I'm On A Boat!

I know, I know. I've been lacking on the updates. Sorry folks. To make up for it here's an update that will blow your mind.

Red Frog Events plans field trips and family outings. There is a Fun Morale team that's only mission is to provide fun to the Red Froggers. Last month we stopped work around 11am to head over to our warehouse for a Red Frog Family cookout. Over 100 of us tadpoles and frogs spent the day at the warehouse for some good food and good company. After munching down hot dogs and hamburgers they hosted a dance off. Can you guess who won?

You guessed it, me!

My prize? $10 Chick-Fil-A Gift Card, Chicago hat, band-aid, and mustache.

If you thought that's awesome just wait till you hear about our field trip. We started the field trip with a break dancing class at the local gym around 1pm. After learning our sweet moves we walked back to the office for some tye-dying and photo booth fun.

While everyone changed out of active wear into evening wear, the office turned into a club as Froggers enjoyed beer from the bar and dancing in kitchen.

Soon enough we headed out to our next phase of field trip day...

BOAT CRUISE!

Open bar and free food!

We started by cruising along the Chicago River...

...then out onto Lake Michigan as the sun set over the sky line...

...then watched fireworks over the city light sky line...

Being on a boat watching fireworks over the Chicago Skyline surrounded by some of the greatest people in the country was an out-of-body experience. I didn't think it could get any better than this... and then it did.

ICE CREAM!

As we all walked to a bar for the after AFTER party Ryan (the VP of RFE) stopped an ice cream truck and bought us all ice cream (over 40 of us). Just another example of how above and beyond Red Frog goes to make us feel like family.

It was one of the best experiences of my life. I am so lucky to be where I am. This job has been a once in a life time opportunity and I never want it to end.

In The News

The company I work for, Red Frog Events, has been in the news lately for numerous reasons. It's nice to work for a place that you're proud of. Red Frog has and IS doing amazing things. It's very rewarding that the rest of the world thinks so too.

Lets start with the office.

My desk!

Here are a few pictures of the office I spend over 40 hours a week in..

http://theofficestylist.com/red-frog-events

A few weeks ago the Red Frog was featured on the front page of the business section of the Chicago Tribune. They stopped by the office for a tour and interview with Joe and Ryan. Check out the article and a tour of our office...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0619-confidential-races-20110619,0,2333999.column

Last week our event, Warrior Dash, was featured on the TV channel Spike. They participated and featured Warrior Dash during their playbook movie event. Check out the video here...

http://idisk.mac.com/spikedayparts/Public/Playbook/PBLotrimin2.mov

Now, lets talk about AWARDS! One of the teams I work on is the Awards Team. We research and apply to these exciting awards. These awards could be related to business, events, design, people, or as silly as world records.

The first day of work we sat in the kitchen and watched as we were named the DREAM BIG Small Business of the Year by U.S. Chamber of Commerce...

http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2011/may/red-frog-events-named-dream-big-small-business-year-us-chamber

http://blogs.ilstu.edu/cob-news/2011/05/26/red-frog-events-named-dream-big-small-business-of-the-year/

And just this last week we were selected as a finalist and recipient of the Stevie-American Business Awards!

Winner of the Fastest - Growing Company of the Year!

Finalists of Best Overall Company of the Year!

Every day this company is becoming bigger and better and it's so rewarding to be a part of it. Keep a look our for us in the news! This won't be the last of us.

Slacker Update

WHOA! I think I'm pass due for an update!

Lets start with my passport!

Last week I got my passport for two Canadian events. I've NEVER been out of the country. This internship has provided many firsts for me. Unfortunately, one of the events got canceled. I was on the Vancouver Great Urban Race team but because of lack of participants, it was canceled. I was pretty bummed out, but that's how the event planning business works. Without our participants we have nothing. I wouldn't have this job if it weren't for all the amazing people that come out to participate in our events. I'm still very excited for the Canadian British Columbia Warrior Dash in August. After hearing all the stories (good and bad) from other interns, I can't wait to work hard, get dirty, and have fun!

The biggest reason I've been so busy lately is due to a brand new event in the works at Red Frog. I'm on the experience team. This isn't your typical internship where you're making copies and getting coffee. I get to help plan the layout, decor, VIP packages, and much more. In one year when I attend this event I'll be able to look around as say "Yup, I designed this". I can't give away any details but I can tell you it involves a lot of food and beer! We took a field trip around Chicago for inspiration.

Of course it's only necessary to take a break and have fun once in a while! My friends and I took a walk over to the Chicago Blues Fest last week.

Great music with some great friends!

Overall it's been a pretty busy but AWESOME week! More to come!

