Sound the horns and release the doves!

We are very proud to announce that our very own Kristi Atkins (a.k.a. The Boss) has just been named President of the Atlanta chapter of Women In Sports and Events (WISE).

Founded in 2004, WISE is the leading voice and resource for women in the sports and events industry.  The Atlanta chapter is one of just seven in the country and has a very active membership group dedicated to providing networking opportunities and career resources to all participants.  “I’m excited about working with the rest of our board members as we continue to grow as an organization and provide as many opportunities as possible to assist all of our members reach their professional goals,” Kristi said.  “The next couple of years project to be a challenging, yet exciting, time for our industry and I look forward to meeting the challenges ahead.”

Kristi and the entire team of a|i|m ladies have been active WISE members since the company’s inception and we’re proud of her new-found status as a leader wearing the Presidential hats of two organizations.

Good luck, Kristi!

For the second consecutive year, we were fortunate enough to represent SunTrust at the Family Circle Cup (FCC).  The FCC is a 10-day tennis event that provides SunTrust the opportunity to entertain top clients, interact with fans and create awareness – all while doing so in a new market (Charleston, SC).  It also allows for us to eat amazing seafood in an awesome port city.

Rachel Fort was my “wingwoman” for the event and the first few days consisted of preparations for the upcoming week and getting the finishing touches on the SunTrust display, which allowed patrons to play the tennis game “Top Spin 3” on a Wii.  In my few months working with a Wii, I have decided that there is no better babysitter than a Wii console.

Easter Sunday began, of course, at the Waffle House. Yes, Waffle House.  The original plan was to eat  a ham for dinner, but that required two hours of baking time, which we didn’t have, so we resorted to Cuban sandwiches and “totchos.”  Totchos are a Mike Vancza special that includes tater tots, melted cheese, tomatoes, green onions and chicken.  And cholesterol medicine.

Throughout the event, we activated a SunTrust promotion highlighting the positive effects of being physically and fiscally fit.  In a multi-faceted display, we gave away a Wii and Wii Fit console as well as Blackberry Curves to anyone who had SunTrust account and AT&T cell phone service and enrolled in SunTrust Mobile Banking. What a deal!

Wii!

On Tuesday, we awarded the winners of our Charleston and Hilton Head retail program with a Venus Williams “Meet and Greet”.  One randomly selected winner and four employees were invited to bring a guest to participate in a Venus Williams Meet and Greet at the Daniel Island SunTrust branch.  Venus was really great to our guests – answering questions, posing for photos and signing autographs.

Meet and Greet with Venus Williams

By Wednesday, we were beginning to tire and our clothes were ready for a good wash. My wingwoman dropped her clothes at the hotel to be cleaned, but my traveling experience lead me to take my clothes to a “Fluff ‘n Fold.”  For those of you who aren’t familiar, Fluff ‘n Folds are different from dry cleaning in that they’re significantly cheaper and they fold your clothes nicer than your mom would.  Sorry, mom.

On SunTrust Night, we executed an on-court promotion that was one of the most amazing spectacles I’ve  ever witnessed.  Upon entry to the stadium, every person given the first component – a SunTrust-branded  tennis stress ball and mini-sharpie.  The second component took place in between matches.  “SOLID” (based on the SunTrust tagline) bins were brought onto the court and fans were encouraged to attempt to throw their SunTrust balls into a bin. For every ball ending up in one of the “SOLID” bins, $1 was donated to the Center for Women in Charleston.  In addition to the spectacle of mini-tennis balls flying all over the place, SunTrust was able to donate $1,000 to the Center for Women.  The third and final component of the night included another Wii give-away in which a randomly selected patron took home a Wii and a Wii Fit courtesy of SunTrust.

Murphy Jensen dodging all the tennis balls he could!

All in all, it was a great week (or 10 days). Our SunTrust clients were happy, all of the promotions were successful, bankers and clients were entertained and Rachel and I decided to get married!  Well…not really, but our tolerance level for each other went up considerably.
Next time – I’ll talk to you guys from the racetrack!

Vancza

Hey Everyone,

It’s that time again – another chapter in the life of Brandon Schitzer!

