Winter is Coming - FILO Builds G.O.T Exhibit

On Thursday, November 24th a group of 10 FILO’s gathered in Chicago to help produce the Game of Thrones: Season 6 “Behind The Scenes” Exhibit in the historic Grant Park. This event let fans of all-ages immerse themselves in the magical world by participating in multiple iconic experiences that included virtual reality “Battle Training” at Castle Black, photo opportunities with the Iron Throne, and learning all about visual effects, props, and displays!

This free-admission event was open from 12-8pm on Saturday, November 26th and 11-5pm on Sunday, November 27th. Game of Thrones “Behind the Scenes” celebrated the release of GOT: Season 6 to DVD and Blu-Ray, which features a lot of content and action not previously seen before! HBO Home Entertainment has now hosted three separate “Behind the Scenes” Events; first in New York (Nov. 18-19), then Chicago (Nov. 25-26) and most recently in Los Angeles (Dec. 10-11).

FILO’s responsibilities included booking travel, hotel accommodations, labor management, load/unloading equipment, set-up and tear-down, including Castle Black, Winterfell, North of the Wall, Vaes Dothrak, and The Workshop. FILO looks forward to working with Square Design and Rubik Marketing in the future!

FILO Organizes the Union Depot Holiday Bake Sale

FILO Productions produced our second successful Holiday Bake Sale in partnership with The Union Depot of St. Paul on Saturday, December 10th. The event hosted 20 different bakeries from around the Twin Cities; 10 giftable food vendors that included homemade salsa, jams, and maple syrup; and 10 Lowertown Pop artisans who were selling their unique wares. A special gift bag was given out to all those that attended with a collectible train cookie cutter set. The event saw 3,000 people in attendance over the course of the day, as many people got to enjoy the tasty treats as well as get a head-start on their Holiday shopping.

A Holiday stage was active throughout the event featuring special guests: Alexis Thompson of My Talk 107.1, Stacy Williams of KSTP, and Stephanie March of MPLS/St. Paul Magazine My Dish talk radio. The stage also hosted singer Eryn Tvete and six of the bakeries in attendance, demonstrating everything from Russian Tea Cakes, to chocolate bark. The Holiday Bake Sale was a "sweet treat" for everyone this year and FILO Productions is looking forward to being a part of it again next year!

FILO Joins MOA in Paying Respect to Veterans

This Veterans Day, FILO Productions teamed up with the Mall of America to put on a fantastic event: the 1st annual Veterans Day Chef's Challenge presented by Star Tribune. The premise was simple: start with eight teams (of two people), and work your way down to one final winner. There were four rounds, with each round lasting one hour. Teams had to use a different MRE (Meal-Ready-to-Eat) as part of their dish each round. Teams were comprised of one service member with cooking experience, and one professional chef from a Mall of America restaurant. The team members had never met before, so it was a unique challenge to work together, while trying to create a dish that would impress the judges and carry their team on to the next round.

In addition to the load-in and load-out of all equipment for the Challenge, FILO’s role during the competition was to support the contestants and make it as easy as possible to complete their dish each round. Whether it be restocking necessary items, removing, cleaning and replacing dishes, or letting the contestants know where they could find certain ingredients and equipment, FILO had it covered. Time moved fast during the competitions, so everyone had to work together. Between rounds, FILO would reset everything, as well as clean all equipment and make sure everything was set for the upcoming round of competition.

It was a long (but worthwhile) 16-hour day, as load-in started at 6am; competitions began around 1pm; and the champions were crowned just after 8pm.

In the end, the team representing Hard Rock Café was awarded first place.

It was truly an honor that FILO had the opportunity to execute such a fun and meaningful event, watching two complete strangers come together in an attempt to show-off their cooking skills, while paying respect to our Veterans. Everyone deemed the event quite a success, with record crowds stopping by the rotunda area to watch the competitions.

FILO looks forward to working with the Mall of America for next year’s Veterans Day cooking challenge, and many more events to come.

