Let’s Get Festive!

Summer is fair and festival season and even before the official start of summer the fun has begun.

We recently wrapped up the Cherry Blossom Festival in Wilkes-Barre, PA and the Apple Dumpling Festival in Sinking Spring, PA. With 13 more festivals and a number of fairs on the calendar our teams will be all over from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh.

We thrilled to once again be working with Xfinity who believes in sponsoring and supporting community events large and small. Along with them, you will find us at a number of food festivals, art shows, air shows, concerts and specialty shows in the coming months.

Some incredible entertainers will be part of the many events. Upcoming shows include:

May 19 – Spin Doctors Wilkes-Barre

June 2 – KT Tunstall 3 Rivers Arts Festival

July 21 – Five Finger Death Punch – York, PA

July 22 – Nelly – York, PA

July 24 – Kix – York, PA

July 27 – Turnpike Troubadours – York, PA

July 29 – Tyler Hubbard – York, PA

July 29 – Donnie Iris and the Cruisers – Wheeling. WV

July 30 – Dierks Bentley – York, PA

More shows are being added through September.

It looks to be a fun filled summer as we’ve got some catching up to do!

Be sure to check our website for the latest upcoming events and follow us on social media for updates.

We look forward to seeing you at one of the many fairs, festivals, concerts.car, air shows and events happening this Summer

Ready, Set, Go. Taking on 2023

2023 marks our 15th year in business. There have been no shortages of challenges in that time, but a forced shut down of almost two years tops them them all.

Last year was a rebuilding year for our company and we entered the new year determined to be firing on all cylinders. We have added event staff, a new production vehicle and the first quarter on 2023 is booked with a large number of productions.

We are currently working on both regional and national projects with events planned this year in New York, Virginia and California. New clients have join us and relationships with past client have been renewed.

Challenges remain, but forging ahead we are confident of the high demand for in person events and our ability to create amazing moments for people.

All year long we will celebrate our anniversary with a new logo, new events and content across our social media. We hope you will follow us and enjoy what we share.

None of this would be possible without our team, vendors, partners, clients and everyone who has been a part of our events over the years.

I’m am personally so grateful for the places we have been able to go and people have worked with. When we first began I remember being told we could not be able to produce events in major cities outside of Pittsburgh. We would not be able to compete with established event companies. The prediction was wrong. To date we have produced events in 42 states and every major city.

We are continually working to build our team and improve our services and have positioned ourselves to meet the needs of our clients going forward.

Thank you for allowing us to do what we love for 15 incredible years.

The State of Events

On the doorstep of the 4th quarter of a year in which events attempted the great comeback from the pandemic, things are looking good. With a slow start to the year, demand and momentum has continued to build and we anticipate that to continue into 2023 as 73% of companies have returned to in person events. We expect that number to grow.

While the previous concerns and restrictions of in-person events have subsided, we can’t completely ignore health and safety concerns and planners need to incorporate a clear safety plan as part of their normal procedures moving forward.

While many of our clients and events have relaxed masking and vaccination requirements, you should have in place protocols if someone becomes ill during the event. We have conducted on site testing for staff and vendors before any close contact this year, however we do anticipate eliminating this step soon.

By now we are all accustomed to safety and health guidelines for attending an event, and relaxing these may be welcomed by some and cause for concern for others. Be prepared for both reactions. We are making space for attendees to make their own informed decisions. In order to do that one must clearly communicate expectations, policies and plans.

Event professionals have been challenged in ways no one ever expected. Yet we are skilled at adapting and overcoming unexpected issues. The past two years have proven that. As we move forward the challenges of increased pricing, supply issues, travel disruptions and more will all have to be carefully confronted and balanced, as events continue to grow.

Escaping Virtual – The Importance of Live Events

Email, text messages, online calendars, video calls, virtual meetings, social media. Our days are filled with digital distractions that seem to be ever expanding. Attempts to make it all even more immersive begs the question, will we even need face to face meetings and events anymore?

While the events industry embraced virtual technology as a necessity for survival during the pandemic, many continue on that path due to the time and investment made. There are certainly some logical applications for virtual events, yet it is also important to recognize the importance of in person events as they remain the most impactful. There are critical connections that can not be made on a virtual platform.

Not all communication is verbal. Being able to look someone in the eye, see and sense their response by reactions, facial expressions and body language is critical. Networking is about building relationships. That requires a series of encounters, social interactions and making connections beyond online conversations. Often in virtual platforms we become more of spectator than a participant or declare information rather than exchange ideas.

