FILO Executes 15th All-Star Fan Festival With the NBA

For the first time in the history of the National Basketball Association, the NBA All-Star Game and weekend festivities were held outside of the United States. The 65th NBA All-Star Game was played in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and FILO helped to host NBA Centre Court at the Enercare Centre for the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend. The fan-friendly festival took place on February 12th – 14th and hosted more than 40 courts and hoops, with fans participating in many different games and contests, meeting and getting autographs/photos from NBA Players, Legends, and Cheerleaders, as well as purchasing NBA All-Star merchandise.

In preparation for NBA All-Star, FILO worked with the NBA to create a tour that reached 14 cities throughout Canada, touching base in every single Province. On the Thursdays and Sundays of these tour stops, FILO (along with an NBA Mascot and NBA Dance Team) held BMO Jr. NBA Clinics at local YMCA’s. Each Friday, former NBA Legends joined the Tour to participate in the BMO NBA All-Star Kidsfest. And on each Saturday, everyone moved to a local University to take part in the Bell NBA All-Star Challenge presented by AIR MILES, in order to find the top talent across Canada while competing in a three-point contest, skills challenge, and slam dunk contest.

Scores were kept across the various regional finals on a leaderboard and the top two in each category were brought to Toronto to compete for the championship during NBA All-Star Weekend on NBA Home Court, at NBA Centre Court.

This years’ NBA All-Star Weekend was different than the 2015 All- Star Weekend in New York City. All of the events that FILO helped with were under one roof in a large facility, more similar to an NBA All-Star Jam Session that has taken place in the past. On Friday morning, February 12th, a Jr. NBA Clinic Presented by Under Armour brought more than 2,000 kids in for fun and games, and was led by NBA past and current Superstars.

FILO also coordinated prizing for all activations and courts at NBA Centre Court. Overall, it was a very successful event and the partnership with the NBA is greatly appreciated and valued.

Q3 Contracting Works with FILO to Plan Annual Conference

The Q3 Contracting Annual Conference took place on March 5th at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel. After developing a relationship between the two companies over the past year, FILO was asked to help organize this event and make it even more memorable than before. FILO was able to take on most of the logistical tasks and helped narrow down the many options (from which hotels were available, to menu options, to evening game options), in order to streamline the decisions and take most of the stress off of the Q3 organizers.

After a morning full of presentations, the afternoon consisted of a guest speaker and a Team Building activity where the employees constructed bicycles for a youth organization, which brought the children to thank Q3 for their generous gift!

The employees had a little time to relax before a social hour and dinner. And for the evening, a vision for a “Big Kids Playland,” a carnival-themed event, was created to replace the casino-night festivities that took place in the past.

Over two hours of Skee Ball, Hi-Striker, Golden Tee, and darts (among many other games), allowed each guest to earn tickets. At the end of the night, a raffle was hosted where the earned tickets were put into the bin of their choice, enabling each person to increase the odds of winning the item of their choice. And of course, what carnival would be complete without snacks such as corn dogs, nachos, popcorn, and cotton candy?

The day went off without any issues, in large part to the great staff at the Sheraton. They worked hand-in-hand with FILO to ensure everything went smoothly and their professionalism was fantastic. It took a large number of people, working together, to put on such a successful event. And we hope it is the first of many events we host like this.

Top 10 Things FILO Learned About Canada

10. Snowfall seems smaller in the metric system (although it’s not) and 5 degrees is warm in January! (when measured in Celsius)

9. Loonies and Toonies make your wallet lighter, but your pocket heavier.

8. Canadians and Minnesotans are similar in more ways than we realized... don-cha-know, eh?

7. Eating egg salad sandwiches at Subway is a delicious option.

6. Unlike the majority of the US, Canadians truly love hockey as much as Minnesotans!

5. The Super Bowl experience is not quite the same as in the US: the commercials are different, and you can actually find a spot at a bar to watch the game.

4. Donair is a spicy, smoked ground meat (typically beef) often put into a hoagie…But dang was it good on a flatbread pizza!

3. A fantastic way to start your morning is by going to Tim Horton’s and getting coffee and maple-filled donuts.

2. Poutine… Awesome.

1. The people in Canada are pretty darn nice!!