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In the Unlikely Event

In the Unlikely Event

By: Rick Kiley
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In the Unlikely Event is a vibrant video podcast spotlighting the untold stories of crisis, chaos, and creativity in experiential marketing. Each episode is a candid conversation with industry pros who've faced major event challenges—and lived to tell the tale. We explore the heart-pounding details of what went wrong, how it was fixed, and what keeps event people coming back for more.2025 Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • The Color Run: Mud, Mayhem, and the Stuck Truck Stage

    The Color Run: Mud, Mayhem, and the Stuck Truck Stage
    Jun 28 2026
    What happens when the giant truck carrying the very thing that makes your event famous—the color powder—sinks into the mud just 30 minutes before 7,000 runners cross the start line? In this episode, host Rick Kiley sits down with John Connors, founder of Peak End Creative and a founding member of the team that launched The Color Run. They travel back to 2012, to the second-ever Color Run in Austin, Texas. After a successful debut in Phoenix, the team was hit with a "perfect storm" of Texas rain, a disintegrating course, and a logistical nightmare that threatened to derail the fastest-growing running series in history. John recounts the visceral, high-pressure moments of watching his event spiral: from runners losing their shoes in "suction-cup" mud to the heart-stopping moment the main color truck got stuck right in front of the main stage. Hear how the team used the "Event Serenity Prayer" to pivot in real-time, turning a stuck truck into an iconic DIY stage and delivering the "color promise" against all odds.
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    39 mins
  • Noche Neon: The 2,700-Guest Gamble

    Noche Neon: The 2,700-Guest Gamble
    May 27 2026

    What do you do when your "Super Bowl" event for 1,000 guests suddenly balloons to 2,700 RSVPs just two weeks before showtime—and then a global tech outage hits?

    In this live-recorded episode from the TruNorth Presents: The Business of Experiential event in New York City, host Rick Kiley sits down with Marie Christofferson (Experiential Marketing Lead, Campari Group) and Jeannie Veneri (SVP of Client Services, SoHo Experiential) to recount the chaotic production of Noche Neon. This massive event celebrated the 25th anniversary of Espolón Tequila during the legendary Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans.

    The team faced a "comedy of errors" that would break most producers: a 3x surge in attendance, the infamous 2024 CrowdStrike travel outage that stranded key staff, a DJ testing positive for COVID on event morning, and a centerpiece neon backdrop that arrived in plain black and white. Hear the incredible story of how the crew "acted like ducks"—calm on the surface while paddling furiously underneath—to solve every crisis, from hand-coloring a massive scenic wall with Sharpies to turning a production assistant into the night's headlining DJ.
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    32 mins
  • The Princess Diana Mall Tour Crisis

    The Princess Diana Mall Tour Crisis
    Apr 21 2026
    What happens when your entire national marketing campaign is built around an international icon who suddenly and tragically passes away mid-tour? In this episode, host Rick Kiley and co-host Jeff Boedges travel back to the 1990s with guest Paul Robinson, a veteran brand activation leader. They recount a high-stakes promotional tour for the network Romance Classics (now WE tv) that involved touring three of Princess Diana's original dresses—purchased at auction for $700,000—across major U.S. malls. The campaign, boldly titled "Dressed to Di For," was a massive success until the unthinkable happened: the tragic death of Princess Diana in Paris. Paul and Jeff relive the heart-pounding Saturday night of Labor Day weekend when they had to act without client approval, scrubbing "exploitative" branding, securing priceless assets, and literally peeling wraps off promotional trucks in mall parking lots before the sun came up. It's a masterclass in gut-instinct decision-making and protecting a brand during a global tragedy. Links: Website: https://www.sohoexp.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UnlikelyEvent Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0dqPOmSUXp2cyUVJc7LnrY?si=4b8a9f3a203f4cc0
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    43 mins
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