When CEO/Executive Producer Vaughn Halyard of StoryLounge Media Group was asked by Mediacom Regional VP Doug Frank to co-produce a major event for Cedar Rapids business and community leaders featuring George Bodenheimer, Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks and President of ESPN and ABC Sports, there was no question where he would turn for help designing and producing the event.
“Doug had access to George and wanted to know what we could do to really make an impact,” Halyard says. “To bring someone of Bodenheimer’s stature in town, we needed top-notch image consulting and branding, as well as someone who knows how we operate, so we brought FUEL in. It was a matter of confidence. We are very demanding when it comes to branding and imaging, and I know they are as well.”
”The “Big Idea from a Small Town: A Discussion with George Bodenheimer,” event was an opportunity for Corridor thought leaders to share in a first hand recounting of the evolution of ESPN from a small start-up network operating out of an unfinished building in Bristol, Connecticut — a post-industrial town of 60,000 — to a worldwide media juggernaut that has redefined branding, broadcasting and business.
“It provided access to a CEO who would not normally come to Cedar Rapids and who runs a company that would be a great prototype for Cedar Rapids — whether it’s doing flood recovery or competing in a global market,” Halyard explains. “If they can do it out of tiny Bristol, Connecticut, imagine what can be done here.”