NBA RENS Event (#2) in NYC

On Monday, October 17th, FILO’s own Luke Hvidhyld hopped in a box truck and drove out to New York City for the New York RENS 2016 Gala event, marking FILO’s participation in the event for the 2nd consecutive year. The New York RENS is an amazing program that encourages personal development through the sport of basketball as well as in the classroom. This wonderful organization works hard to accomplish goals though their AAU teams of all ages, and through their strong mentoring program(s). The RENS Program is a great organization that is strongly rooted in the New York Basketball community and had been praised for developing young, talented, and motivated individuals.

Come Thursday, October 20th, RENS hosted their 2016 Gala in the Cipriani Building at 55 Wall Street, New York. The Gala dinner was in efforts to raise funds to continue to support the AAU athletes and the mentoring programs around New York City. Both Luke Hvidhyld and Brian Buron of FILO were on-site to provide a basketball hoop, wood-grain court, and custom-signage for the main attraction!

8 lucky tables were chosen, at random, to attempt a half-court shot for the chance at a $100,000 donation to a specific group, team, or program of their choice! Unfortunately, no contestant hit the big shot, but the event was a major success and FILO is very proud to have been a part of it!

FILO’s responsibilities included transportation of all equipment, both to New York and back to Minnesota; loading/unloading equipment on-site and in the NBA-warehouse; setup and teardown of the basketball hoop and court in the ballroom; installing custom RENS graphics; securing hotel accommodations; and coordination of the basketball portion of the event with the RENS group.

Once again, FILO is very proud to have been a part of such a wonderful event for such a wonderful cause. RENS believes that the sport of basketball can teach young adults very important life lessons, and FILO is happy to be aiding in their mission to spread their passion and enthusiasm for the game of basketball!

Happy Halloween From FILO

On October 25th, FILO had the pleasure to help with the design and management of the Annual Pearson's Candy Halloween Bash and once again, the event was a huge success. This is the 3rd consecutive year FILO has executed the one-day Halloween event, held in the yard of Pearson's Candy Headquarters.

The FREE event for families and kids, featured all the favorites from previous years with Norm the Magician, bouncy houses and customized magnet picture frames to take home.

But this year, Pearson’s wanted FILO to pump up the haunted décor to a whole new level…and that is exactly what we did! If it wasn’t the foggy, spooky cemetery equipped with a horse drawn hearse and 7-ft. tall grim reaper, or the grungy pirates and their treasure being attacked by a giant sea urchin, then the mad scientist with smoking gadgets and bubbling experiments was sure to have attendees in awe. Spectators couldn’t get enough, taking tons of pictures to post on social media or keep as mementos.

FILO also added a couple of creative activities, which were a hit, including an enormous chalk board for the kids to get artistic with a fancy Halloween drawing, and face painters who never stopped working from start to finish.

As always, a portion of the proceeds from this event went to the Ronald McDonald House and even with a bit of rainy, cold weather, this year was a record breaking year in sales.

Pearson's was over the moon with the ideas and concepts FILO dreamt up for this wonderful event. We, at FILO love the opportunity to participate in events that not only bring the community together, but also give back at the same time, and this event allows us to do just that!

FILO Provides Staff for MLB H.O.F. Tour

This September, FILO was given the opportunity to join forces with Major League Baseball and its mobile Hall of Fame Tour. For this Tour, FILO was tasked with promoting the mobile exhibit that was located at Mall of America from the 16th to the 29th of September. We promoted the exhibit using more than 20 brand ambassadors throughout the city of Bloomington and Minneapolis. Our ambassadors interacted with fans at Target field, Mall of America, T-Mobile stores, and the Minnesota Zoo IMAX in hopes of educating baseball fans about the MLB Hall of Fame Tour.

The MLB Hall of Fame Tour was comprised of five interactive trailers, each showcasing a unique part of baseball history. There was something for everyone, as each interactive trailer educated fans on something different, whether it was the history of the game or the traditions of baseball. They even brought in 45 special artifacts from Cooperstown. The Tour also showcased the first ever mobile IMAX Theater as well as a dedicated trailer to virtual reality. Virtual reality was new to the Tour this year and was instrumental in combining the nostalgic feel of baseball with new age technology that fans loved. The Tour was a great mix of old school with a new age touch. Virtual reality headsets and coupons were used (by FILO) to attract patrons in high-traffic areas, and encourage them to check out the exhibit.