Sweet Home Chicago

Tuesday night my roommate Karlie and I headed to a restaurant on the river called

Fulton's On The River.

I met her lovely friend who is a hostess at the restaurant. It was a warm beautiful night so she seated us outside on the patio overlooking the river.

Since this place was a little pricy, Karlie and I split an appetizer trio which included Fresh Steamed Broccoli with Hollandaise, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, and Chicago's Largest Tator Tot. It was wonderful.

After making friends with our waiter and watching the sun set on the river, we decided to order some dessert.

I ordered the Creme Brulee which was a vanilla custard topped with sugar and fresh berries. Karlie ordered their awarding winning Homemade Banana Cream Pie with nutter butter cookie crust and caramel sauce.

Is your mouth watering yet?

After the sun set and the city lights lit up the sky, I sat there watching the city. It's beautiful, just breathtaking. Now don't get me wrong, home is also beautiful but not like this. This is man made beauty and I live it in.

I had a bit of a moment. I realized how truly amazing life is right now. I was raised in a town of 700 and now live in the third largest city in the country. I work for a company that is worth over 30 million dollars. Not only do I call the founder/owner/president by first name, I've drank with him. I work in an office with a rock wall, zip-line, treehouse, and bar. I'm living and working with some of the most amazing people in the country and get to travel through North America for free. I got to this point in my life through hard work and being myself.

For the past five years I've changed "home" five times. I left for college when I was 18 and didn't move back. This is the sixth place I've called "home" and I can honestly say it's the closest and most real "home" I've had since I left Sherrard. Now if I could just pick up Canoe Court (& Renee Drive) and place it in Grant Park, I'd be home to stay.

Indy Day 1

What a weekend! Where to begin...

Lets start with the cube. We left Friday morning around 7:30 in a cube. Ever seen that commercial with the gangster hamsters? Well, I drove what that commercial mocks. If you haven't seen it check it out... (I love rodents)

Awesome Hamsters

...and check out what I drove around Chicago and Indiana.

And I thought the frog-mobile was gaudy.

We got in around 1pm since we lost an hour driving into Indy. Thursday morning I started to come down with a cold and by Friday morning it was pretty painful. After we ate lunch and ran a few errands downtown..

I bought a Neti Pot!

Since I was still feeling pretty sick I stayed back while the girls went out to dinner. I went down to the hot tub to relax and made some friends. A man and his wife were there for a 50k Magic the Gathering tournament. AWESOME! After chatting up my with my new friends, I headed back up to the hotel room. Check out the view and a few pics from our room...

The pictures above my bed reminded me of my dear friend Kristy.

<3 Butterflies

For now this has been Day 1. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about my first RACE DAY!

Deer in the Headlights

I'm getting use to driving in the city. After yesterday's adventure. I have no problems!

I got the privilege to work on the Great Urban Race Indianapolis. Great Urban Race was inspired by the TC show "The Amazing Race". Teams solve twelve clues and complete exciting mental and physical challenges while discovering the city in a fresh way!

Great Urban Race

Yesterday myself and my partner Chrissy made a trip to our warehouse then picked up some goodies for our challenges in this bad boy...

While driving downtown and outside the city I kinda forgot how crazy this car looks until people started staring at us.

To our amazement while driving outside of the city we saw a deer! It was sitting in a large green field surrounded by businesses and streets.

I was amazed. It was sitting under a tree while kids played soccer. Out in Sherrard we see deer all the time, but to see one in a busy city around rush hour was so unusual. I felt bad for the poor thing. It was confused. It kinda reminded me of myself. Sometimes I feel like a deer in the headlights here. Sometimes I'm simply stunned the way the city works and the differences from the rural areas I'm so use to.

For example, after we bought our supplies for the event we had to stop and get gas...

$4.54 per gallon! Living in the city is SO EXPENSIVE! After paying out the ying-yang for gas we headed back to the office. Driving into the city is such an amazing feeling. Tomorrow morning I'll be driving to Indianapolis for my first Great Urban Race! Updates to come!

Play Dream Dine

I think that pretty much sums up my experience in Chicago so far...

After a long day at work and the beach I received a text from my friends Ian and Michelle. They recently just moved to Chicago and headed down town. I met up with them at the beautiful tourist hot spot.. Millennium Park!

Some other Red Froggers came along with. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. The city lights were BEAUTIFUL!

Standing in front of the Bean

Sometimes I miss those country stars but these beautiful city lights make up for it. There is so much art surrounding Chicago. For those of you reading this back home check out these amazing things Millennium Park has to offer!

Millennium Park

I put together a small video of pictures and video I recorded of our little visit just a few blocks away from our apartment.

Summer in the City