Getting Into Gear: Tour of California Logistics

Logistics... we love 'em! And boy did this event -- a corporate hospitality event during the 2010 Amgen Tour of California -- have 'em! As producer, AOO's Jahon Pilichowski took hold of this event and all its challenges and ran -- or should we say, pedaled -- away with it!

Just to recap from my blog of Tuesday, the ATOC is a Tour de France-style bike race, done in stages throughout Northern and Southern California. It's one of the largest cycling events in California and our client took a front row seat at Stage 8, the final leg of the tour.

The event, for being "small" in terms of attendees, and even space for that matter, was huge in terms of logistics. In this case, the client had a long wish list that took twice as long to figure out because of the remote location in the mountains. Paying attention to the huge amount of details and logistics like this can be 90 percent of its success, especially when VIP treatment is necessary.

For example, satellite signals are sometimes tough to triangulate when you are dealing with a mountainous area; a 10-degree slope can affect water flow which is important if you want toilets and water inside the VIP trailers to work; and bugs and bees need to be addressed (we did so by positioning fans to constantly blow over the buffets, keeping them away from the area).

Add to that list other logistics Jahon dealt with as producer such as:

• Arranging for LCD flat screens, the only type that will read in daylight. Above, you can see why that was needed! Four large flat-screen TV's were set up under a tent and a remote satellite dish picked up the broadcast.

• Timing last-minute deliveries with road closure. "We were in the epicenter of this stage of the race and that meant we had road closures on the main highway and all arteries," Jahon says.

• And even special trash bins were arranged through Waste Management that were lockable and stationary to keep wildlife out and to stop any humans from tipping them.

Normally, we use bike racks from the rental companies as barriers.
In this case we actually used them for their designed purpose!

Because a lot of the race was broadcast from the air, we had the opportunity to get our client's logo on the news. The photo below shows the beginning of the installation of a 20-foot-diameter logo that we created next to the road the cyclists would come down. We first laid down a thin template then added white gravel to make it visible. Even a detail such as this was not without a lot of time-consuming attention. Jahon had to do a couple day-of site inspections and then had to pay the owner of the property the right to use the space. In the end, it was all worth it -- this got a lot of air time during all the broadcasts.

Load out ... Space was limited so we concentrated on getting the more expensive day rentals out first, which meant the Star Waggons and rest rooms. However, Star Waggons also acted as the generator which provided nighttime lighting. This meant all vendors had to fight their way back to us through heavy beach and Tour traffic to pack up and get off the mountain before night fell. They did and everyone was on their way by 7 p.m. and settled in for a long ride home back through that same traffic jam.

Thanks to a lot of pre-planning, dotted i's and crossed t's, not to mention a great team, the gears of this event ran smoothly. It's easy to see why Jahon was named the 2010 Rising Star by Event Solutions Spotlight Awards this year!