Great ideas come from great environments. I can’t tell you how many ideas are shared over coffee, in hallways, chance encounters and casual conversations. Rarely are the best ideas hatched within defined meeting times and compartmentalized gatherings. Even our own physical environment can inspire creativity. Escaping the screen and being a in new place can change perspective. We experience things differently in person and that can change our views. A virtual journey in some amazing location will not have the same impact as being there and experienced by all the senses.

When we gather together for a common purpose, the rest of our differences subside. We work with all kinds of people who are talented at what they do. We may have very different social, political and religious views, but we share a common goal and passion of creating amazing events. It’s our shared experiences that create a common ground that otherwise may not exist.

We never lost sight of why we do what we do. Even when we were not able to bring people together for some time, our mission and our goal did not waiver. In this age of firing off messages to avatars with little to no connection to a real person, it’s more important than ever to create opportunities for human connection beyond a screen. It’s more than just creating a great event. It’s about improving our world and giving people a chance to come together to laugh, think, learn and relate to one another on a level that simply is not possible on any virtual platform.

The Comeback: UPDATE

As summer ticks aways, our team at Pierce Events is hard at work on events for the remainder of the year. It was a the start of this year that we returned to full operations with the goal of rebuilding and once again producing in person events.

In March of 2020, we received a government order to cease the event we doing due to Coronavirus restrictions. We were told to vacate the venue and really had no clue what the days ahead would bring. As many shifted to virtual events, we instead educated ourselves on how to continue our mission of bringing people together for milestone events. After a 2 year shutdown, we expected a high demand for in person events, but were unsure if people were ready to return. That question has been answered with a resounding YES! Once we demonstrated to clients we could plan and produce safe in person events, our business has begun rebounding beyond expectations.

We kicked off the year with an event in New York. Navigating the state and local restrictions was a challenge, but we successfully did it and currently have another event in NYC in the planning stages.

We produced an event in Johnstown, PA to demonstrate our capabilities to a client. That has led to ongoing events.

We returned to Steel City Con, hosted a sports event at Penn State, partnered with Pepsi and Frito-Lay to produce events for their brands, participated in community events and recently welcomed a record breaking crowd to one of the largest food festivals in the country. All done safely.

In the coming months our team will be a part of the global gathering for the Little League World Series, a community heritage festival and a music festival. We have events planned from Downtown Pittsburgh to major cities in several states.

We are adding staff to our team and working hard to meet the needs of every client. None of this would be possible without the clients who put their trust in us, our event team who brings the dream to life and each and every person who attends one of our events. After a dark time of uncertainty, we are proud to say we are back and deeply thankful to still be doing what we love.

We invite you to visit our website to see what we are working on and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates from events happening across the country.

Are we safe anymore?

It seems everyday there is another story about shots fired and people killed or injured. Beyond the tragic violence we see in cities and neighborhoods, events are often a target with large groups of people gathered.

We saw the latest attack at a 4th of July parade in which 7 people were killed and many more injured. We can debate the causes and solutions, but the major question we hear is “Are we safe anymore”?

As event professionals, we learn and make adjustments after each event. If something tragic happens an event anywhere in the world, we study the information as to what happened, where were the security failures and what can we do to improve our own situational planning and response in the future. This effort began in earnest back in 2012, when a client suffered an active shooter event at a venue. Since then what we do in terms of safety and security is constantly being updated.

Most of what we learn and implement our clients and guests never know about. There are security elements we want highly visible and others you probably would never be aware of. If you attend one of our events you may see armed police officers, at times metal detectors at entrances, and restrictions on what items are allowed in secure areas. What you won’t see is staff trained to spot potential issues, a security team monitoring the entire event, all points of entrance and exit covered and plans and procedures should something occur. You won’t see the meetings and communications with first responders and the advisory to the nearest trauma units when a larger event takes place. You won’t see the K9 sweep of the venue, vehicles and equipment. You won’t see everything done to assure a safe and secure event for attendees, artists, employees and vendors.

We have attended a number of seminars and trained with experts from the FBI, military and personal protection. We just completed our latest course in conjunction with Live Nation on crowd management, threat mitigation NFPA safety code and risk assessment.

So to answer the question are we safe anymore… While no one can promise nothing will ever happen, we do everything within our power to make sure we plan and produce the safest events possible and are ready should something ever happen. Always be aware.

Deep In The Heart of Texas

We just returned from our second event in Dallas, TX this year. There is a spirit in the people there. They are not the type to sit idle and as we returned to live event planning and production that was evident. We were invited, welcomed and our production team did an outstanding job going above and beyond expectations. Texas has always been one of our favorite places and it’s fitting some of that Texas spirit helped us to relaunch Pierce Events.