Being an extension of this tremendous Tour was a wonderful experience for FILO. It was a great opportunity to showcase our ability to contribute to a high quality event/project as we continue to be a leader in the event industry. We truly look forward to the next time we get the chance to work with Major League Baseball and their fans.

FILO Produces St. Paul Oktoberfest for the Second Year

FILO Productions produced yet another quality event for the people of St. Paul and surrounding communities. Held in Rice Park, in downtown St. Paul on September 16-18, 2016, St. Paul Oktoberfest saw over 7,000 attendees over the course of the three-day weekend. Beautiful weather and typical German food, beer and entertainment helped to draw the crowds that attended our St. Paul Oktoberfest.

Ten very competitive teams pushed a bed down Washington St. hoping to secure a top-3 finish in the annual bed races. The top three teams were awarded prize money, which was donated to a charity of their choice.

Great entertainment from the main stage inspired people to get up and dance with the New Ulm Narren, and polka with Jimmy the Polka Pirate. The plaza space in Rice park was fit for patrons to kick up their heals to an accordion, or try their hand at one of the many German beer drinking games, like the beer chug from a traditional German boot....Prosit!

Did someone say yummy? How about some authentic German cuisine from The Black Forest Inn, Venus Spaetzle Haus, Burbach's European Pancakes, and who could forget… The Snitzelmeister!

Attendees did not forget to wash the food down with a frosty beer from local breweries, as Tin Whiskers, Schell's Brewery, Paulaner and many Oktoberfest beers were available on tap.

While eating, you could also enjoy games on the lawn or watch the kids play in the bouncy houses FILO provided. The St. Paul Mounted Police performed a horse demonstration on the lawn, showing both the skills of the horses as well as the riders.

And what would an Oktoberfest be without a wedding? Our Oktoberfest had two wedding parties from the Landmark Center grace our event both Friday and Saturday night.

While St. Paul Oktoberfest is a traditional Oktoberfest with plenty of beer and cheer, our family friendly event was a hit for the many that attended. We already have people asking, "When will it take place next year?" Hope to see you at our next Oktoberfest! For more information, please visit http://www.saintpauloktoberfest.org/

FILO Manages Third Annual NBA Campus Pass Tour

This year marked the third annual NBA Campus Pass Tour presented by AIR MILES. The Tour decided to shake things up a bit and hosted three separate events, each in different cities, within the span of four days! We coordinated with three universities to match up with their “Welcome Week” festivities. Our first stop was Ryerson University in downtown Toronto; then we scurried over to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon; and for our final stop, we ended up at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

The Tour was filled with engaging on-court events like BUMP, Make or Miss, King of the Key, and a multitude of different games for the students to participate in. Current and former NBA Players Marcus Camby, Amir Johnson, and Antonio Davis stopped by to hang out with the fans, answer questions, and sign some autographs. We also had international comedian, Greg Coleman, hosting all three events. With his wit and charm, we were surely the hottest spot on campus!

The AIR MILES activation allowed fans to sign up for their very own AIR MILES Rewards Card. The AIR MILES’ Swipe-a-Shot basketball interactive game traveled on the Tour, giving fans the opportunity to win a variety of awesome Raptors gear. We also provided the authentic Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy on the Tour with us! We displayed the trophy so fans and students alike could come by and snap a picture.

Responsibilities for the Tour included securing vendors for trucking, staffing, labor, security/first-aid and a DJ; acting as liaison between (and with) the NBA, AIR MILES, and the three universities; creating detailed CAD-drawings; set-up, execution and strike of all 3 event sites; prizing inventory and give-a-way; warehouse management of equipment; and providing top-line and Tour recaps to improve the Tour.

FILO was thrilled to be a part of the third annual NBA Campus Pass Tour Presented by AIR MILES and is looking forward to another Tour in 2017!

FILO and Pepsi a Great Pair for Summer of 2016

Throughout the summer of 2016, FILO has partnered with PepsiCo to introduce the Twin Cities area to some new products. It all started in May of this year, as FILO was hired to execute an 8-city Tour, with five of the stops featuring Aquafina Sparkling Water. Two other locations demonstrated the PepsiCola 1893 brand, and one final stop endorsed a Dewcision 2016 event (selecting a new Mountain Dew brand).

