Continuing with the interview theme of this edition of the WOW-e! newsletter, Meetings MidAmerica had a chat with Charlotte “Char” Mason, co-owner of Coleman Mason Events, which has offices in both Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
What recent event that your company worked on really stands out?
Charlotte “Char” Mason: One event that strikes me was Sci Party, the 100th anniversary gala event for the Science Museum of Minnesota. It’s a wonderful institution, but their programs are normally very family-focused. For this anniversary, though, they wanted to do a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It took place at the St. Paul RiverCentre and was an amazing event because we partnered with Morrissey Hospitality [the restaurant/hotel company], whose Wildside Caterers are the caterer at RiverCentre.
The Science Museum had seeds that were 150 years old, they came out of a Native American pot found in an archeological dig. They germinated them—they do this ethnobotany program at the Science Museum [and grew the squash]--so there was some kind of squash served in every course. The foodies in town went crazy, and it was highly guarded; they had to have Science Museum staff there to take every seed out of every squash. [The caterers’] head chefs got really excited about it and each one took charge of a course: One did a salad, one did the main course, one did the dessert (a squash cheesecake). So from a food perspective it was probably the most unique dinner we’ve pulled off.
The whole event won an ISES award locally, and was nominated for a national event. The entertainment, the food, the whole feel of the event was so unique. It was all because of this great concept and everyone got really excited.
Who provided entertainment?
Mason: Also, we had [jazz trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis] as the musical entertainment and we screened a visual representation of the music—the wavelengths of the music—up on a screen. Everything had either a techno-science feel or an environmental feel to it.
We also invited Ira Flato, the host of NPR’s Science Friday; he was the MC for the night and he was just a find. He was hilarious, fun, and he had done some kind of educational program with the museum before. We also had Passing Zone, a comedic juggling team--they were juggling chainsaws and all that. They were fun and wound up coming out in tutus and getting people juggling onstage.
In what ways did you venture outside of the box for the event?
Mason: We skipped the silent auction and dance and instead created a Science Lounge, and Delfeayo Marsalis did something with a more “loungy” feel during a more private show [later in the event]. He was delightful, and we used local musicians as backup for him rather than his usual band.
They also had a live auction instead of a silent auction; there’s an IMAX Theatre and one of the packages had an Xbox that kids could win and then play on the Museum’s IMAX screen with their friends! It was science-related big-ticket items [like that, and] was a big success; they surpassed all their goals for how much they wanted to raise...They sold it out at about 800 people.
Any notable attendees?
Mason: We even had [Saint Paul Mayor] Coleman, who is always up for fun. After Passing Zone was up, we had the mayor come up on stage, and we had a big red ribbon, and he cut through the ribbon with a “chainsaw”—he’s cutting the political red tape, that was his joke.
