HOTCHKISS BRAIN INSTITUTE – 10TH ANNIVERSARY

We researched and collaborated with our client at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and developed a creative strategy based on their objective of “forward looking”. The event brand and design, “Opening Minds” was created.

The key messaging at the event was teaching donors what they had been supporting for the past ten years. Unlike other galas the goal was not to fundraise or to create new donors, it was about raising awareness amongst donors of the groundbreaking work that the Institute has done and will continue to do.

The event was held in a fully functioning private airplane hangar and began with a cocktail reception in the airport lounge.

To signal the start of dinner, Jens Lindeman, a virtuoso trumpet soloist, lead guests from their seemingly regular cocktail hour down a back hallway into the hanger, otherwise known as The Brain! As guests entered “The Brain” they were treated to an array of visual stimulation – two giant wide screens flanked the room and featured actual, scientifically correct colorful brain content while a runway stage (the brain stem) divided the center of the room. Colour blocked tables inspired by the event logo, (blue, white, yellow, orange and red) represented the different hemispheres of the brain and were punctuated with unique centrepieces and a clever little touch… brain shaped butter balls!

The formal program came to a touching conclusion when, in the final pillar talk on the “Healthy Brain & Aging,” Jay touched on how fragile our bodies and minds can be and segued into a moving performance of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World.’  The crowd not only reacted in that moment, but also in many comments after the event, describing how touching that moment was.