accurate as the day ended up being pretty nice (I’ll take partly cloudy and 68 degrees at the track any day of the week). Despite a few minor hiccups related to equipment malfunctions (I don’t want to bore you with the details), our elite hospitality team of Debbie Golden, Brooke Young and yours truly was able to pull off a successful day full of plenty activities for our guests to enjoy. Based on the feedback received, it seemed that all of our guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves and, at the end of the day, that’s all that it boils down to. I like to think that the guests based all of their positive feedback on the excellent job that Debbie, Brooke and I did and that it had nothing to do with the fact that the #10 SunTrust team ended up with a 3rd place finish (do you sense a little bit of sarcasm?). In all seriousness, a BIG congratulations goes out to Max, Ricky, Wayne and the rest of the Wayne Taylor Racing Team for a very impressive race! It was the first podium finish for Ricky as a member of Wayne Taylor Racing and we all expect many more in the future. Well done guys, well done.

A big thank you goes out to anyone involved with our event at VIR and especially to our excellent guests who made our job pretty easy. We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to seeing you again!

It’s been a few long months of planning for Family Circle Cup (FCC) and the time has come to depart for Charleston. All of the hard work from the a|i|m and SunTrust team will come to life over the course of 11 days at the WTA event in which we will entertain clients and prospects, execute a display and on-court promotion to support the retail line of business and also host a player party to help facilitate relationships for our Sports & Entertainment Specialty Group bankers. A lot of moving parts on different programs all supporting one initiative…..grow the SunTrust business.

8am on a Friday morning is an early day to meet Rachel at the office to leave, but that’s nothing good conversation, lots of laughs and a to-go breakfast can’t cure. Rachel and I prepped the display area for the next day’s events and gift bags were finalized for player check-in early the next morning. The display was set up with LiveSolid.com branded ping pong tables, paddles and balls and was a big hit amongst participating fans. Based on the number of visitors, it is safe to say that our display was easily the most popular of the week.

SunTrust Sports & Entertainment Specialty Group (SEG) hosted the Player Party Sunday night with branding, sponsorship of the SunTrust “candy station” (always a player favorite) and player gifts that helped welcome them to Charleston. The Player Party always offers a great opportunity for players, coaches and other tournament participants to relax and enjoy themselves before a week of intense competition. Needless to say, it was definitely fun to see players such as Jelena Jankovic away from the tennis court enjoying themselves, shopping and just hanging out.

The suite got off to an early start Tuesday with action on stadium court and a house full of guests and bankers. Player visits all throughout the week offered a unique experience where our guests could ask questions, get autographs and post for pictures. This is definitely the highlight of the day for some of our guests.

Game. Set. Rock! was a new addition to this year’s event in which SunTrust clients were able to play tennis with the likes of John McEnroe, Monica Seles, Jim Courier and my personal favorite…Anna Kournikova. These four players were going to participate in a unique mixed doubles event as an add-on event for this year’s FCC. Everyone in attendance enjoyed the playful “competition” between these legendary players.

The clock rolled over to Sunday and I had been in Charleston for 10 days, working long hours and was pretty ready for things to come to a halt. We finished the event strong to a response of all smiles and compliments from the client, which is what you always want from an event. A huge sense of accomplishment for our team of SunTrust Sponsorship members as well as a|i|m – we really bonded during the planning of this event and it’s nice to look back at one of the better events we have ever done. The a|i|m team packed up everyone else and got them to their flights on time and finalized everything Sunday which included an afternoon nap, an excellent dinner at Coast and a famous Vanilla milkshake from Hall’s to close out the trip.
Another job well done to everyone involved.

The Colonial Life hospitality event in New Orleans began with our guests navigating through the French Quarter festival along with the joys and spirits of Bourbon St. only to arrive unscathed for a customized four course dinner at Felix’s Restaurant. The head chef at Felix’s prepared a special menu for our Colonial guests who were all eager to taste the flavors of traditional New Orleans cuisine. With a fun and eager group the dinner was a hit! Raw oysters, fried crab claws, gumbo, jambalaya and shrimp platters were consumed from one end of the table to the other. To say everyone had their fill was an understatement!

Enjoying the night

Then next order of business was loading the guests on to the limousine bus and taking a short ride to New Orleans arena for the Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw concert. While on the bus gift bags were given to each guest and included a customized Colonial Life belt buckle commemorating the event. The guests were all thrilled with the buckles as they matched the theme of the evening perfectly!

Buckle Up!

When we arrived at the Colonial Life suite Lady Antebellum had just started to rock. Our guests quickly made themselves at home by grabbing a drink and finding a seat in our perfectly located suite. The view made it seem as though we were watching from right on top of the stage as many of our guests were snapping pictures of the concert and admiring the view. The intermission between performers allowed plenty of time for our guests to talk business and tricks of their trade. Once the lights dimmed for Tim McGraw the crowd roared and everyone jumped up! Every seat in the suite was filled and where there weren’t people sitting there were definitely guests dancing! Our group thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the show, and took full advantage of the elegant spread of drinks, popcorn, dips and dessert platters. Overall each guest left with a memorable and fun filled evening on a great night New Orleans. A special thanks to all Colonial Life guests for making this inaugural hospitality event truly a night to remember.

