You may not realize this, but transporting a miniature barnyard animal into a Midtown office space undetected is quite a feat. We thought we could keep it under wraps – until we were caught. That’s getting a little ahead of myself. I’ll start at the beginning.
At RPR we’re building a culture of being fun-loving while getting our s**t done. We get big wins and implement successful campaigns for our clients and, most importantly, we like to celebrate those wins.
Back in February we moved into our beloved new home on West End Avenue. We’re proud of our space and how it’s coming along, so naturally we wanted to share and celebrate it with everyone. The grand idea? Host an unforgettable Cinco de Mayo party in our new office.
Cinco de Mayo can be a busy holiday for many, with folks jumping from place to place to enjoy endless margaritas, chips and salsa and great music. And given that Cinco de Mayo fell on a Tuesday this year, we knew our party-goers would get plenty of other invitations. We had to set ourselves apart.
We mapped out the entire “film” – all 30 seconds of it. We’d bring in oversized margarita glasses, a piñata, party favors and trash our office to look like a scene of aftermath from the most epic Cinco de Mayo party ever. We knew that would get you all there. To top it off at the end we would pan to a donkey. That’s right. A donkey. In. Our. Office. Then we’d hit anyone who declined with the tagline: “Don’t be an ass. Come to our party.”
It was perfect. We loved it, and so we set about making this happen. But how does one get a donkey to an office in Nashville? Impeccable Googling skills. That’s how. The heads of RPR have other talents aside from running an agency. We can find anything on the Internet, even a miniature donkey in the Nashville area.
I gave Jeni – a donkey wrangler – a call and she had just the donkey for us. Brittany may have been a bit confused when someone called for me about a donkey. But we had our talent booked.
From there we lined up the shoot and, very carefully, brought the donkey to RPR. I may have only just told security we had this shoot lined up as we were bringing the donkey upstairs. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some moments of utter panic in me as we tried to lure Eeyore through the front doorway to our office building. He froze before making it to the elevator.
He planted his heels firmly on the tile and I grabbed Jack Henry, Lauren’s five-year-old son, as quickly as possible. (Side note: Of course, Jack Henry was there. When you rent a donkey for the day your kid skips preschool and visits the office.)
I just knew Eeyore was going to kick him in the head, giving him some permanent injury (or at least a black eye), I would be fired and our wonderful idea would become a nightmare.
Thankfully for me, and all of you that attended our party, that didn’t happen. With the help of a few cupcakes and tortilla chips, Eeyore made his way up to Suite 320. And the rest is history. La la bamba.
Oh that’s right, except our landlord stopped by our office the next day inquiring about a mule in our office. He stayed outside the door as if he was afraid he would discover the animal was still there 24 hours later. We gave our Girl Scout honor and said we would never do that again. It was totally worth it. See for yourself!