Venue: JW Marriott Desert Spirngs, Palm Desert, California
Attendees: 800 Buffalo Wild Wings franchise owners, vendors, and staff
Audio-visual and lighting: Hoffman Communications
Catering: Hotel Banquets
Photographer: Mark Skalny
Event Planners: Buffalo Wild Wings and Amy Schneider, Hoffman Communications

Approximately 800 Buffalo Wild Wings franchisees, corporate staff, and vendors arrived in Palm Springs, California, on a Sunday in February for the four-day Buff-alo Wild Wings Convention and 25th anniversary celebration.

The theme for the convention was “You Have to Be Here!” “We tried to recreate [for the event] the reason you have to be at the restaurant,” says Amy Schneider, project manager at Hoffman Communications, an event and audio-visual firm in Minneapolis.

On Sunday evening, guests gathered at “Club 25,” a nightclub-like space named for the 25th anniversary and located in the JW Pavilion—a semi-permanent tent on top of the hotel’s parking garage. The space, normally used for luncheons, was transformed with the help of chandeliers, palm trees, and areas for both sitting and dancing.

“Because it was Buffalo Wild Wings’ 25th anniversary, they   had 25 years of video games brought in—retro video games from 1982 up to the present—to create a bar-type atmosphere, something you would find at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant,” Schneider says. Guests dined on heavy hors d’oeuvres and listened to the Minneapolis-based Chris Hawkey Band.

Hoffman provided technical management and content for the convention, including general and breakout sessions, receptions, a trade show, Club 25, and three awards ceremonies. “Our partnership extends beyond audio- visual support to scenic design and construction, entertainment and speaker contracts, theme development, video production, speech writing, and PowerPoint support,” Schneider says.

Monday started off with a general session with speaker Tom Gardner, cofounder of finance-education company The Motley Fool, based in Virginia. Former NCAA football coach Lou Holtz gave the keynote speech, which focused on the people and values that make relationships and organizations excel.

On Tuesday morning, NFL Hall of Famer and quarterback Steve Young gave an inspiring pep talk. Former football player Marshall Faulk, ESPN sports commentator Trey Wingo, and Real Men of Genius—the comedy duo of Dave Bickler and Pete Stacker—entertained at the golf tournament Wednesday afternoon. Wingo and the Real Men of Genius also performed at the Wednesday evening awards banquet.

General sessions were held in the mornings, followed by breakout and roundtable sessions in various ballrooms and in the JW Pavilion. “In the past, breakout sessions were held by Buffalo Wild Wings staff giving [attendees] updates on procedures. [This year], they hired guest speakers just for breakout sessions, and brought in top vendors to answer questions on industry trends,” Schneider says. The mixture of industry experts and company staff received great reviews.

With only three days to learn, network, and have fun, there was a party every night. Monday night’s tailgate-themed “Welcome to Palm Springs” party transformed the ballroom into an outdoor party atmosphere with tailgate-themed games such as a beanbag toss, pop-a-shot, and skeet ball, that got participants mingling. Beer was served on ice in buckets, the tabletops were covered in Astroturf, and each centerpiece was a collage made of sports items such as foam fingers and noisemakers that make thunder sounds.

Later that night, the return of Club 25 at the JW Pavilion featured the Icons Show Band. The vendor trade show on Tuesday evening featured a range of suppliers from beer and beverage providers and stool, table, and chair suppliers, to chicken and wet-napkin companies. “Some of the best food was consumed at the vendor show, where 110 of the top vendor partners displayed their latest and greatest products,” Schneider says.

The closing banquet and awards ceremony on Wednesday night started off with a petite poires salad made of frisee, watercress, arugula, poached baby pear, saga bleu and sugar charred walnuts, and a port wine vinaigrette. The main entrée consisted of a six-ounce cut filet with pecan crusted bone-in chicken, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a blue cheese butter and port wine demi-glaze. Dessert was a birthday cake that featured chocolate-covered ice-cream lollipops.

The night’s main entertainment was a big surprise: Tonight Show host Jay Leno, who did a set of stand-up comedy. Real Men of Genius performed four “spoofs” customized for Buffalo Wild Wings, and St. Cloud’s Tonic Sol-fa finished the night with a cappella harmonies. A closing highlights video included footage from the previous four days.