The weekend in Birmingham started with a SunTrust on the pole at Porsche 250 Grand Am race at Barber Motorsports Park. Ricky Taylor had a great qualifying run on Friday and excited our guests for a exciting race day on Saturday.

Taking the pole!

Saturday was buzzing with the IRL qualifying in the morning showcasing some of the best drivers in the world with Helio Castroneves, Tony Kaanan, Dario Franchitti and of course Danica Patrick. Following qualifying our guests were able to attend the drivers meeting and had the chance to meet with Ricky and Max at the SunTrust hauler. After a tour of the hauler and garage areas everyone prepared for a quick ride in the new Porsche pace cars. Our guests enjoyed the 911 turbo and new Panamera at speeds up to 120 miles per hour as the pace car drivers navigated the course.

Once we settled in for the race in the paddock suite we enjoyed a great race day with SunTrust leading the way for the first few laps until a caution brought everyone into the pit. The #10 came out in seventh and moved back into the top five until a late accident spinning the SunTrust dallara damaged the rear suspension. While the team finished the race in twelfth everyone was excited to see us on the pole racing in the top 5 for most of the day. The next SunTrust hospitality event is the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton on Saturday, April 24. We hope to see everyone there!

Not a bad view...

As the 52nd Daytona 500 race was quickly approaching, Lauren and Brooke were excited to host 40 SunTrust clients and bankers at this Great American Race. Things started off well with all guests registered and the details all buttoned up. THEN came the snow into Atlanta on Friday, February 12th… Who knew that 2.5 inches of snow on the ground in Atlanta could cause such travel problems into Florida!  Lauren and Brooke woke on Saturday to snow on the ground and after a long hold period with the airline, it became apparent that they would be driving to good ol’ Daytona!  So after some plan tweaking, grabbing a quick rental car and getting on the road, Lauren and Brooke arrived in Daytona just in time to get set and ready for the Sunday race activities.

On Sunday, the guests arrived with their usual excitement for the Daytona 500 and they enjoyed the new SunTrust suite that offered both inside and outside seating options. The sun was warm and was making for a perfect race day experience.  By about 11:00am, just as the sun went behind the Tower Suite building, it was quite chilly in those outdoor seats! 29 degrees in Daytona is quite cold!!  After piling on the jackets and gloves (do Floridians even own gloves?!?) and an informative tour through the Cup garage and pit lane, the guests were ready to listen to a Tim McGraw mini-concert and watch the start of the 2010 Daytona 500!

After a few exciting crashes early in the race and a two inch hole in the track that became quite a long red flag caution, the Daytona 500 turned into the longest NASCAR race that Lauren and Brooke can remember! Despite the delays, the SunTrust guests enjoyed themselves and had a great time watching the fight to the finish throughout the day.

As the 2010 Grand-Am season kicked off, SunTrust entertained 45 guests at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The jam-packed weekend started with pace car rides, a tour of the Daytona 500 Experience museum and a welcome reception and dinner at the Shores Resort with the SunTrust team drivers.

Quick pose with the team!

On Saturday, guests enjoyed a garage & transporter tour, photos with the team and the opportunity to run through the pouring rain back to the suite!  Once comfortable in the warm and dry Tower Suite, the guests watched the on-track action all day. As the evening approached, the guests were entertained at the a|i|m motorhome in the infield with a campfire, s’mores, drinks and a great fireworks display.

First, you take the mallow...

On Sunday, we woke to find the SunTrust #10 car has a rough night in the garage and would fight tooth and nail for their 6th place finish.  A long but exciting weekend for all!

SunTrust guests posing for a quick shot near the infield

Recently, the SunTrust team has been traveling all over the Southeast hosting a number of special events for SunTrust. We have been promoting SunTrust’s new Everyday Banking Solutions products and providing them incentives for visiting our booth (i.e. t-shirts and other SunTrust logoed items). Tyler Hargrove, who is the mastermind of our radio events, planned his weekend radio event in West Palm Beach while I was in Burlington, NC. I mention this because West Palm Beach had over 2 inches of rain and was a washout and we had the perfect weekend with the sounds of Marvin Gaye, The Jacksons and Otis Day.

The SunTrust team enjoyed up the weekend next to the main stage and introduced a number of people to SunTrust. Our display registered people to win an iTouch and provided all of the registrants with some gifts to make their event more relaxing. Nothing better than some bug spray to keep the mosquitoes away or a new SOLID t-shirt for our prize chamber winners.  We gave away the iTouch on the stage to finish the day and the winner came running in from the back of the park like she was just announced to be a contestant on the Price is Right. Let alone a great day for SunTrust, we enjoyed the best R&B, Oldies and Gospel Music and danced the day away. Some of our staff did the moonwalk in remembrance of Michael Jackson as well.

The weekend was dedicated to everyone in West Palm Beach who were looking for a bright, bright, sun shiny day.

