Being a long-winded sports fan, I gladly accepted the challenge of writing a blog about my new experiences as an intern at a|i|m.

My first major adventure: Gettin’ dirty with those infamous “dirty birds.” Corny I know, but in all seriousness at the end of each day, I was drenched in sweat so I can think of no better word than “dirty” to describe my first time out of the office.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll explain: My first on-site experience has been at the Atlanta Falcons training camp. What I do is help set up the tents outside the practice fields and get everything ready for when the public comes in to watch the Falcons practice. In order to do all this, I get the special opportunity to wake up at hours I never knew existed. Believe it or not, there is life before 6 in the morning. Who would have known?

I get to the complex and I basically do whatever is needed. Whether it’s setting up the tents, running back and forth to the car, putting together the promo items and giveaways, I do it all! By the time we get done doing all of this, I’ve pretty much lost half of my body fluid from sweating. I wish the word “hot” had more emphasis than it does, because those three letters do not do justice to how absolutely sauna-like it felt. And I have definitely gained a new appreciation for those players and what they endure. I was exhausted at the end of the day even with a tent and a fan, I have no idea how they don’t collapse every day.

Every now and then, I’d get to walk over to the fields and watch the guys practice (I have never felt so small in my entire life.) Some of the guys are tall, some are big, and most of them are both. In my 5’3 little body, I felt like David watching hundreds of Goliaths stomp around and grunt all day.

At the end of my first day I was sweaty, hot and completely worn out, but I loved every minute of it!

-Erin

With the ATC coming up, a few promotional goodies came into the office yesterday. We HAD to test them out…

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 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

It’s a week from Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust.  Weather people are calling for cold temperatures and snow.  Seriously?  This news would be a serious pre-cursor to the weekend and affect how the event would unfold. The drive up was a nice dusting of snow on the roads and visibility reduced a little bit, but overall not bad and we all arrived in Nashville safely.

Upon our arrival, Lauren put us straight to work organizing gift bags, labeling boxes and other miscellaneous tasks to get ready for the big weekend.  Our hospitality team was entertaining close to 100 guests that include bank executives, Sports & Entertainment bankers as well as clients and prospects of the bank – this constitutes a high visibility event where you do not want ANYTHING to go wrong.  The college national title game is being played that Thursday night as well and I remember last year, filling out section numbers and times on autograph passes.  Tyler and I are determined to get everything done by kickoff….this doesn’t happen.  Just before halftime, we finally finish up and head down to the sports bar to meet up with everyone else on the Sound & Speed team for dinner and relax for a few while Texas made a strong comeback to make it a game.

Friday began with set-up for the SunTrust Rock Band display for fans to enjoy throughout the day, but not just any Rock Band…the country version.  The display was being used as a way to promote the SunTrust SkyMiles card to fans where they could register for a trip to any motorsports race or Sound & Speed artist concert they wanted.  Upon being signed up, they were given collateral on the product as well as an airline based branded premium: neck pillow, headphones, mp3 player and peanuts were all given to fans.  The concert at the Ryman Auditorium that night was a lot of fun and blue glow necklaces were seen all throughout the seats. Each fan was given one from SunTrust as they entered the auditorium and it showed.  The night ended at the sports bar with our client to discuss the next day’s events, current sports headlines and the upcoming NFL playoffs.

That's not Ringo...

Saturday was an early morning at the Municipal Auditorium to ensure everything is set up properly for a successful day.  We were set up by the time gates opened and our staff arrived.  We used a mix of bankers who volunteered and hired additional staff for this event.  This is the best mix because you have the bankers who work the local event to interact with the fans and give out business cards and also paid staff to help out with anything that is needed.  At about  10:00 am, we find out that a water main break off of 2nd Avenue in downtown has closed down the roads near the WildHorse Saloon-the location of the VIP event that night called The groove.  The groove is where the stars come, it’s why sponsors come and it raises the most money for Victory Junction and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  Everyone from a|i|m comes together for a meeting to discuss the situation, determine options and figure out where everyone can help out.  During the meeting we find out The groove is now going to be held in the Municipal Auditorium…the SAME building we currently have autograph sessions, displays, etc. set up in.  This changeover for The groove is going to be a huge undertaking, but everyone is confident we can do it and frankly we did not have a lot of options.  After shutting down the display, which was a success for the day, everyone working on the SunTrust account began to help the Sound & Speed team. Everyone had their roles whether it was food, bars, registration, tables organization, silent auction, signage, red carpet….whatever it was, someone was working on it so we could flip this venue in an hour and a half.  Mission accomplished as we pulled off the event and received numerous compliments as people who had left the building to go shower and change clothes came back into the venue to a totally new event and new look.

And so it begins...

Guests enjoying the dinner, auction and live performances.

All in all, it was a great weekend for the SunTrust account team, but ultimately for a|i|m.  We came together as a company and showed everyone the quality of work we can do and with determination and teamwork, anything can be accomplished.

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!

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.