FILO: Minnesota's Top 100

Earlier this year FILO was selected as one of Minnesota's 100 Best Companies to Work For by the Minnesota Business Magazine. This is a tremendous honor and is a testament to all the hard work and dedication to our craft. This is a recipe for a wonderful work environment.


Below is the press release announcing the "100 Best Companies to Work For":


"On June 5, Minnesota Business magazine will host the 100 Best Companies to Work For Awards at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. Now in its third year, the event honors Minnesota companies that set the standard for employee well-being. Businesses that made the list in previous years have reported a tremendous boost in being able to recruit key new employees.

The “100 Best” were selected by an independent research firm employing various research techniques -- including an anonymous online questionnaire filled out by the employees of each company -- to determine which companies in Minnesota excel in the areas of work environment, employee benefits, and overall employee happiness.

The Minnesota Business team is pleased to share the 2014 list here.

Honorees will be invited to attend the celebration at the RiverCentre, where emcee John Cosgrove will lead them through a night of drinks, dinner, and an awards ceremony. Each company will also be listed in the June issue of Minnesota Business magazine.

To learn more about the event, click here. Congratulations to the “100 Best” of 2014!"

FILO is very honored to be a part of such a distinguished group!

FILO in Texas for NBA FIT Clinic

On April 12th and 13th FILO Productions and the NBA teamed up with Wal-Mart to put on another NBA FIT Clinic event. NBA FIT, in conjunction with Wal-Mart, put on clinics in San Antonio and Houston, Texas. The FIT initiatives preach a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy, playing together, and being active. For these particular clinics we were honored to have former San Antonio Spurs guard TJ Ford, as well as NBA Legend Clyde Drexler, as our coaches.

The coaches use their experiences as NBA players to help participants of the clinics learn the basics of the game while teaching them how to be healthy. The best part of the clinics isn’t the great instruction kids receive, but that it is free.


Both the San Antonio and Houston clinics were well attended with over 125 kids coming out for the clinics. Other than going through the clinics with the coaches they also get an opportunity to go home with an autograph and picture with their coach plus some NBA giveaways. Overall the NBA Fit clinics have been a great success this spring, and FILO looks forward to putting on more great Fit clinics this spring. Next stop is May 3rd in Memphis, Tennessee; hope to see you all there.

FILO Scores at VIP March Madness Event

On Monday, March 24, FILO Productions sent Vice President Andrew Westphal to Las Vegas, NV for a rare event during the Nightclub & Bar Show, a convention and trade show with over 37,000 industry experts in the bar, nightclub, beverage and hospitality industry. As part of the 3-day event, FILO sent a maple-wood 1/2 court and basketball hoop for the attendees to participate in basketball contests and activities between their sessions.

FILO’s portion of the event took place inside a ballroom at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where free beverages and snacks were provided, as well as other activities and elements including a pool table, foosball and one giant ice sculpture. The event and activation kicked off on Monday, and finished late Wednesday night, March 26.

The annual event included a kick-off party with special guest Ludacris and created an opportunity for patrons to mingle with speakers and professionals in the entertainment industry, while enjoying the nightlife of Las Vegas.

FILO’s involvement included providing all the equipment, shipping logistics, overall consulting and building of the activation, as well as taping official lines to create a March Madness-like basketball court for people to enjoy throughout the week. The ballroom and branding incorporated a college basketball feel, as the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament had just wrapped up its initial weekend.

For more information on FILO events like this, visit our EVENTS page to see where FILO has been and what they have done.
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FILO Produces 12th NBA All-Star Jam Session

Another year of NBA All-Star Jam Session is in the books! This year marked the 12th Jam Session that FILO has successfully managed for the National Basketball Association. This year, Jam Session brought us to the Big Easy, New Orleans, Louisiana

Jam Session, like every year prior, starts with planning months in advance. Many site visits, hours of conference calls, multiple versions of truck packs and layouts are just a fraction of what goes into the planning process.

After six days and many hours in the warehouse, FILO’s 16 semi trucks full of interactive basketball equipment were off to New Orleans. Once in New Orleans, our veteran crew was responsible for unloading and building all the equipment.

With four full days of building, tweaking, perfecting, polishing and cleaning, Jam Session was ready for the thousands of fans eagerly awaiting the opening on Thursday night.

FILO’s main duties during the show include inventory, distribution, procurement, janitorial, blimp coordination, parking and overall event management. We are responsible for making sure all sponsor areas have their premiums, making sure any packages or boxes being delivered are inventoried and received by the correct party, running safety checks on all equipment and most importantly, making sure the entire convention center is clean and presentable. A major part of the fan experience is making sure fans can have fun in a clean and safe environment.

Before and after the show is where FILO really excels though, as we set up over 20 basketball hoops, place more than 320 transframe signs, manage the pre- and post-production of signage, clean out the entire convention center and docks, and peel every last inch of tape from the convention center floor.

