This was an all night party designated to celebrate the beloved ground hog and the following days Superbowl. This was by no means your average, college house party or rave. We rented the two floors of a 10,000sq ft mansion in Missoula MT, We created two dance floors each with a separate sound system, multiple Dj,s and live music playing all night. Five other rooms were also decorated. Each room put to a different theme. It was attended by over 300 people and was an outstanding success. Even the landlord had a great time. This was the beginning of a vision.
Burning Man 04
This was the trial of all trials. We started the journey in Farmington Hills,
MI where six people traveled to Missouola, MT. In Missoula we picked
up ten more people as well as another 60 foot bus that was stuffed front
to back, top to bottom, full of supplies. We then proceeded to go to the middle
of the desert and set up three domes, complete with decore, furniture, and
wall to wall carpet. We also had a large 60x30 shaded tarp area, a full kitchen
to cook and serve for seventy people,
a shower with running water, a power station, a sound system,
six ft diameter fountain with a spinning sphere, all of this in two days,
and staying within a measely budget. Our entire structure was put together
for 7 days, it withstood multiple 60-80mph wind storms, all with very little
minor problems. Plus, our camp looked sweet as well. Afterward a single cigarette
butt, or a piece of paper was not to be found around our camp. That is what
I call a serious field test.
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This was an attempt to bring home a special night to all of our friends and family in the Detroit area. We brought in some music specialists and held the event in a hall outside of town. Everything did not go as smooth as planned but we made it all work out in the end. We had people of all ages smiling and dancing till the wee hours of the morning. The most incredible part of the whole thing was seeing random people come over and ask what we were doing, and then started to help. It was 2:00am and everyone still wanted to keep working even in the cold, Michigan winter conditions. Mr. Projectile played along with L'usine giving all those in attendance a spectacular New Year's Celebration. The bar owners brought their families and everyone shared the evening with peolpe they love. Great time, good turnout, definate learning experience.
Big words eco tour fall 04
We toured around to 8 college campuses in two weeks. We helped to promote
alternative fuels, Bigwords.com, Reed's
Organic Ginger Brew, Emergen-C, and an up and coming socially concious,
live hip-hop trio named Temple of Funk. With invitations from the schools,
we pulled the bus right into the middle of campus and made a scene. We handed
out promotional material, free food, bouncy balls, emergen-C, good vibes,
laughs, and hosted live musical shows on top of the bus. We attracted so
much positive attention that it was overwhelming. Nights we would go out
in the bus and drive around with the outdoor sound system on, picking up
random people around town and create a positive social enviorment, whether
it was dancing, just hanging out or both. People were blown away that we
were driving around letting anyone get in for free. Sometimes we would stop
on the side of the road, or a gas station, and people would group around
the bus. The entire tour took almost 4 weeks including conversion time and
travel time. Everyone on the bus remained positive the whole time, and I
mean everyone. Its hard to get extremely bummed about something while tavelling
in La Santa Maria. Even with fifteen people staying on the bus, you could
still find a spacious corner to be alone if so needed. What an incredible
experience!
Daily updates of tour and pictures are available at www.bigwords.com/content/2004ecotour/
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The Island party 2003
Held on a remote, 120 acre island surrounded by the Yellowstone river in mid
July. This is believed to be the starting point for Nexus. The Nowaks and
The Sherwoods were brought together with a common goal of making something
new and exciting for the people of Montana. It was different than anything
I had ever experienced and everyone there had a stellar time. The Event drew
about 400 people. It was our first real experience working together as a team
and it couldn't have gone better.
For pics and more info go to www.gotitogether.com
Digital Dinner
Another creation of Randy's. This evening was designed to be an interactive
independent film viewing. Local students from UCSC put together short films
for the evening. There was too much footage submitted to view all of it in
one night. We rented a mansion outside of Santa Cruz and compiled the best
3 hours of footage for an evening of viewing pleasure. The videos were intertwined
throughout the evening with music and perfomance art, as well as live video
mixing and gourmet popcorn. Interactive video feedback stations were constructed
to keep people entertained as well.
Go to www.gotitogether.com for more info
Island Party 04
This Project was headed by Randy, We put together an adult playland, complete
with zip lines, mudwrestling pit, three domes with a total of over 2000sq
ft of covered space, two 60 ft buses(one was a pre-conversion La Santa Maria),
water slide, geodesic fire pit, light sculptures, other assorted art pieces,
food for everyone, a campsite, and more. Over 20 bands and 15 Dj's set the
tone for the atmosphere on 4 separate sound systems. The highlight of the
weekend was when those willing were shuttled (via the two buses) to the yellowstone
river where we had an all day floating adventure planned. The float consisted
of a floating sound system, a foating couch, floating sattelite dish for dogs,
as well as numerous rafts, tubes, and other inflatible pieces of fun. Although
getting a bit chilly near the end, the weather was great and just about everyone
had an incredible time. The turnout could have been better but it wasn't bad.
The event was epic and definately worth the effort. We are searching for a
venue closer to Missoula to hold it next year.
For more pics and info go to www.gotitogether.com
Back in Santa Cruz we picked up about people at gave them an epic weekend ride up the coast and through San Francisco. We inevitably ended up driving up some hills that a 60 foot bus had no business driving on. Bus full of people, 25% grade, we were going so slow that the people walking passed us offered to help push. Still La Santa Maria made it up, huge kudos to the mama. So many people expressed to the crew that they had the times of their lives in the bus that weekend, it was unreal. We picked up strangers and just gave them an unimaginable weekend.
It was a good friends 30th birthday so we took Kurt and a few of his friends out for a night on the town. It was expected to be a pretty mellow night. Most of these people were thirtyish, white-collar, married people. Not that that's bad, I just expect them to be a little mellower But when they saw the bus and started to hang out in it, they freaked out and absolutely loved it. It ended up being a pretty crazy night. I had numerous people say they haden't had that much fun in years.
Crawl from the Grave
We ended up meeting the coolest group of people who put on the coolest One-night
event ever called Theatre Bizarre.
Their event was so cool we decided to treat them to a night time La Santa
Maria adventure. On the night before halloween ,eveyone dressed up like
zombies and we took them on a Downtown Detroit Mission. When it was time to
leave a bar, or a destination, the code word was brains. Imagine forty zombies
rolling into a bar, chatting up all the patrons, drinking, and dancing. So,
all of a sudden, forty zombies would file out, all groaning, "brains".
It was utterly hilarious.
For more info about these guys check out www.theatrebizarre.com/
They are incredible!