After a very successful (initial) campaign, a second tour was created to start in July, and was scheduled for six Tour stops that featured Aquafina and PepsiCola products. FILO represented the brands and helped to get thousands of cans into the hands of consumers, promoting the products at places like Rock the Garden, Mall of America and other high traffic locations around Minnesota.

As with every FILO event, the Sparkling Spotters, the name given to the FILO brand ambassadors, made sure to arrive early to set up and prep for each event, before executing hours of engaging product sampling with the patrons of Minnesota.

The main purpose of the Tours are to increase awareness to Pepsi’s new brand, and flavored beverages. Aquafina has three new flavors of Sparkling Water, Black Cherry Dragonfruit, Lemon Lime, and Orange Grapefruit, and PepsiCola has two new flavors of their 1893 brand, Original Cola and Ginger Cola.

For the Dewcision 2016 event, Mountain Dew was looking to release a new flavor of their own: Pitch Black.

FILO’s role in the project included budget management, providing experienced brand ambassadors and a lead Event Manager, as well as delivery of the product, and working through necessary permits and applications with PepsiCo and venues. The feedback on the Tours (and new beverages) was tremendous — so tremendous, in fact, that FILO is working to find more ways to help PepsiCo, and their brand, branch out with more experiential marketing ideas and activations.

FILO is thrilled to work with such an insightful, innovative and successful partner like PepsiCo.

FILO Helps Hormel Foods Celebrate 125th Anniversary

One of the iconic companies in Minnesota, Hormel Foods, had a big anniversary this year. The company was created in 1891 and is turning 125 years old! A Birthday this big ensures that many celebrations must be held, and some feature events took place in Austin, MN for the Hometown Community Celebration.

To celebrate the anniversary, FILO helped design and produce 9 custom mini-golf holes, associated with the Hormel Food brands, for a plethora of feature events that took place at the end of July.

The Hormel Foods "Women Our Way" employee resource group organized the Pep it Up 5K Your Way race and fun run on July 23rd. The next day featured the Family Day at the Flagship Austin Plant, which gave family and friends of workers a chance to see the facility and gather for a picnic. On Thursday, July 28th, corporate and sales employees joined together for an afternoon to promote their goals for the next 125 years and to become even more inspired by the CEO and COO. And closing out the week of fun, July 29th featured the Big Birthday Bash community event, which was held in downtown Austin for employees, community members, and company partners that featured fun activities and live entertainment, such as Kat Perkins and The Band Perry.

The FILO-Hormel partnership demonstrated the full-service abilities that FILO can provide to its clients. Hormel’s innovative idea to create a mini golf hole for each of its most recognizable brands, included a combination of creative services, experiential marketing and providing a fun experience for the participants. FILO took care of all the details; everything from designing the holes, to the fabrication of them, to bringing them to each event and setting up and tearing down afterwards. It seemed to be a highlight for many that attended and just one more example of the many services and capabilities FILO has to offer as a company.

FILO Partners with Operation Warm for Inaugural Twin Cities Hero’s Haul

FILO is partnering with the firefighters of the Twin Cities for another event this fall, the Hero’s Haul Fire Truck Pull. Operation Warm is a program the firefighters’ union (IAFF- International Association of Fire Fighters) helps to support by raising money to purchase brand-new American-made winter coats for school children in areas where the need is the greatest. The St. Paul firefighters have worked with FILO at GermanFest the past three years, and the St. Paul Oktoberfest for two years, raising money for this amazing organization.

The national organization of Operation Warm is creating a fundraiser that they hope can be replicated throughout the country, to help ensure children all over are able to stay warm while playing outside and going to school. It is called the Hero’s Haul Fire Truck Pull and Operation Warm will execute a few events this fall, with the hope to expand over the next few years. The Minneapolis and St. Paul IIAF chapters are coming together to create a formidable partnership and to combine their efforts for Operation Warm. FILO has been asked to produce the event due to their expertise of the Twin Cities market, past partnership and support of Operation Warm, and for their ability to create a successful, high-quality event.

FILO will be responsible for overall event management, securing and managing all vendors and security, and will have a hand in selling sponsorships for the event. FILO’s duties also include venue negotiation, permitting, operations of the event, staffing, providing equipment, and activation execution.

