I’ve always worked promotional events that last a few days in my home market of Tampa. I was recently contacted by Pro Motion, a company that I’ve worked with numerous times before, to go out on a three-month tour with Gatorade throughout the country.
Before now, I never thought about mobile event marketing, and brushed off the personal email from Julie, Pro Motion’s recruiter thinking that I was contacted through a “global mailing list,” the method in which so many other marketing firms like to invite potential Brand Ambassadors. It makes everyone feel like they’re “needed”, even though you are “among the masses” receiving the invite. In actuality, it turns out that Pro Motion doesn’t’ recruit that way and they were specifically interested in hiring not only myself, but my also brother, Jason, who lives in NYC, for this two-man adventure, and they contacted us both directly. This development obviously piqued my interest, and I was excited to hear about the tour because I thought it would be a great experience to share with my brother. And, this was no cattle call, we were custom hired for this position because we fit the active lifestyle of Gatorade and had all the other traits to meet the demands of this tour.
Jason and I accepted the offer to run the Gatorade tour and after each of us packed what seemed to be every piece of clothing we owned into a suitcase, we made our trip to St. Louis for 3 weeks of training, Pro Motion’s home base. Since we are here for a couple of weeks, and Jason and I have never been to St. Louis before, we decided to go out and enjoy what the “Gateway to the West” has to offer.
We have been able to experience the sites and sounds of St. Louis, and have grown to appreciate the city’s Midwest hospitality, which seems to be offered by everyone without a second glance (something that neither of us is used to). St. Louis has a lot to offer its visitors, including great nightlife, a lot of history and attractions, and amazing food. The city was even able to quench my thirst for an adrenaline rush! We chartered a plane and we each took our first flying lesson in a Single Prop Cessna. We were able to take off, fly, and set the plane up for landing. It was unreal! It definitely got the adrenaline pumping!
This may all sound like fun, but let me tell you, Pro Motion does training right! We love how detailed everything is and we truly are ready to take over this tour and make it happen. We have been setup for success, the primary goal for training at Pro Motion.
I am happy that I decided to join this tour, because it will not only be a blast to work with Pro Motion again and be out on the road with my brother, but it has already given me the opportunity to visit places I have never been and experience things that I never thought I would do in a lifetime. Scratch “Visit the Gateway Arch” and “Fly an Airplane” off of my bucket list… Bring on the next city!
Photo credit: Jonathan P. Drago