A Royal Reveal

Webster defines a hero as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability. We agree. Our heroes, to name them specifically, are Larry Abel Designs and Mary Giuliani Catering.

Back in late March the Royal Caribbean team was charged with pulling together an event for more than 100 attendees, all in less than three weeks time. What really upped the pressure was that the event was to reveal possibly one of the biggest architectural feats in Royal Caribbean’s corporate history—the first announcement of what will be featured onboard the cruise line’s biggest and most impressive ship ever, Oasis of the Seas.

With no real images of the ship to speak of, only renderings created by a Chinese art company contracted by Royal Caribbean, and signed NDAs needed before we could disclose any details of the announcement to anyone working on the event, it made the three week window all the harder.

Basically the weeks ticked by in a blur. We crazily spat instructions and stream of consciousness thoughts at both Larry Abel and Mary Giuliani (once those NDAs were signed) as we at Weber worked on all the final details that go into event planning and make that degree in public relations seem all the more worthwhile… “Does he spell his name with an ‘i’ or a ‘y’ for these nametags? “Is it THE New York Times for these tags or just New York Times”- OK we know that one… but you get the drift.

The end result of our first reveal was a very happy client and an amazing list of attendees. But I think above all, one of the biggest lessons our team took away was how crucial the event planner is in steering the ship (pun intended). (And no, Larry and Mary aren’t paying us for this publicity. This is free of charge for our 2 a.m. emails and last minute tasting requests for 25 people). On our way back to our office after the event, as our bodies melted into the leather seats of our rented car, we exchanged war stories of less-than-successful events past. The common thread that connected them all: less-than-stellar planners. As I regained feeling in my throbbing feet, I was just happy we didn’t have another fatality to add to the pile.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned anything about our second reveal. It’s also three weeks out…

The Glamour of Live Television

Each year, a small group of Weber Shandwick Bahamas team members devote several months of planning to the annual Bahamas Weather Conference, where top hurricane experts, researchers and meteorologists gather to discuss hurricanes and forecasting.

This year, I inherited the role of managing the meteorologists' live broadcasts from the Bahamas. From February to April, I focused on my Excel spreadsheets, organizing broadcast times for about 70 meteorologists from around North America. I had big shoes to fill -- my colleagues before me, referred to as the "satellite queens," secured hundreds of live shots, never missing a live window. As we got closer and closer to the conference, I started to feel my nervous energy increasing.

The first day of the conference, I woke up at 5 a.m. and reported to the beach in the dark. The sun rose about an hour later, with soft pink light illuminating the giant sandcastle on the edge of the beach. With the help of my fantastic colleagues, I managed to simultaneously keep the constant live and taped shots organized throughout the day, hitting 10-minute satellite windows from Colorado Springs, CO to Miami, FL. It was nerve-racking and thrilling at the exact same time.

By the time the sun set the next night, I had over 80 live shots under my belt, which resulted in more than 147 broadcast hits. I'd successfully completed my first live television experience!

Bahamas Weather Conference: Satellite Truck, "Organic" Sandcastle and 125,000 Hits

"Sailing," the Christopher Cross version, is what comes to mind when I think of the 12th Bahamas Weather Conference. Along with my trusty colleagues, I sailed into Grand Bahama in April, helped the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism put on a successful conference, and sailed back to New York. Well actually we flew, but you get the point.

Weber Shandwick is challenged with making each Bahamas Weather Conference grander than the last, so how did we pull it off and make it look easy? First, we put on the standard issue conference polo shirt, which automatically makes us look more intelligent. For substance, secured Dr. William Gray and Dr. Phil Klotzbach to announce the 2008 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Forecast at the start of the conference. Then pitched the AP, CNBC and other media to interview them from The Bahamas. Next, we jazzed-up the http://www.bahamaswxconference.com/ VODCast site so that 125,000 people have a reason to visit the site over the course of four days (and they did.) And finally, built an "organic-looking", oversized, branded sandcastle to serve as the backdrop for live broadcasts.

The 2008 conference was amazing. Everyone had a job to do and they did it well. The beach at the Westin Grand Bahama Resort also held up its end of the bargain.