By Pamela Raymond

Published August 19, 2009

 

Coolfire Media is on to something. How do you engage clients in a rousing competition that pits teams against each other and no one leaves feeling humiliated? Where teams prove their prowess through craftsmanship and costumes? If you guessed the Coolfire Media Pinewood Derby, then you would be correct. In partnership with Ad Club St. Louis’ Ad Club Young Guns, Coolfire Media has created an experience that is as much fun as playing in the sandbox at recess with a cocktail.

 

 

Pinewood Derby kits were handed out to Coolfire Media’s most creative clientele. Each team came up with a theme, designed their car and came together for the annual event which took place on August 6, 2009. Add music, bottomless Imo’s pizza, adult beverages (the sangria generously prepared by Alec Gleason, Coolfire Media account manager was my personal favorite), and the natural competitive spirit that drives the St. Louis advertising world and you have a very, very…well, it was nothing short of a ridiculously good time.

 

 

The pinewood derby is a traditional racing event for Cub Scouts districts in the Boy Scouts of America. With the help of parents, Cub Scouts build their own cars from kits containing a block of pine, plastic wheels and metal axles and race them on a track propelled only by gravity.

 

The adults at Coolfire Media hijacked this concept and gave it a grown up feel with bragging rights going to the fastest car and the car with the most pizzazz and creative design. Prizes were also handed out in categories like Best Themed Pit Crew, Overall Winner and Slowest Car. Slowest car? Ouch. Maybe there IS a bit of humiliation in this process.

 

Costumes ranged from paying homage to the Addams Family, a bevy of toga clad racers, to a memorial tribute to Billy Mays of Oxy Clean fame. The cars were not your sweet, childlike creations but imaginative and detailed with a generous dose of bravado. The weak need not apply to this derby.

 

If you have a hankering for something creative and cool, check out the RFT Artopia event on August 27th at The St. Louis Artists’ Guild from 7pm to 10pm. Tickets are $25 in advance and include appetizers, drinks, entertainment and live art. Art is a great way to meet new folks and, if you missed the Coolfire Media Pinewood Derby, reconnect with your inner child.