B-to-C Events

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Oregon-based Tillamook Cheese shut the dairy farm gates behind it and hit the open road Jan. 9 on The Loaf Love Tour, making its first stop in Tucson, AZ, then nine other states and 25 cities over 11 months. At the center of the tour is a fleet of Loaf Love Buses: 1967 Volkswagen buses shortened by four feet, lowered by one foot and refurbished as replicas of Tillamook’s baby cheddar cheese loaves.

Wired magazine on Jan. 7 offered select show-goers and members of the press at CES a chance to rejuvenate from the busy trade-show floor at its Recharge lounge at The Society Café at The Encore, a concept it first launched in San Diego at Comic-Con this summer. Besides serving as a hospitality venue for invited guests, the space was a forum for the magazine’s editors and bloggers to interview show attendees and exhibitors about new products and trends for 2010 and to showcase advertisers’ new wares.

2010 Olympic Torch Relay sponsor RBC has launched the Create A Better Canada Experience, a mobile tour traveling to community celebrations and places of interest along the nearly 28,000-mile torch relay route. A centerpiece of the experience is an interactive mobile Eco Home housed in a hybrid truck that runs on solar and wind energy and is heated by solar radiant heating. Tents outside the truck feature an Olympic medal display area, a snowboard simulator, a hockey rink and a green-screen opportunity where visitors can have their picture taken with the Olympic flame.

The California Lottery in December held a private concert starring Michelle Branch for 200 guests. The concert was part of a promotion with Warner Bros. Records that included a new series of lottery scratcher tickets featuring Branch and WB artists Goo Goo Dolls, Seal and Taking Back Sunday.

By Lisa Goell Sinicki


Selling sponsorships into your b-to-b events is no longer an option—it’s a necessity. “Without sponsorships we’d drive up our cost our attendees’ cost or both ” says Lynn Connelly director of sponsorships at Office Depot.