The Hero’s Haul event will consist of teams of 10 people to pull a fire truck 75 feet. The date is set for October 8th at the Seven Corners parking lot on West Seventh Street in St. Paul (just across from the Xcel Energy Center). There will be food trucks, live music, photo opportunities, and much more, along with the main attraction, a competition to pull a fire truck and raise money for Operation Warm.

If you would like more information about the event, please go to http://firetruckpull.com/minneapolis/. And if you have a group of people that would like to participate, please follow the link on that webpage to sign-up.

Mall of America a Popular Place for FILO Events

One location that has been a great host to events FILO helps manage is the Mall of America. Over the past few years, there have been a variety of successful events held in the Rotunda. The past couple months have been no exception, as two of the events included a Minnesota Lynx season kick-off party and a Nickelodeon promotion of the Kid’s Choice Sports Awards.

On May 21st, 2016, FILO, in conjunction with FOX Sports North and the Minnesota Lynx, put on a great community event. It consisted of a half-court basketball area, an interactive photo opportunity and Pop-A-Shot games for kids. A highlight for many of the people that attended was the “Lynx Training” that people got to experience on-court. It was a little taste of what a WNBA practice is like.

Another area that received a plethora of attention was the interactive photo opportunity, provided by FILO. Kids and adults alike were able to take all kinds of fun pictures. There were large player cut-outs, along with huge emoji’s to hold, and everyone that took a photo was able to take home a personal print. Overall, this was a great event and a blast for all involved.

The Nickelodeon-sponsored Kids’ Choice Sports Awards party took place on June 25th and 26th. It was a large promotional event for the awards show that was coming up in a few weeks. At the Mall of America, there were three inflatable opportunities (football, baseball, and soccer) that kids could practice their skills at. Also available at the event were temporary tattoos and hair painting stations. And while all of those were a huge attraction, the main feature was the drawing at the end of each day. There were a few great prizes, like 4 tickets to a Minnesota Vikings game, but the grand prize was a trip for 4 to the awards show in Los Angeles. It drew a huge crowd at the end of the event and left one lucky kid very surprised and happy.

FILO Produces 3rd Annual GermanFest MN

This was the 3rd Annual GermanFest Heritage Festival that was produced by FILO, in partnership with West End Festivals and the Fort Road Federation. After a hugely successful 2015, much of the same structure was used for this years’ event. It took place over three days, June 17th – 19th at the Schmidts’ Artist’s Lofts site (formerly Schmidts Brewery).

Many of the same vendors were back again, both for selling their crafts and for creating delicious foods that people have come to expect. The Strongmen competition returned for the third year on Saturday, as well as the return of the Dachshund races as a feature event on Sunday. As always, one of the most popular attractions was the local tour(s) put on by historian, Dave Bredemus. This year the tour(s) included areas on the brewery site that have not been opened to the public in many years, and showed the Rathskeller before renovations take place on the infamous, old building.

Of course, in order to keep the event new and exciting, new components were added to 2016. The most noticeable was the focus on art, which is especially important to GermanFest since the old Schmidt Brewery has been turned into Artist Lofts.

The tenants were able to walk outside their doors and have a festival to attend without even leaving the property.

The theme for 2016 was “Modern Art with German Heart” and helped to display many connections to bring artists into the fold. Local artist Richard Hubal created a mural titled “A German Breath Over St. Paul MN” which featured many of the most famous churches all over Germany and St. Paul, and also had attendees create leaves to put on the frame. There was also a tent for the local artists to set up a table to display and sell their pieces and to engage in the community.

Another new participant this year, Hot Air Affair, helped with the “art in the sky” theme and brought in their hot air balloon baskets to help promote their own event. The Hot Air Affair is a great tie to Ferdinand Von Zeppelin's first hot air balloon ride that was piloted by John Steiner out of St. Paul, MN in 1863. Based from these flights, Von Zeppelin designed his first cigar shaped balloon called the "Zeppelin."

