Venue: Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference Center
Attendees: 1,200
Caterer: Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference Center
Event Planners: Medtronic and StoneArch Creative
Lighting and audio-visual: Showcore, Inc.


Employees of the Twin Cities– based Medtronic Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) division headed to Texas for their national service meeting last November. The Gaylord Texan Resort near Dallas hosted the event, which was planned to celebrate company achievements and look ahead to the upcoming year.

StoneArch Creative, a creative-production agency based in Minneapolis, helped plan the events. “We handle the creative, the fun, the things that directly affect the message,” says Chad Olinger, a meetings and event producer at the agency.

StoneArch developed the theme, “Taking Control Through Superior Service,” as a focus for Medtronic’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division and its staff that provide technical service to medical-device customers. “And that was really the rallying cry—how to create the concept of superior service in the marketplace,” says Mike Koski, creative director for meetings and events at StoneArch.

StoneArch used a remote control as an analogy for “taking control,” which translated to a TV-themed event complete with programs fashioned after TV Guides. Each of the four business sessions revolved around an actor representing a Medtronic clinical specialist who woke up to find that he was caught up    in a TV world. Each presentation was based on one of four TV shows: Sex and the City, Gilligan’s Island, a game show, and Larry King Live.

As the presentations changed, the employee would find himself as a character in one of the shows. Through each experience, he found ways to gather the skills he needed to “take control through superior service.” “It was their way of transitioning, and it kept things exciting and fun,” Koski says.

In order to accommodate a variety of events, including business sessions and an awards banquet, the event was not décor heavy. Eight screens, simulating television sets, surrounded the room. StoneArch used a Watchout system, which allowed the eight screens to act as individual screens, or as one large backdrop. Throughout the event, the screens displayed scenic elements, speaker support graphics, and other video that supported the theme.

Attendees arrived from areas around the country to a Friday- night welcome party hosted at a ranch off site. StoneArch held a spirit contest for which attendees had to arrive in attire that represented their area of the country. Participants from Orlando dressed as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and from Indianapolis, attendees dressed in auto-racing gear. People in buff-alo wing costumes came from Buffalo, New York, and the New Orleans group wore “We Survived Katrina” shirts.

“I was amazed at the creativity, and we took photos and gave awards out the next day for the most creative groups,” Koski says. “It was one of the better team-building events we have done.”

The biggest challenge of the weekend, according to Olinger, was coordinating the Saturday afternoon service fair, which was a trade show with a service theme. The atmosphere was carnival-like, with entertainment and food being served. Expert speakers hosted breakout sessions, and each booth had a unique theme based on a TV show, Olinger says.

Guests participated in activities including caricature drawings, flu shots, and massages. And, to tie into the focus on superior service, the 1,200 attendees built bikes to be donated to a local charity.

“It was an entertaining environment where all attendees got the opportunity to learn and have fun as well as serve the local community,” Olinger says.

StoneArch based the weekend on a similar Medtronic meeting it had produced in June; the second time around, StoneArch was able to execute a fine-tuned event. “From an attendees perspective, the message was right on and the theme was well received,” Olinger says. “It as entertaining and celebratory, and that always makes it more fun.”