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!

FILO Activates At The Men’s NCAA Final Four

FILO’s own, Andrew Westphal and Luke Hvidhyld had the pleasure of managing the Sport Court/Connor Sports activation for the second consecutive year at The Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. The activation featured two basketball courts, a replica hardwood court, an amazing “tip-off” photo opportunity, and a Sport Court/Connor Sports Jumbotron.

Our courts held a variety of different contests with Knockout and Team Work Shootout being the fan favorites. Fans got to compete against one another for rights to stay on court and eventually win the coveted hardwood replica prize.

This year the Sport Court/Connor Sports activation put a little “spin" on what is usually a standard photo opportunity. We took aerial shots of fans as they were “tipping off” against one another on the Official Court of the Final Four NCAA Tournament. Fans received their copy of the photo either by email or text and the top photos each day were showcased on the Jumbotron, suspended 15’ above the booth.

The Sport Court/Connor Sports Jumbotron also featured an original promotional video for Sport Court and Connor Sports, encapsulating the pre-production, building and painting of The Official Court of the NCAA Final Four.

FILO also helped provide an emcee/host for the duration of the weekend, at the booth.

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!!

FILO Productions Recap of 2015

From the beginning until the end, FILO was a very busy organization in 2015. Since there are more than 50 different events, it would be impossible to discuss each of them. However, here are some of the places that FILO has been throughout the past year.

Long-time Partners
As a result of our long partnership with the NBA, there were many different projects that FILO took part in over the course of the year. With the NBA All-Star game being held in New York City, it presented an opportunity to have NBA House events at different locations. There were also events hosted by different teams, such as during each game of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run and the New York Knicks Draft Party on June 25th. The New York Rangers hosted several viewing parties during their playoff run. Fox Sports North hosted events throughout the year, such as a season Kickoff Party at the Mall of America and a Photo Opportunity in their building at the State Fair each day of the fair.

Tours
This year, there were several large tours that FILO took part in. The MLB Roadshow took place in Calgary, Vancouver, and Montreal in July and August. The NBA Campus Pass presented by AIR MILES had stops in Toronto, Halifax, and Edmonton in September. The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted a FanFest tour during the preseason to bring the Cavs experience to other cities in Ohio. From November to February, the NBA All-Star Tour has 15 different stops to help engage fans in various cities in Canada, leading up to the NBA All-Star game being hosted in Toronto in February 2016.

New Events
Starting in January, Hockey Day Minnesota being held in St. Paul allowed for FILO to be involved with putting together the logistics to make it a major success. A new partnership with Mystic Lake resulted in several events, such as the Singles Mingle dating night, helping to find vendors for Ribfest, and organizing their Oktoberfest. FILO helped to organize Celebrate Israel Boston, which took place on May 31st. This was the first year FILO helped with the St. Paul Union Depot Holiday Bake Sale. And while it was the 15th Annual St. Paul Oktoberfest, it was the first time that FILO was involved with it and brought it to Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.

Recurring Events
Of course, there were many events in the home state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Twins had several events over the course of the year, such as TwinsFest and celebrating Twins Diversity during Cinco de Mayo. The 2nd Annual Twin Cities Burger Battle was held in Minneapolis for the first time, bringing in more restaurants and attendees than the first year. Festa Italiana was brought back to Harriet Island this July. And the 2nd year of GermanFest added another full day, more food vendors, more guests, and higher expectations to keep growing this into one of the largest and best ethnic festivals in Minnesota.

FILO is proud of each of their events and are happy to provide high-quality, successful events to our partners. We strive for long-lasting partnerships and are very thankful for each and every person and organization that we work with. It has been a great 2015 and we are looking forward to an even better 2016!!

Union Depot Holiday Bake Sale

This past Saturday, December 12th, the St. Paul Union Depot held its 3rd Annual Holiday Bake Sale. It took place in the Waiting Room of the Depot from 10 am – 5 pm. The $5 admission charge helped to raise funds for the White Bear Food Shelf, an organization that is doing great things in the northern suburbs. Not only was this a great opportunity to see this great venue, it also gave a chance to finish up your holiday shopping while tasting items from some of the finest bakeries in the Twin Cities. The media coverage on the local morning shows definitely helped to bring people to the Union Depot.

This year, FILO was responsible for organizing the bakeries and other food vendors, along with organizing the Entertainment Stage schedule with baking demonstrations and musicians. There were 24 bakeries that had a variety of offerings, which included cookies, cinnamon rolls, pastries, candy, chocolates, coffee, macaroons, s’mores, dog treats, and bread. There were also vendors that offered salsa, jams and jellies, soaps, and maple syrup. During the event, there was a preview of the Lowertown Pop event that will take place in April, with 10 of the vendors having booths as a part of the Bake Sale. This allowed some additional gift-giving opportunities for all attendees. The initial estimates are that there were twice as many people that came to this years’ event than came in 2014. FILO is very happy to partner with a great organization, such as the Union Depot, to help put on such a successful event.