I am just now getting back from my fourth weekend of traveling in a row! Although some would maybe have issues with it – I don’t.  How many guys in their mid-20’s get to travel to New Orleans, St. Louis, Vegas and Jacksonville in four consecutive weeks for business and enjoy what they’re doing?

This weekend we were in Jacksonville, FL with Just Plugs for the Supercross event at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.  Did you know that Jacksonville is the largest city in the United States at over 820 square miles?

Jacksonville – The Biggest City in the World!

Overall, the Jacksonville event went extremely well.  For the fourth straight week, the Just Plugs promotional girls were excellent, the fans were receptive and we promoted Just Plugs to thousands of fans at the Supercross event. On a personal note, my favorite part of the weekend was when a few fans came up to me and recognized me from New Orleans.  See, Mom – I am famous!

This kid wouldn't stop bragging.

After the event ended, I headed over to my friendly neighborhood Applebee’s to eat and watch the UNC-Villanova Final Four game.  As a bonus I ran into a bachelorette party that was just getting started at the Applebee’s also.  Hey-yo!

After my travel issues in Vegas, I am happy to report that I encountered no delays on the flight home and I can’t wait until my next event, at the end of May for the IHRA Nitro Jam at Dallas Raceway in Crandall, TX.  See you there!

Until next time,

Schnitty

Last week saw the entire a|i|m team participating in a little Spring cleaning. By a “little,” I mean a lot. Our plan was to divide and conquer and we did just that. After two and a half hours of work, the joint was finally looking good.

I would like to apologize to the cleaning staff who comes by every night, because they were probably furious when they turned the corner to our office and saw mounds and mounds and mounds of boxes and other various trash. (I didn’t take a picture of that – it was almost embarrassing.)

For your enjoyment, below are some pictures from our Spring cleaning – as you can tell, some people had a better time than others…

The kitchen clean-up team. Outstanding.

Mike found this jacket. He kept mumbling, "if coach would have only put me in..."

Lauren really did a great job of not expressing her feelings about cleaning the closet...wait...

Oh, the things we found. Yes, that's a tire.

This weekend saw myself and Kimiri Smith working with our friends at Mahindra Tractors at the speed palace known as Texas Motor Speedway located, of course, in Denton County, Texas.  A lot of people call it Ft. Worth but sitting in my office in Atlanta is just as close to Ft. Worth as the race track is.

Texas Motor Speedway – right around the corner from Ft. Worth

I will say – Texas is one of the nicest tracks on the circuit with an even nicer group of people who run the place.  Kevin Camper and his crew are second to none when it comes to handling customer service and we are privileged to call those guys our friends.  The facility itself is beautiful and was made even better with the awesome weather on Friday and Saturday.  On Sunday, the wind decided to show up and I’m not exaggerating when I say it would have removed my toupee David Spade-style if I had one.  Outside of our time with the Mahindra folks, my favorite memory of the weekend was once again viewing the ingenuity of the NASCAR fan and their ability to express their passions.  Good and bad.

One fan makes their feeling on the driver of the 18 car well known…

Anyways…back to the business at hand.

As I mentioned, we went to Texas to work with our good friends at Mahindra Tractors to execute a hospitality event during the O’Reilly 300 Nationwide Series race.  In addition to cheering on the #23 Mahindra Chevy driven by Robert Richardson, Jr., a lot of our guests got their first experience of the thrill of a NASCAR event in person including a meet-and-greet with Robert, garage tours and then watching the race from the Pits (including the opportunity for everyone to take a turn sitting on top of the Pit Box).

Robert Richardson, Jr.

Between listening to Robert and his conversations with the R3 Motorsports team, hanging out at the motorhome and watching the race from the Pits – everyone from Mahindra had a great time during the event.  They took pictures with Robert on Pit Road right before the command to start engines, met four-time heavyweight champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield and got the full VIP treatment.  We definitely look forward to our next event with them and also want to send a hearty thanks to our friends at EROHS and R3 Motorsports.

Until next time –

Jason

A few highlights from the past week -

Brittany's desk was business "carded"

Atlanta has seen a lot of rain recently. The ladies didn't want to ruin their shoes.

Elliott "How May I Help You?" Horwitz