As a new addition to the calendar, FILO partnered with the Germanic-American Institute to put on Deutsche Days, which was a week-long program with activities each day to help bridge the gap between the GAI’s feature event, Deutsche Tage, and GermanFest. This helped to bring the two events closer by engaging the German community throughout the week, with new events that could not otherwise find a home. One of the highlights for Deutsche Days was a bus tour hosted by Dave Bredemus. Each year, GAI has become an even bigger supporter of GermanFest MN and we look forward to growing our partnership in the upcoming years.

FILO Creates NEW Branding Division, Aims For Cost Efficiency & Superb Customer Service

For years now, FILO has created, managed and executed high-scale events for companies all over the world. Recently, however, FILO broadened their services and capabilities by introducing a new department that will allow FILO to produce new event displays, signage and banners for new (and existing) clientele.

The FILO catalog, which includes hundreds of examples for your next project or event can be found on FILO’s webpage under “Signage,” or visiting http://www.filoproductions.com/displays__tents_and_signage.cfm.

Here, a company, client, festival or consumer can find a variety of ways to brand and design any project. The catalog includes custom banners, tradeshow displays, teardrop flags, custom tents, retractable banners, banner displays and any custom signage one could dream-up.

FILO has partnered with a local manufacturer in an attempt to avoid higher distribution costs and mark-ups. Items can be done as quickly as 24-48 hours, and FILO works to match the best price on the market.

Virtual samples are offered up FREE of charge, and FILO offers general creative work at an affordable cost.

Quarterly promotions will also be available for new customers.

For more information on FILO’s new service, or to receive your own virtual sample on a certain product, please contact andywestphal@callfilo.com, or check out the FILO catalog at http://www.filoproductions.com/displays__tents_and_signage.cfm.

Let’s Celebrate Baseball! at the Mall of America

FOX Sports North teamed up with FILO to put on “Let’s Celebrate Baseball!” at the Mall of America Rotunda on Sunday, April 17th from 12pm – 3pm. Youth of all ages came to participate in free baseball activities and learn more about the sport. Some of the activities included a pitching inflatable where the speed of the throw would be measured, a hitting machine, Twins PLINKO, Twins Guess Who, and a photo opportunity with a FOX Sports backdrop and props that allowed fans to go home with a lanyard souvenir to remember the day.

A great crowd came throughout the event, with many fans in Twins apparel waiting outside the entrance of the area before it opened at noon. One of the newest FOX Sports North personalities, Audra Martin, was also available to sign autographs and talk with fans. The Twins played the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Target Field that afternoon, with the game starting at 1:10pm; this was shown on the large screen in the Rotunda. The hometown team came from behind to tie the game in the 8th inning and won the game in the 12th, making it one of the most exciting games of the year so far and completing the three-game sweep of the Angels.

FILO Productions worked on more than 10 events with FOX Sports North in 2015, and looks to continue the great working relationship through 2016 with events like “Let’s Celebrate Baseball!”

Meet the Fidos of FILO

On a spring day, nothing changes the usual tone of the office like bringing 11 dogs to work for the day. Of course, if anyone walks into the office on a normal day, they are greeted by several dogs that come to work with their guardians. But when canines outnumber employees, you know something special is happening. And the occasion was truly a special one -- it was Dog Day at FILO and the dogs were brought in to help make videos to promote GermanFest. One of the purposes was to highlight the connection between FILO Productions and GermanFest, since many guests of the event do not know the organizers are a St. Paul company and help with events all over the world.

Listed below are the dogs (with guardian in parentheses) and the message from their individual video:

Gogo (Linda) is happy to have Schell’s beer at GermanFest again this year.
CoCo and Victor (Kevin) can communicate with each other throughout the festival with AnCom radios.
Kirby and Buddy (Maddie) want everyone to know that you can bring your friend/"buddy” to the Schmidt Brewery site.
Cubbie and Cooper (Andrew) love how much there is to eat, and can burn off those calories while dancing to the great music on our stage(s).
Penny and Sawyer (Brian) want people to show up early and get a front row seat with them for the cultural presentations.
Petunia (Kristen) and Milkshake (Steve) were happy to make a new friend while finding out they have a lot in common.

A new video will be released each Monday, leading up to GermanFest at FILO’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FILOProductionsInc/) and YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/FILOproductions1810).

Please view the videos and share them with your friends. Because, after all, who doesn’t love watching cute puppy videos on the internet to brighten up the beginning of the week!