Have you ever wondered what it was like to put yourself in someone else's shoes when it comes to their job. Well, we at FILO think we have the best job in the world!
So we thought... why not give people the first-hand, behind the scenes "life of FILO," during the 2013 NBA All-Star weekend. For 13 days, we are going to take an in depth look at what it's like to be in the shoes of FILO, during our biggest, most exciting event of the year. We will provide daily diary blogs about anything and everything from a handful of different FILO representatives. Some stuff may surprise you... some things you may already know... but when everything is said and done, we can promise you that you will have a little better understanding of what FILO's shoes feel like.
Day 1
Written by: Andrew Westphal (AJW)
6:40am – 1 of 7 alarms go off. While it’s not any earlier than a normal day, missing the flight to Houston wouldn’t technically be, “starting off on the right foot.”
7:55am – The 2nd of 2 pieces of luggage is 8 pounds overweight. Needless to say, the next 20 minutes are awful and frustrating. I’ll save you the trouble, but long story short, there’s always a way. (A few tricks, courtesy of Bibs (Carrie Hagen), include restraining from putting your back 2 wheels on the scale or acting disgruntled to the point of which they walk away and leave you be, at which point, you just put the items you’ve removed, back into the suitcase – Let’s hope TSA isn’t reading this).
8:45am – Have you ever heard of this new Digiboo service? Downloading movies for rent or purchase in under 10 minutes to your digital device at the airport, apparently. Bibs and I had some troubles, but it seems legit. Iced light latte and marble loaf is purchased – these are automatics in the morning.
9:15am – Everyone’s waiting together at the gate to board. For all intents and purposes, when I refer to “the Boss,” it’s Kevin Weinhandl, not Bruce… The boss informs us of one of the worst possible things that could possibly happen before hopping on a plane for an event – he forgets his iPad.
12:50pm – FILO’s crew of 9 land safely @ IAH in Houston, TX. Yes it’s 60 degrees and yes we’re all thrilled about it.
1:35pm – 4 rental vehicles later, the two FILO ladies are headed to IKEA to purchase some furniture and 5 other of us are headed for the local vendor warehouse to check out the equipment they are holding for us. Shortly thereafter, we all head to a local event in Cypress, TX. No we have not headed to the hotel and checked-in yet – Dedication, folks. Take notes…
2:47pm – Shaun is sitting in the passenger seat. After being on one highway for 13 miles, I randomly say, “We don’t need to take 290 do we?” “Yea, why?” he says. “Because we just passed it…”
6:40am – 1 of 7 alarms go off. While it’s not any earlier than a normal day, missing the flight to Houston wouldn’t technically be, “starting off on the right foot.”
7:55am – The 2nd of 2 pieces of luggage is 8 pounds overweight. Needless to say, the next 20 minutes are awful and frustrating. I’ll save you the trouble, but long story short, there’s always a way. (A few tricks, courtesy of Bibs (Carrie Hagen), include restraining from putting your back 2 wheels on the scale or acting disgruntled to the point of which they walk away and leave you be, at which point, you just put the items you’ve removed, back into the suitcase – Let’s hope TSA isn’t reading this).
8:45am – Have you ever heard of this new Digiboo service? Downloading movies for rent or purchase in under 10 minutes to your digital device at the airport, apparently. Bibs and I had some troubles, but it seems legit. Iced light latte and marble loaf is purchased – these are automatics in the morning.
9:15am – Everyone’s waiting together at the gate to board. For all intents and purposes, when I refer to “the Boss,” it’s Kevin Weinhandl, not Bruce… The boss informs us of one of the worst possible things that could possibly happen before hopping on a plane for an event – he forgets his iPad.
12:50pm – FILO’s crew of 9 land safely @ IAH in Houston, TX. Yes it’s 60 degrees and yes we’re all thrilled about it.
1:35pm – 4 rental vehicles later, the two FILO ladies are headed to IKEA to purchase some furniture and 5 other of us are headed for the local vendor warehouse to check out the equipment they are holding for us. Shortly thereafter, we all head to a local event in Cypress, TX. No we have not headed to the hotel and checked-in yet – Dedication, folks. Take notes…
2:47pm – Shaun is sitting in the passenger seat. After being on one highway for 13 miles, I randomly say, “We don’t need to take 290 do we?” “Yea, why?” he says. “Because we just passed it…”
3:04pm – We get to the event and the fellas are putting together some elements for the event. We string together a few transframe banners and set everything up at a Sprint retail store. We couldn’t find the Sprint store originally because Shaun only noticed the Five Guys next to it, but it was in a nice little area. After Shaun and Dan have the event under control, Bri-guy, Andy and I hit the road for the hotel.
