Venue: Hilton Minneapolis
Attendees: 600
Caterer: Hilton Minneapolis
Event Planner: Pete Nelson, Design Group
Lighting and audio-visual: AVHQ
Florist: Design Group
Entertainment: Steely Pan, The Steeles, T. Mychael Rambo, Synergy dance band


The Minneapolis Hilton hosted the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities Annual Awards Gala this last February. Minneapolis-based Design Group, the event production and management firm responsible for executing the event’s theme, took attendees on a Caribbean cruise.

The event raised funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities through ticket sales and silent and live auctions. Unlike many organizations putting on gala-type fundraisers, Big Brother Big Sisters places a strong emphasis on its theme each year to get the audience excited, explains Pete Nelson, creative director at Design Group. “The theme is so important to [Big Brothers Big Sisters], and that is what really sells their event,” Nelson says. “They still are upscale, but the theme is what separates them from everyone else.”

Arriving guests, including community leaders and volunteers, were instantly immersed in the Caribbean theme. The entrance featured an oversized postcard reading “Welcome Aboard” and “Bon Voyage.”

Palm trees, pier post pilings, and portholes decorated the lobby where VIP guests—emcees, sponsors, board members, and others—attended a private reception and live auction. Music from The Steeles, the local gospel and soul group, entertained guests as they enjoyed hors d'ouervres and wine.

A social hour and live auction for all guests followed. Caribbean drumming by Steely Pan, a Chicago-based steel drum group, set the mood as guests had their photos taken in front of a pier-setting backdrop, complete with fishing nets and lobster traps.

The dining hall continued the theme with an illuminated 20-by-40-foot cruise-ship backdrop on the stage. Twelve-foot interior-lit spandex obelisk columns lined the room. The sea of white tables held candles and crystal vases with tropical red-ginger stems. Each chair was covered in spandex of alternating lime, turquoise, and white.

WCCO-TV anchor Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro, formerly with KARE-11 News, hosted the banquet, which began with a performance by The Steeles. The group sang the theme from the television show The Love Boat as they entered the room and moved toward the stage.

The performance was followed by the awards ceremony and dinner. The meal began with a salad of baby frisée, curly endive, walnuts, and mango vinaigrette. The entrée was a petit filet mignon paired with grilled chicken breast with mango papaya salsa.

After dinner, T. Mychael Rambo, a local jazz performer, sang during a slideshow of the children who are waiting for mentors. He was also the auctioneer for the live auction. A dessert of chocolate decadence, chocolate cake with mango and raspberry sauces, and key lime pie was served, and dance band Synergy closed out the evening.

“The challenge [with this event] is to keep topping ourselves, to keep people wanting to come back,” Nelson says. “We have already started planning for next year’s event.”