I’m happy to report that we are now fully operational. We are once again producing national events and are in talks with a number of companies to expand our efforts and abilities. In the coming months we will be enhancing our services, expanding our staff, planning events in at least 10 states and announcing some exciting projects.

We are currently working on productions in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. For a Pittsburgh based event company, we think that’s pretty cool and we would not be able to do it without the trust and support of our clients. We work hard to be the best at what we do and never take any opportunity for granted.

What came out of some of the toughest times imaginable was a new perspective. We all had to adapt and change. We had time to reflect and now it’s time to put our collective energy to work.

I hope you will have a chance to be a part of one of our events or at least take a look at what we do on social media. You are always welcome to drop by our website to see what we are doing, what we have done and connect with us. Pierce Events

Hall of Fame Weekend

We recently returned to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH for an event. On September 1^st, the first annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic was be played in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The game featured Alabama A&M University vs. Morehouse College but it was much more than a game. It was a full weekend packed with all the experiences that a “classic” has to offer:  Marching Bands live performance; tailgating; a concert featuring Morris Day and the Time; Drum Line show; Dance Competition; golf tournament; VIP Reception and other events.

The Black College Football Hall of Fame was founded in 2009 by African-American pioneers, quarterbacks James Harris and Doug Williams to preserve the history and honor the greatest football players, coaches and contributors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

This Classic is a way to help fund a permanent Black College Football Hall of Fame within the Pro Football Hall of Fame museum, as well as provide the residents of northeast Ohio an opportunity to learn and experience the culture of HBCUs.

We were happy to team up with Pepsi to be a part of the experience and meet some wonderful people.

Time Flies

It’s hard to believe but it was 10 years ago the first post on Eventspark appeared. So much has happened since we first began Pierce Events and this blog.

We have traveled all over the country and have been a part of some truly incredible event productions and we aren’t slowing down.

We ended the school year with a bang as we brought our DJ show to area schools. It’s become a tradition for a number of schools to have us back each year.

We were in Atlanta for the 3 day Wine & Food Festival. While there we met some great people and had a chance to visit the set of the TV show “The Walking Dead”.

In June we launched a event series in partnership with Square to equip small business owners with the tools they need to succeed and grow. We

featured some really knowledgeable and inspirational speakers and hosted a series of classes in both Atlanta and Pittsburgh. All of it was offered for free and the feedback has been great. Hopefully we will be able to bring this program to additional cities across the country next year.

Our next event takes us to Bloomington, Indiana and we have events in production in Texas, California, Wisconsin, Ohio and New Hampshire for the second half of the year.

It’s been a great summer so far and we look forward to many more great events ahead.

 

The Reality Of Fantasy

Last year we met in California with a company developing a virtual reality platform. While VR is now accessible even for home use, this company is taking it to the next level by not only enhancing the technological aspects, but bringing together some of the most innovative minds from the artistic, entertainment, production, film and event worlds in a unique partnership. The idea is to go beyond current VR capabilities and create a totally location based immersive experience that incorporates the guest into another world. Participants get to freely roam on a stage with physical props that are incorporated into the experience. Each participant wears their a VR backpack complete with an integrated computer.

SPACES was founded at DreamWorks Animation and the team has wide-ranging backgrounds in film, television, video games and theme parks. We were invited to tour their newest project location in San Jose, CA.

As we walked through the venue still under construction at the time, we learned about the layout and vision. We also discovered a Pittsburgh connection as a CMU grad guided us through the venue. Needless to say we were honored to be asked to produce the grand opening event for this future of entertainment.

SPACES will launch a brand new immersive VR experience at the Century 20 Oakridge in San Jose, CA featuring “Terminator Salvation: Fight for the Future”  It will feature multi-sensory VR technology blending 4D effects, 3D face scanning, physical interaction and social group play.

Thrill-seekers will gear up and join the resistance in the fight against Skynet in a heart-pounding, untethered, adventure that takes place in the Terminator universe. Upon entering guests will register and scan their faces using SPACES’ unique, proprietary face scanning technology. Fans will then be immersed in a free-roam, virtual reality battle with up to four people in a group.

Transforming locations into digital playgrounds, SPACES invites guests to engage their senses through virtual reality, haptic feedback and environmental effects that guests can reach out and touch. The moment they take off their headsets, guests will immediately receive a cinematic video of their experience that they can take home and share on social media.

Technology is advancing everyday. It is now possible to place you into movies along side the actual stars and interact with countless characters in endless environments. The impact this could have on the future events could be huge. Imagine attending a concert or event happening thousands of miles away, or attending a luxurious gala in what is really an empty space. The possibilities are endless.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook Twitter and Instagram for updates from the opening event.