Part of my decision to leave the agency world 15 months ago was to have a chance to do more consumer-facing work–e. g., actual packaging that ends up in stores, websites that sell a tangible product, etc. I got the job at the craft company as they were preparing to launch a new consumer product, and we launched it Monday and Tuesday of this week (hence the “hell-fortnight”, as my friend called it).

We kicked things off with a fancy launch dinner with a road trip theme. This was the display of table assignments:
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Then we had dinner and the big reveal to the audience (yes, that display rotated, and yes, we made that backdrop using the new product):
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The next day, our invitees could take a “road trip”  into three different state-themed rooms, see the new product in action, and make a few projects in each room. This was the Utah room, with a “cabin” theme: IMG_2147

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This was the New York room, with a “fashion” theme:
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And this was the California room, with a “beach” theme:
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IMG_2154(I was not consulted on this copy. Also, I am not pregnant; just slouching in bad lighting.)

 

What these pictures don’t show is our team making 80% of the event decor using the new product in some way–to cut vinyl to create a stencil on the plates in the cabin room; to cut fabric to make the banner in the beach room; or to cut iron-on film to decorate pillows on the deck chairs. (Also not shown: shlepping very heavy items in and out of ballrooms and up and down the stairs of the hotel, very late at night and very early in the morning.)

I thought I knew about big projects from my agency days, but those were nothing compared with the work of the event itself, or even the work of the last six months behind the scenes. But here we are. We made it. Hell-fortnight is nearly over*, the new product is launched, and my copy (at least parts of the first draft of it) is out in the consumer world.

 

*We have one more big event this week–we’re sponsoring the opening night gala of Alt Summit, which means more projects and decor in an entirely different theme, and a different ballroom to decorate. I don’t wanna talk about it right now…