Our attention to detail and dedication to creating a lasting experience for every fan that entered made for a memorable NBA Jam Session in New Orleans. After four successful show days and two days of tear down, the16 trucks head back to Minnesota where FILO finished up with post-production logistics.

Lastly, after Jam Session is over, the FILO crew continues to work on wrapping up the event for weeks in the warehouse. Unloading trucks, scanning and re-inventorying, fixing damaged items, putting back all items in there appropriate spot in the warehouse, and recapping the entire event is when we can say Jam Session is complete.

FILO Produces Fox Sports New Orleans Booth

The NBA All-Star Jam Session is one of the largest events FILO helps manage throughout the calendar year, but since 2006, the local Fox Sports affiliate's booth has been an activation managed by FILO as well. FOX Sports New Orleans signed on for a 20’ x 20’ space for the NBA All-Star Jam Session, and FILO helped create a fan-favorite photo-opp. that allowed for consumers to take home a free custom-branded photo and lanyard of themselves in front of the Fox Sports anchor desk.

It was an extremely successful activation as more than 2,500 photos were captured over the weekend. Cleatus, the Fox Sports ROBOT, which is displayed in a giant life-size 6’9” costume, was on-site for autographs and pictures alike. The Fox Sports booth also showcased Bryan Williams, a.k.a Birdman, one of the most successful rappers and entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry, as one of their special guest appearances.

FILO’s role in the activation included pre-production logistics, shipping and transportation, element procurement, set-up and strike, and management of the booth for more than 30 hours over NBA All-Star Weekend.

FOX Sports New Orleans is the TV Home of the New Orleans Pelicans and LHSAA. The regional sports network also provides coverage of the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, Big 12, and C-USA sports.


For more information, please visit www.foxsportsneworleans.com

FILO Heads to Dallas for FIT Clinic

On Saturday February 8th, the NBA and FILO Productions teamed up to put on an NBA Fit clinic for the local youths of the Dallas area. NBA Fit is a program that encourages physical activity, healthy living and playing together through the game of basketball. The event was held in Dallas, Texas at the Dallas Walmart Supercenter. The clinic consisted of a full basketball court with two 8 foot basketball hoops, as well as multiple fitness stations inside the court. Kids were split up into groups of five or six and were able to experience each station for three to four minutes.

During each hour long clinic participants were able to interact with former NBA Players. For this particular event the NBA brought in NBA Legend Darryl Dawkins and former Dallas Mavericks player Sam Perkins. For this stop each former player helped run a one hour clinic. Sam started the day off from 1:30PM to 2:30PM and Darryl finished strong from 3:00PM to 4:00PM

Over 70 kids participated in the two clinics. The Fit clinics ran from 1:30PM to 4:00PM with time after each clinic to get autographs from the Legends. It was great to see such an impressive turn out from the people of Dallas despite the low early morning temperatures. 

Although it wasn’t our longest event it was a successful one. Overall, everyone really seems to enjoy their time during the NBA Fit clinics. It’s not every day you get to learn how to become more healthy and play basketball with NBA Legends.

FILO Heads to New Orleans for 13th NBA All-Star Jam Session

On Saturday, February 8th FILO Productions, Inc. will embark on a trip for their single largest event of the year: NBA All-Star Jam Session 2014. This year’s Jam Session marks FILO’s 13th year (12th consecutive) managing the NBA’s single largest event of the year. New Orleans, LA hosts this years NBA All-Star festivities. The city and convention center are no stranger to the veterans of FILO Productions. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is the 6th largest convention center in the Nation and was host to NBA All-Star back in 2008. FILO veterans Andy Acosta, Brian Buron, Andrew Westphal and Kevin Weinhandl were all a part of that Jam Session.


“It’s actually pretty special and means a lot to me because it was the first ever NBA All-Star Jam Session I ever worked. New Orleans is such a great city. The atmosphere is great and everything is so great around the convention center,” remarked FILO’s Vice President, Andrew Westphal.


Throughout the years, FILO has worked diligently to help prepare for the monstrous event. As an event management agency, FILO will help coordinate trucking and transportation logistics for 17 semi-trucks from the warehouse in Saint Paul, MN, down to New Orleans, LA. A veteran FILO team will help load the trucks in Minnesota, travel down south to the Big Easy and unload all 17 trucks in one day. FILO will continue to set-up a majority of the NBA’s elements within the 1.1 million square foot exhibit space.


Throughout the event, FILO will handle everything from parking to janitorial to distribution and signage. Other management duties include procurement of items for different activation areas, securing a blimp flyer and assisting in the execution of the E-Recycling event taking place outside of the convention center.


The NBA All-Star Jam Session runs from Thursday, February 13 through Sunday, February 16. Hours and other information regarding the spectacle can be found at http://www.nba.com/allstar/.


FILO takes pride in its role for the NBA All-Star Jam Session and believes it’s the finest event they have ever been a part of in their 13-year history.