Ever wanted to take work to the beach, or vice versa? Nurture Area Healthcare Managers Jared Mejeur and Bob Thomson did exactly that, when they hosted a series of 'Recliners at the Beach' events recently in Orange County. The events were designed to take Empath around to several local healthcare design firms and show it off in a fun, engaging way. They teamed up with Donna Clervi and Kristin Mehl from Tangram Interiors to pick six healthcare design firms in Orange County, all within 10 miles of each other, to host the Empath parties. All in all, they took Empath around to Gkk Works, Ewing Cole, and Ware Malcomb in Irvine, Lionakis and Taylor Associates in Newport Beach, and SCI Design in Lake Forest.

The idea for the traveling beach event came from the original Nurture Roadshow concept. Many Orange County designers remember the gigantic Nurture truck rolling up into their parking lots and thought it was such a creative, out -of-the-box way to showcase healthcare products. No other healthcare furniture company did anything similar, and the impact from those is still felt years later.

Jared, Bob and Tangram took that same concept and decided to outfit one of Tangram's new trucks. They quickly realized how difficult it would be to outfit an entire truck and keep it stable and protected enough to transport to other firms. Instead, they decided to create a "road show" and set up a beach scene with Empath recliners as the beach chairs. The environment they created consisted of two parking spots along with a beach backdrop and two large tents to allow people to mingle and snack in the shade while checking out the new recliners.

The response from attendees immediately exceeded their expectations. According to Jared, "Usually the first reaction out of the designers when they walked into the parking lot beach scene was, 'NO WAY! THIS IS SO COOL!' People started literally acting like they were at the beach or at a tailgate." People wore their sunglasses, got pictures in the Empath with the beach back drop or got their own headshots or team photos with the beach background.  Many other people stated that they, "Loved having all the recliners right in our own parking lot to try out.  All we had to do was walk outside and sit down to try out these new recliners. This was such a creative way to have us see the recliners outside of just photos and videos."

This event would be very simple for other AHM's and dealer representatives to replicate. All that is needed is:
1. Create a fun flyer indicating time/date/location
2. Pick 3 firms to visit each day (They did 2 days, 3 firms each day)
3. Organize food/snacks/drinks for each event
4. Procure a truck from the dealer that can store all the recliners, beach gear, graphics, tents, equipment, etc. to bring from site to site.
5. Have at least 4 people from either Nurture or the dealer attend the event to help facilitate one-on-one conversations with the designers when they enter the beach scene

6. Prepare and present the key insights behind Empath, tailored to the specific needs of the guests visiting that day

Thanks to these events, Jared and Bob were able to nail down commitments to see the full healthcare showroom at Tangram Interior's headquarters, sign people up for the EDAC study sessions and test prep class, and set up further opportunities to show off other Nurture products with each of these firms' customers. It also allowed the firms to see the "fun" side of Nurture and Tangram. Nurture was able to differentiate itself, and it also allowed the Nurture team to see a different side of the designers, as they were outside, more relaxed and in a different environment than the typical conference room.

These events would not have been possible without Tangram's commitment and passion for selling Empath. They provided the truck and marketing materials to advertise the event, and thanks to them, new relationships were built with designers, architects, and project managers on both Nurture and Tangram's side. This was a great series of events that Jared and Bob are already looking to replicate in Los Angeles.