Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital
Hospital Grand Opening
A Hospital Visit, But Make It A Party
Nobody likes going to the hospital. Especially a child. But going to the hospital to celebrate the grand opening of a brand-new, $340 million, 610,000-square-foot children’s hospital equipped with the latest advances in caring for the children of Memphis? Now THAT’S a celebration we could kick our heels up for. LEO Events designed, coordinated, and implemented a public celebration for more than 2,000 people on a tight urban site with a fully operational hospital next door – all smack dab in the middle of the 100-degree heat of Memphis in June.
Recognized by Special Events Magazine for Best Event Produced for A Non-Profit, LEO warranted the grandest of celebrations by:
- Managing consecration, public tours, participant coordination and logistics, communications and branding, staging and production, environmental design, entertainment, food and beverage, décor, VIP ceremony, fundraising gala, and donor reception
- Incorporating a parade with 300+ participants and banner groups representing Le Bonheur’s history and stakeholders – narrated by Sesame Street’s Gordon and Maria
- Providing guests with plenty of water and frozen towels, because there’s no need for a hospital visit during this hospital visit
- Preparing detailed plans, maps, and additional parking communications to guests and hospital patients to ensure smooth arrivals and wayfinding
- Helping boost the hospital’s media and online presence (the Grand Opening Event resulted in more than four hours of local TV coverage; 56 print media stories; 975 hospital tours; a 24 percent increase in Facebook fans; and more than $750,000 in donations for the week)