5:00pm – Finally get to the hotel. We’ve stayed here before -- For two of our summer experiential marketing tours. It’s pandemonium. There are All-Star banners being put-up everywhere and hundreds of people in the lobby checking in (yea, ok…I exaggerated. There are maybe 12 – “hundreds” sounds way better). I haven’t eaten since 8:45am, but that’s the life of an event person. They give me a warm cookie and I snag an apple. I’m on the 11th floor, which isn’t bad. I don’t have any preferences when it comes to a hotel, to be an honest. Refrigerators are nice, but as long as you have wireless, I’ll give the cliché, “Yea it was a nice hotel” to anyone who asks.
After I get into my room, I literally spend the next 2 ½ hours rearranging the furniture and desks in my room. Instead of 2 beds or one ginormous one, in my hotel, I am going to have a lazy-boy for you to sit in when you’re not at the desk or using your bed. It just makes sense. And how come no one has ever come up with the idea to put an espresso machine in the room, instead of that garbage, mini-coffee maker? I could get some more sleep time and make the lattes myself. Seriously…
After answering some emails and working for a bit, I un-pack and iron my shirts so they’re ready for the next 2 weeks. I pack like a girl. So far, I’m the only one who was actually over-weight and had to switch items around (and 8 pounds over, none-the-less).
7:26pm- Bibs sends out a mass text message saying everyone’s headed to Hard Rock for dinner. I decide to join. Most of the crew attends: Brian, Tom, Bibs, Kendra, Scott and his buddy, KG. The Boss is out sick tonight and Andy has other plans. It’s a great dinner and most of the dinner is spent reminiscing about old projects we’ve worked on at FILO, as well as Kendra’s latest gluten fascination—don’t ask.
9:53pm – I head towards the nearest McDonalds to drop off a redbox I had for the flight. Turns out they’re closed. But I just ate my weight in pulled pork, so I decide to take a late night stroll. There’s a CVS about a mile away. It gets the job done.
10:34pm – Bed time -- another early day tomorrow as we have another event outside the convention center. We have a 6:15am lobby-call. Yes, that means the alarm is set for 5:15am so I can get my iced latte and muffin. And yes, Houston….we’re finally here.
5:00pm – Finally get to the hotel. We’ve stayed here before -- For two of our summer experiential marketing tours. It’s pandemonium. There are All-Star banners being put-up everywhere and hundreds of people in the lobby checking in (yea, ok…I exaggerated. There are maybe 12 – “hundreds” sounds way better). I haven’t eaten since 8:45am, but that’s the life of an event person. They give me a warm cookie and I snag an apple. I’m on the 11th floor, which isn’t bad. I don’t have any preferences when it comes to a hotel, to be an honest. Refrigerators are nice, but as long as you have wireless, I’ll give the cliché, “Yea it was a nice hotel” to anyone who asks.
After I get into my room, I literally spend the next 2 ½ hours rearranging the furniture and desks in my room. Instead of 2 beds or one ginormous one, in my hotel, I am going to have a lazy-boy for you to sit in when you’re not at the desk or using your bed. It just makes sense. And how come no one has ever come up with the idea to put an espresso machine in the room, instead of that garbage, mini-coffee maker? I could get some more sleep time and make the lattes myself. Seriously…
After answering some emails and working for a bit, I un-pack and iron my shirts so they’re ready for the next 2 weeks. I pack like a girl. So far, I’m the only one who was actually over-weight and had to switch items around (and 8 pounds over, none-the-less).
7:26pm- Bibs sends out a mass text message saying everyone’s headed to Hard Rock for dinner. I decide to join. Most of the crew attends: Brian, Tom, Bibs, Kendra, Scott and his buddy, KG. The Boss is out sick tonight and Andy has other plans. It’s a great dinner and most of the dinner is spent reminiscing about old projects we’ve worked on at FILO, as well as Kendra’s latest gluten fascination—don’t ask.
9:53pm – I head towards the nearest McDonalds to drop off a redbox I had for the flight. Turns out they’re closed. But I just ate my weight in pulled pork, so I decide to take a late night stroll. There’s a CVS about a mile away. It gets the job done.
10:34pm – Bed time -- another early day tomorrow as we have another event outside the convention center. We have a 6:15am lobby-call. Yes, that means the alarm is set for 5:15am so I can get my iced latte and muffin. And yes, Houston….we’re finally here.
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| Written by: Andrew Westphal |
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