The steady stream of people...

Grab what you can!

It’s been 6 weeks since my last post so I’m pretty sure everyone in cyberspace has been asking themselves, “Where did Brandon Schnitzer go?” Well the answer is simple…no traveling = no posts. Lucky for all of us, my traveling hiatus ended this week as I flew to Dallas to promote Just Plugs at the Nitro Jam event in Crandall, TX.

For those of you who don’t know and I was one of them until a few months ago, Nitro Jam is one of the many drag racing series in these United States.  I’d have to say the coolest thing about “The Jam” (That’s what I call Nitro Jam) is that anyone can enter their personal hotrod in the Sportsman Races.  I saw everything from an old school 1930’s Ford to a beat-up pimped-out Texas Ranger SWAT car.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it because it was CLASSIC!

In regards to the event on-site, it ran fairly smoothly, although the weather wasn’t too great.  Overall I’d rate the event a 9, especially since it was our first one with a branded tent.  a|i|m introduced Just Plugs to a wide array of corporate sponsors of The Jam and its B2B sales are looking extremely promising.

As usual I’d like to thank my awesome brand ambassadors “aka Just Plugs Girls” for their help throughout the weekend.  It was pretty cool to hear them on the PA announcements plugging the brand…MUCH APPRECIATED!

Just Plugs brand ambassadors

Overall there weren’t any real crazy stories like usual, although I’m happy to say I finally had my first experience at Whataburger.  While I do agree that it freaking rules, it definitely does not compare to In-N-Out!  Whoever says that the two are comparable is sadly mistaken.

Two weeks off before my next endeavor in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I’ll get my cowboy hat ready, because I hear the Rodeo is in town! HI-YO!

Peace out interweb,

Schnitz

The Grand-Am season is starting back up after a long two month hiatus. We are in Alton, Virginia for the Bosch Engineering 250 Rolex Series race. We arrived in the thriving metropolis of Alton – sense our sarcasm – and went straight to the track to pick up the golf carts and the boxes we shipped in. As we arrived back at the SunTrust tent, Andy tried to duck his boat-of-a-6-passenger-golf-cart under some pennant flagging BLOCKING THE WAY (on purpose, as you can imagine) and he snapped both strands. Nice start. Especially with our track rep standing right there. Good to meet you Tim!

After fixing the torn pennant flagging (and giving Andy some grief), we then began to set up the SunTrust tent at turn 4, 5 & 6.  What a great spot to watch the race tomorrow!  The set up went well and we were set and ready for our guests’ arrival tomorrow morning.

SunTrust Hospitality Tent

After the work at the track, we headed to our hotel to check-in.  We had some reservations about this small-town, local establishment, since we heard that other companies would not manage it and will not any longer.  We arrived to be greeted with a lobby with a glass teller counter for night time usage. Really reassuring.  We got our room keys (set #1) and moved the car to the parking spot closest to the stairs our outside corridor doors.  As we started to unload, the manager came running towards us telling us that he gave us double bed rooms. As we said we did not care (and Tyler got quite excited that he could jump from bed to bed), he then stated that he needed these rooms for someone else! So we went back for room keys set #2. Hope those guests don’t get our keys as well.

After looking around (the parking lot…) for the bellman, we grabbed our bags and went into our rooms.  Tyler seems to have drawn the short straw this weekend, since the photos below are from his room.  I, however, got what we quickly coined as the presidential suite since all faucets drained and the TV was the newest.  We enjoyed a good laugh about our rooms before retiring to clean up for dinner.

Oh my! Tyler, what did you do?

At least the hotel had HDTV...

Andy, I promise not to tell you where to put that banner again!

After a great night of dinner at one of the two restaurants in Danville (yes, Mike and Kimiri – we went to THE Mexican restaurant), we decided to hit the Riverside Lanes for a bit of bowling.  I was quite up front about my lack of bowling skills, but Andy, however, told us he was “not that good”.  After a warm-up game where Andy scored 157 points, we knew differently (Tyler: 102, Lauren: 62).  During the second game, Tyler came back for a rousing round with a score of 140! Nicely done. I even managed to squeeze out a total score of 91! Whaoo! The highlight of the evening had to be when Andy nearly slid half-way down the lane in style.

We started Saturday with some quick set up of the tent and the guests arrived. During a long hot (90 degrees in April?!) day of guest entertainment including pace car rides, driver meet and greets and a pit stop demo, we had a great time with our guests.

SunTrust drivers Max and Brian with guests

After packing the zillion boxes we shipped to the track and taking many-a-trips back to golf cart compound, we headed back to the hotel to examine the sunburn damageAndy and Tyler were quite excited to hit the one-and-only sports bar in town (Buffalo Wild Wings – BW3 – still don’t get that nickname…) for some dinner and the NFL Draft.  During the down time of the Draft, team “ATL” competed in Trivia and swept 6 rounds in a row and ended the night 18th in the country. Go team. Well, really Tyler. He is FULL of useless information.

Yet another VIR race down and only 363 days until we are back in Danville, VA.