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

We’re back and we’re in one piece! Last month, a|i|m made its annual trek to Nashville for Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust, a fun-filled weekend celebrating NASCAR and country music.

We’ve been a part of the event since day one and it’s been amazing to see it grow over the past few years.

The weekend kicks off with a concert featuring country music stars (we were lucky enough to have Hank Williams Jr., Vince Gill, Chris Young and Danny Gokey to name a few), but this year was particularly special as the performances took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

Hank!

The next day saw the Fan Festival – if you’re a NASCAR fan, you don’t want to miss it. From current and historic showcars and sponsor displays to country artists and NASCAR driver autograph sessions and on-stage Q&A, the event is one of the best ways to get geared up for the upcoming race season. Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kyle Bush, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Petty and Michael Waltrip were just a few of the drivers who participated.

Can you name everyone?!

No matter where you looked, you saw an a|i|m team member doing something – from assisting at the information booth to managing all of the on-stage activities.

On the night of the Fan Festival, we make a huge move over to another venue and hold a private party for sponsors, artists and drivers, which includes an auction, sit-down dinner and performances from more country artists.

As we headed up to Nashville, we knew that winter weather would play a role in some of the logistic plans, but we had no idea that it would stop us dead on our tracks. We found out the DAY OF the Fan Festival that our venue for the private party had closed its doors, due to weather problems in and around the city.

With hard work from many different people, groups and team members, we were able to successfully move the event to another location and it went off without a hitch.

A private and imtimate performance to close the weekend

Sure, there were sore backs and feet that hurt, but at the end of the event, we walked away knowing that we pulled off a small miracle. Everyone who took part in the event thoroughly enjoyed themselves – and knowing that made the all of the hard work worth it!

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.