Dam that was cool!

Launching a new cruise ship for Holland America Line is like producing the Fourth of July, the opening of Parliament, and a well orchestrated three-ring circus all rolled into 3 weeks of non-stop activities.

Following six months of intense planning and content development, we kicked-off a staggering series of launch events, seminars and executive presentations. Starting in England, and then in The Netherlands, we produced simultaneous events for the press, travel agents, guests, and local dignitaries leveraging multiple venues onboard the new ship. Presentations were created in English, Dutch, and German and supported with PowerPoint, videos and teleprompting.

In Rotterdam, the marketing events were capped off with a grand and traditional Dedication Ceremony, featuring Holland America Line President and CEO Stein Kruse and Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Queen Beatrix honored the cruise line by inaugurating the ms Eurodam with the traditional ringing of the ships bell and smashing of a Champagne bottle.

But we weren’t done yet. We sailed to Hamburg where similar events were held, and a month later in New York, we produced onboard travel agent seminars and press events during a 3 day sailing.

A good day: When all was said and done, two Holland America Line vice presidents told our producer, Julie Hunt, “We simply could NOT do it without you.”