CreateAthon: The Story of When I Was in Reese Phifer for 24 Hours
by Braden Barksdale.
My first year in Capstone Agency, I wanted to dive all in. So, when Capstone Agency mentioned CreateAthon, I decided to participate. All I knew about the event was that we would spend 24 hours in Reese Phifer.
Next thing I knew, the first weekend in February had rolled around, and it was time to get started. First, we all met in Reese Phifer. Then Ella Thomas, the pro bono director at the time, gave us all the details. The CreateAthon leadership team assigned us our client teams, which were the people we would be working with for the next 24 hours. We ate Chick-fil-A for lunch, then we all got our matching T-shirts.
Then, it was time to get started. Around 1 p.m., we all went to our designated rooms to meet our teams. My team got acquainted with each other and began learning about our client, Family Counseling Service. Our client wanted to refresh its media approach to reach more people.
After diving in and learning more about our client, we got to work. We started designing graphics, creating a content skeleton and designing an email pitch. Around 3:30 p.m., we took a break outside, where some emotional support dogs visited us. The dogs relaxed us and provided a good break from our work. The CreateAthon leadership team provided snacks and drinks for us all day as well.
After the break, we went back to work until another break around 6 p.m. At this time, CA provided Taco Mama for dinner. At 8 p.m. we had a creative critique, where we met with the CreateAthon directors to discuss changes that needed to be made to our content calendar and designs. After this creative critique, we went back into our room to make the suggested changes. We kept working until our next break, which was at midnight.
At midnight, we all gathered in a lecture hall to eat dinner and do karaoke. It was so much fun! We had songs ranging from Hamilton’s “Alexander Hamilton” to Billy Joel’s “Vienna.” It was a great break and helped us to de-stress.
After karaoke, we all went back to our rooms and began working again. We worked through the night, designing graphics and uploading content into our content calendar. We had another creative critique around 2 a.m. The firm leaders and directors advised our team on what we needed to change.
From the critique until breakfast at about 7 a.m., we worked hard to make the changes. Then, we put the finishing touches on our graphics, email pitches and press releases. Our firm advisers visited our room and helped us make last-minute touches on our content calendar. Finally, we practiced our pitch to our client three times to make sure it was perfect.
Our client’s representative came at 10 a.m., and he was thrilled with all the hard work we did for Family Counseling Service. He was so proud of us and wanted to use everything we had designed. Our hard work had paid off! After he left the room, we all celebrated, took pictures and cleaned our room. Then, we said our goodbyes and left. As soon as I got back to my house, I went to sleep!
Overall, CreateAthon was a great learning experience and so much fun. I can’t wait to do it next year and would recommend this challenge to anyone in Capstone Agency who is considering it!
To learn more about CreateAthon and the work we did last year, click here.