Our Work

Seamless Success for Legacy Labor Union’s 61st Convention in NYC

Challenge

Managing Multiplying Complexity

The large and robust semi-annual convention program needed to expand its support to align with the growing program and increasing number of attendees. With more moving parts, people, and experiences in iconic venues and landmarks, over more days than many conventions, the PRA team knew they needed a strategy to streamline, optimize, and drive the event forward flawlessly. It was the first time partnering with this client, the pressure was on, and the team was ready to deliver.

1600+

Attendees
61st

Union convention
10

Days of programming

Solution

Divide & Conquer

The New York team took a classic “Divide and Conquer” approach. The large 10-member cross-functional team included members from the local NYC team, Central Services, Strategic Operations, Production Services and Strategic Accounts to cover 10 days of a packed event.

All attendees experienced a welcome party at Rockefeller Center, a custom show the second night at Radio City Music Hall, and a tour to either Harlem, the Statue of Liberty, or a NYC Orientation. PRA also provided décor and entertainment for their retirement dinner and final night banquets which featured a 17-piece band and 360 photobooth.

To streamline and drive this multi-faceted program forward simultaneously, the team each owned their own element(s) of the event. Multiple event producers each focused on one program element versus one or two taking it all on.

Both the Rockefeller and Radio City experiences were full scale events including entertainment, food, activations, décor, tours, lighting, staging and sound. Radio City Music Hall was a complete venue buy-out featuring a custom show for attendees, created by PRA Production Services.

The team ensured they understood the complex logistics of these iconic venues with site visits. During the pre-planning, the Event Producers rented a motorcoach to drive all routes of the Harlem tour to ensure full-size buses would fit on the roads as they carried about 500 attendees.

Behind the scenes, PRA developed an automated system to optimize the logistics of managing thousands of attendees across multiple venues in NYC. The automated ticketing program created custom, barcode “glamour” tickets for each program, which attendees could keep as a souvenir. PRA designed the ticketing software to capture or change client data live for accurate ticket counts. Along with a registration table, the automated ticketing program ensured smooth and clear logistics for guests and was a successful experience for the client.