Dartmouth Give a Rouse Tour
To celebrate all that Dartmouth alumni, friends and family have done to make The Call to Lead capital campaign an audacious success, in the Fall of 2022 Dartmouth continued to collaborate with Empire to produce the event series titled “Give a Rouse", convening the Dartmouth community and thanking them for their contributions and support.
Following the inaugural event of the series at New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Give a Rouse Tour continued on to four more shows around the nation: Wang Theatre Boch Center, Boston; Warner Theatre, Washington D.C.; Moonlight Studios, Chicago and August Hall, San Francisco. Hosting over 1,300 guests, the cross-national event was a huge success.
Each event followed a similar format, with adaptations and localizations for each city. Upon arrival, guests were met with a Dartmouth-themed exterior presence and live music experience. Guests registered at Dartmouth-branded, wooden check-in desks and then entered a theater space to enjoy the program.
The 45-minute stage program included monumental screen projections, a series of videos that told the story of A New Day at Dartmouth and summarized the achievements of The Call to Lead comprehensive campaign. The program paid tribute to Dartmouth’s outgoing president, Philip J. Hanlon, and re-energized the community about how Dartmouth’s future leaders will shape a better world.
The conclusion of the stage program included a multimedia effects sequence that combined video projection, animated special effects, remote-activated light-up bracelets and theatrical lighting to emphasize the idea of Dartmouth “greenlighting” the future.
Excited guests wearing bracelets lit in green exited the theater program to attend the after-party. Guests mixed, mingled, and networked while enjoying a curated menu of food and drinks; a live jazz band; and multiple activities, including ping-pong on green and white tables, a photo booth in which they posed in a canoe, an interactive social media wall, and a variety of Instagram-worthy backdrops including a sculptural installation of large scale letters spelling out “Dartmouth.”
Empire worked closely with several Dartmouth departments, faculty, alumni, and volunteers, as well as many creative, communications, production, and events partners to plan and execute the events. Empire’s role included concept development, venue acquisition, registration, run of show and program development, scripting, screen content production, technical production, catering, permitting, security, scenic, décor, budgeting, staffing, and guest logistics & experience.
Empire is honored to work with Dartmouth to help them scale their unique educational model around the world. The Call to Lead has raised over $3 billion overall to realize three overarching goals: advancing Dartmouth’s distinctive educational model to its fullest potential; making discoveries that improve the human condition; and preparing students for lives of wise leadership. To learn more about The Call to Lead: a Campaign for Dartmouth, visit: https://calltolead.dartmouth.edu/
Empire is a leading producer of high-level events, both on and off campus, for Ivy League schools and many of the world’s leading educational institutions.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
