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!