CorporateMagic, GoVision Help Boy Scouts Throw the “Jamboree of the Century”

Fort AP Hill, VA, August 18, 2010 --(PR.com)-- CorporateMagic, GoVision and Alford Media team up for an unforgettable celebration.

Scouting is fun. Scouting is relevant. Scouting is cool.

Scouting is also 100 years old, so you had to figure they’d throw one heck of a birthday party. And boy, did they ever.

More than 72,000 Boy Scouts and adult leaders gathered at Fort AP Hill, VA, July 26 – August 4, for the 100th Anniversary National Scout Jamboree – a once-in-a-lifetime event that was truly a century in the making.

Recognizing the special opportunity they had to reach a new generation of boys and their families with the Scouting message, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) hired the messaging architects at Dallas-based CorporateMagic, Inc., to plan and execute a week-long series of events that would leave an indelible impression on the thousands gathered at Fort AP Hill, and those across the globe.

“We didn’t just want our 100th anniversary Jamboree to be bigger and better than the ones that preceded it,” said Robert Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive of the BSA. “That would be easy. We wanted to remind boys and their parents around the world that Scouting is fun, it’s cool and it is the most direct path to future success and leadership, bar none.”

CorporateMagic (www.corporatemagicinc.com) assembled a “dream team” of companies and individuals that spent more than a year mapping out the week’s activities, ensuring that every detail was not just perfect, but contributed to the overall theme envisioned by the BSA. In the end, grown men were overcome with emotion, and a new generation of young men had gained a greater appreciation for the role Scouting can play throughout their lifetimes.

In a post-event message to the team that labored on the Jamboree, CorporateMagic CEO Jim Kirk said “What you all did (individually and collectively) on that hillside at Fort A.P. Hill was nothing short of amazing! Literally, all of you poured your love and sweat into it. It wasn’t easy. I know. But it made a difference in the lives of thousands and thousands of young people, parents, military and more. They will never forget. They are better because of it. They are more inspired and uplifted.”

GoVision (www.jumbo.tv), one of the nation's premier suppliers of turnkey mobile LED units and customized modular LED walls, erected the tallest portable LED screen ever built, which towered over the main stage. At more than 60 feet high and 18 feet wide, it was so massive that 26,000 gallons of water and 76,000 pounds of concrete were needed as ballast to keep the 100 Daktronics PST-12HD LED panels from falling forward. GoVision also constructed two 18’ x 32’ LED video walls on either side of the main screen.

“The LED units for the Jamboree were a monumental undertaking, even more complex than what we’ve done for presidential inaugurations and the Final Four,” said Chris Curtis, president & CEO of GoVision LP. “But this was a true labor of love, and we were honored to be a part of such a historic gathering.”

Alford Media Services (www.alfordmedia.com) was recruited to manage all the audio and video needs of the three major productions staged during the week, which included performances by popular bands Honor Society and Switchfoot, appearances by Miss America Caress Cameron, “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and a videotaped message from President Barack Obama.

Six cameras were used to capture activity on the stage and throughout the audience, which was simulcast to hundreds of Scout facilities nationwide, and via Internet to viewers worldwide. Two state-of-the-art light boards controlled 204 lights positioned on the stage and towers. The scrim covering the stage was illuminated by 54 LED strip lights.

“They say it takes an entire village to raise a child, and that was certainly true for our project,” said Eric Hagstrom, technical director for Alford Media. “It took a village of technical professionals to pull this one off, and I’d like to thank our partners at Annapolis Mobile Power, Clair Brothers, Christie Lites, EventsBum, Event Tech and GoVision, because without them we never could have accomplished such extraordinary things.”

Seven towers stretched for 395 feet across the stage, and the various structures were composed of 17,296 parts. Twenty miles of cable tied everything together. The arena spread out over 13 acres.

“It was such an amazing set that, for the first time, Scouts were given backstage tours,” said Brian Greenway, director, alliances and business development for CorporateMagic, Inc. “More than 10,000 boys came through during the week, and it’s safe to say they were blown away by the complexity, and enormity, of the operation.”

Special presenters included Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, and Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, both of whom attained the rank of Eagle Scout as teenagers.

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