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 onsidered
the pioneer in the development of professional event
management, Paulette Wolf Events & Entertainment
(www.pwe-e.com)
(PWEE) had its inauspicious start more than 30 years
ago at a Chicago country club.
Paulette
Wolf, an interior designer by trade, loved parties
and thought she could add some flair to the club's
soirees. The club's board president put her on the
entertainment committee, and she turned what had
once been staid cocktail parties into themed extravaganzas
that were a huge hit.
A
fellow club member, who happened to be a McDonald's
owner-operator, knew the parent company was looking
to outsource a series of special events to celebrate
its 20th anniversary. He opened the door for Wolf,
and the rest, as they say, is herstory.
Initially,
Paulette serviced her big account through an established
entertainment production company, personally handling
all aspects of event management, including the hiring
and producing of big-name entertainment, such as
Tina Turner, Kenny Loggins, and Jay Leno.
In
1978, with McDonald's encouragement, she went out
on her own, forming Paulette Wolf Productions. She
continued producing blowout events for her flagship
account, as well as for a growing list of blue-chip
clientele. In 1987, her company was hired to produce
the corporate hospitality village for Super Bowl
XXI in Pasadena, CA. The concept she developed for
that venue has become the prototype for corporate
hospitality at most major sports events.
Mother-Daughter
Duo
One of Paulette Wolf's many assistants at the
Super Bowl was her daughter Jodi, then 17 and a
freshman at the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles. Although Jodi was planning on becoming
a child psychologist, since childhood, she had been
tangentially involved in the business, assisting
with duties ranging from escorting Bill Cosby from
his hotel suite to serving as the company receptionist
one summer.
At
Super Bowl XXI, Jodi played a more prominent role,
gamely demonstrating her ability to keep a cool
head while dealing with members of Hollywood's "brat
pack" (special VIP guests at the Super Bowl party)
and successfully handling what may have very well
been her first bonafide business crisis. (When strong
winds threatened to blow away the tabletop floral
displays, Jodi nailed each one to the table. It
worked short-term. But, it did create a problem
afterwards, when the unsuspecting service staff
was completely unable to extricate the floral arrangements
from the tables.)
After
receiving her bachelor's degree, Jodi was encouraged
by her mother to get experience in events-related
companies in order to gain a better understanding
of the business. Following stints at a Los Angeles
hotel and a catering company, she returned to the
Windy City in 1993 to join PWEE as a production
coordinator. The already successful company grew
and prospered as a mother-daughter team, with Paulette
focusing on the creative and production side of
the business and Jodi handling operations.
The
company's prestigious list of clients grew, too.
The Wolfs handled the Rose Bowl, the Kentucky Derby,
the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Tournament, the
Chicago Air and Water Shows, and the Los Angeles
Marathon, as well as considerable corporate work.
In
1995, the company was retained to produce the Ft.
Lauderdale Air & Sea Show. PWEE has been contracted
every year since to handle the management for the
event, which attracts more than four million people
during its two-day run and is considered the largest
single spectator event in the world.
Extensive
work for Disney has included multi-city grand openings
of ESPN Zone sports, dining and entertainment complexes
and a DisneyQuest indoor interactive theme park,
as well as several movie premieres in New York City.
Other endeavors have included multi-layered, high
visibility openings for new buildings housing the
city of Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital
and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
One
of the most prestigious, but complicated, events
the Wolfs have ever handled was the entertainment
production in the Athlete Village for the Centennial
Olympics Games in Atlanta, GA. Under that contract,
the firm produced 250 live acts in six different
venues over 33 days. Partly as a result of its work
for the Games in Atlanta, PWEE has established solid
relationships with several hundred celebrity artists.
The
Ultimate Problem Solvers
It's
safe to say that professional events management
is not an easy way to make a living. It's a tough
business, and it requires a special set of skills
to be truly successful. Luckily, the Wolfs and their
staff have those skills, and they love what they
do.
The
PWEE team thrives on producing complex events for
which their success is measured by attendance, news
media hits, and attendee feedback. In reality, each
of these "events" frequently involves multiple venues,
often in multiple cities. It also entails contract
negotiations with vendors, coordination of city
services, site logistics, crowd control, security,
and negotiating with, and producing, big-name talent.
Obviously,
each and every event requires extreme attention
to detail. Handling unexpected situations is just
part of the detail.
For
instance, at a 14-day grand opening during a steamy
June in Chicago, PWEE discovered that the tent vendor
had come in overnight and removed the air conditioning
to fulfill another contract.
With
no air conditioning and the temperature climbing,
the PWEE staff had to work fast. They did. In just
a few hours, they moved 100 tables, 1,000 chairs,
100 tablecloths, and 100 centerpieces -
and all of the equipment - into an air-conditioned
building lobby and theater.
Event
saved. On to the next.
CHRIS
RUYS operates Chris Ruys Communications Inc.
in Chicago. She can be contacted at 312-337-7746.
(This
article is reprinted from the Fall 2003 edition
of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright
2003, Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole
or part is prohibited, except by permission of the
publisher.)
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