I've photographed a lot of events in barns. Most of them were weddings, where I knew exactly when the toasts would happen. The Surge summer mixer on August 20 was harder to shoot and a lot more fun, because the big moments kept happening at random tables.
About 140 people came out to The Hayloft on Darby in Plain City: 44 of our 48 members, plus spouses, clients, referral partners and 17 first-time visitors. It was the first time all three chapters had been in one room, and for a lot of Polaris members it was the first time they'd driven to Plain City on purpose.
What I saw through the lens
A few things that didn't make it onto the chapter accounts:
- The light. Kelsey Wright had the big west doors open, so for about forty minutes the whole barn glowed amber off the soybean fields. Then the sun dropped, the uplights came on, and it turned into a completely different room. Best twenty minutes of shooting I've had all year.
- The food line. Minh Tran's banh mi and rice bowl bar had a line for an hour. Dwayne Hollis set up a grill right next to it, which turned into a friendly rivalry. Dwayne says he won. The empty trays say it was a tie.
- The flowers. Becca Stroud cut everything on the tables from her own field that morning. Three different people asked me to photograph the arrangements so they could send the pictures to someone planning a wedding. That is a referral pipeline I did not see coming.
- Bobby's story. Bobby Rausch finally told the raccoon-in-the-drive-through story to a full table. I have a burst of 14 frames of Gene Holtz laughing so hard he had to put his plate down.
The wall
We ran the pulse slide and the overlay from a projector against the back wall of the barn all night. Every time someone logged a referral from their phone, an alert slid across the wall with both members' photos. Yes, those were the directory headshots I took. I noticed.
Somebody near the bar started cheering every time an alert popped up. By nine o'clock the whole barn was doing it, which is the most enthusiasm I have ever seen for a data feed.
By the time dessert came out, members had passed 23 referrals. In the week after the mixer, 19 people earned the Cross-Pollinator badge from 1:1s they booked with members of other chapters that night.
The reverse pitch
About halfway through, Emi Takahashi ran the only structured part of the evening, a reverse pitch. Each chapter drew names, and everyone had 30 seconds to pitch another member's business from memory. Some highlights:
- Ryan Hartsock pitched Leila Haddad's dental practice with a confidence that suggested he has not been to the dentist lately.
- Rhonda Tate explained Hamza Warsame's cybersecurity work better than most IT people could. Hamza asked her to write his website.
- Travis Neff, who does not enjoy public speaking, did Kate Brennan's roofing pitch in 22 seconds flat and sat straight back down to applause.
Luke Brandt closed the night by auctioning off a tray of Tess Villanueva's lumpia for a local food pantry. It went for $340. Tess has been asked to bring two trays next time.
What came out of it
It has been five days. Of the 23 referrals from that night, 9 are already marked in progress and 2 are won. Three of the visitors have asked to come back as guests, and one has already applied.
I came home with about 1,100 photos. Roughly 90 are good and 12 are great, and they're all in the members' shared album now. If you were there and want a headshot retake, you know where to find me.
The fall mixer is in November. Kelsey has already offered the barn again, and Minh and Dwayne have started arguing about the menu.
