LilyPad Lowdown

Breaking into Brews

Posted on May 20, 2013

Just two weekends ago, Red Frog brought hundreds of tasty and unique beverages to Soldier Field for the very first beer festival in the company’s history and our newest event, American Beer Classic.

Thanks to the hard work and long hours put in by Red Froggers and volunteers, Soldier Field was transformed into a white washed utopia for beer lovers. Complete with live music, games, educational sessions and a spontaneous mob of dancers, the festival had people walking out grinning from ear to ear.

The event took place on Saturday, May 11^th, and was met with resounding approval from the attending drinkers and breweries alike. As the first beer festival that Red Frog has produced, recruiting the desired amount of breweries to attend the festival was no small challenge. While RFE has tremendous credibility when it comes to producing large-scale events, a beer festival was something completely new. One hundred breweries from all over the Midwest and elsewhere participated in the festival, including Boulevard, Sam Adams, Shock Top, and even a meadery called Wild Blossom. One of Wild Blossom’s beverages, Pirate’s Blood, was a fan favorite at the festival. The majority of attending breweries were from Illinois and the Chicago area, but there were a few attending from afar such as Deschutes Brewery, based in Oregon.

The partnership with the staff of Soldier Field contributed to the success in a huge way. The venue itself was a large component of why the event was so spectacular. Sipping some mead or a craft beer under the lights of Soldier Field, walking past the 50-yard line and gazing through the goal posts to the rows of empty seats beyond was a unique experience that every attendee was thrilled to have.

As Red Frog Events continues to grow and experiment, we will take this experience and apply what we have learned towards future endeavors. To be sure, it’s probably a safe bet that this will not be the last beer festival coming from Camp Red Frog.

Posted in Events, Gratitude, Innovation, Productivity/Success | Tagged chicago, company culture, events, froggers, red frog events | Leave a comment

Summer Time in Chicago

Posted on May 15, 2013

It seems that the winter days are finally over and Chicago has made a swift slide into summer! With the beautiful weather outside and a gorgeous city toexplore, the sidewalks are filled with people getting out to enjoy Mother Nature. Summer time is the best chance to explore new things and even to channel your inner child. So, what is there to do in Chicago in the summer time? To tell you the truth, the possibilities are endless.

If you are looking to walk around outside and enjoy the weather, there is no better place to go than Lincoln Park Zoo. Not only is it steps from the lake; it is the best place to go when on a budget because it is free! Walking around the zoo with friends is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon. Just kiddy corner to the zoo is the Lincoln Park Conservatory, which houses tropical palms and ancient ferns. With four ‘display houses’, including the Palm House, Fern Room, Orchid House and Show House, you will feel like you are stepping into a flowery paradise. Hitting the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory will have your day filled with great experiences that will make you feel like you are in another world, but really in the heart of Lincoln Park.

The summer time in the city is filled with possibilities. Great places to visit, restaurants to eat at and people to spend your time with. Stay tuned to what other great things there are to do in the Chicago Summer time!

Posted in Productivity/Success, Tips | Tagged chicago, company culture, tadpoles | Leave a comment

Firefly in the (Tree)house

Posted on May 3, 2013

With our second annual Firefly Music Festival just around the corner, we love looking back at this past year and seeing the additions we’ve made. One of our most exciting additions this year has been our Treehouse Sessions where artists that will be performing at the 2013 Firefly join us in our Chicago office.

In the past few months we have had several of our Firefly artists visit us at the office and give us a musical break from our day-to-day activities. Just last week we were visited by the band Leagues whose front man, Thad Cockrell, described our Treehouse Session as an “adult recess.” He couldn’t have described it any better; our RFE Family gathered on the fifth floor where our tree house is located to watch them perform. Our Treehouse Sessions are not just for the RFE Family though; you can find these sessions uploaded to Firefly Music Festival’s Facebook page.

We can’t wait to see these bands perform on bigger stages at Firefly this summer. We hope to see you there!

Posted in Events, Innovation, Productivity/Success | Tagged chicago, company culture, events, froggers, office, office culture, office fun, red frog events | Leave a comment

Putting Networking to Good Use

Posted on April 23, 2013

When it comes to finding a job, it often seems like there must be some secret formula out there—one that feels impossible to find. You might be asking yourself what this secret formula is or what the key aspects are that will land you your dream job. There is no magic solution (we wish there were!) but networking can be one of these key factors for many different reasons. Networks of people can be a beneficial tool when searching for a new job. Whether it’s a network from your college, previous job or the student organization you were a part of, creating a connection with someone can be the ticket to landing an interview or even the job you have been fawning over for weeks.

Just last week Red Frog Events hosted an Alumnae Panel, where former Red Frog Tadpoles shared insight on their professional lives after their time at Red Frog was over. As the Spring Tadpole class is coming to an end, the job search is on and Red Frog is doing what they can to help with the search. The Alumnae Panel consisted of five former Tadpoles answering any and every question about their job search once their time at Red Frog was over and sharing the careers they’ve now happily found. It was an amazing opportunity to learn from these accomplished former Tadpoles and make connections for the future.

Red Frog is truly a family, and includes not only the people currently at the company, but also people that were here in the past and contributed to what we are today. Red Frog Alumnae are continuously helping each other out, whether it be finding a job or needing a new roommate; we are always there for each other. But, it does not take being a part of a company like Red Frog to put your networking skills to work. Networking can be done anywhere, it just takes a little bit of courage to put yourself out there, but we promise, it’s worth it!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Start Cheesin’

Posted on April 11, 2013

Anyone who has ever stepped foot into Camp Red Frog would easily pick up on the fact that we like to smile… A LOT. We’re a pretty happy bunch and we are also truly fortunate to be surrounded with coworkers who happen to have some of the most contagious smiles around. In case you and your coworkers need a little bit of motivation to start smiling more often, here are some truly amazing benefits to this little phenomenon also known as straight up cheesin’.

Smiling is one of the most basic human expressions of all time. In fact, we are actually born smiling! And have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to keep from smiling around another person who smiles so frequently? This is due to the fact that smiling is evolutionarily contagious and suppresses the control that we usually have over our facial muscles. Several studies have reported that children smile as many as 400 times per day… no wonder being around kids makes us so happy.

When we smile, our brain reward mechanism is stimulated in a way that even biting into a delicious bar of chocolate cannot match. According to a study conducted by British researchers, one smile has the potential to generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate! We definitely love some good chocolate here at Camp Red Frog (as displayed by our many S’more stations and M&M candy dispensers located around just about every corner) but 2,000 bars would most likely result in some serious bellyaches… so we’ll probably just stick to smiling for now!

A great smile is easy to come by at Camp Red Frog, and we hope this post has convinced you to start spreading some serious smiles around your workplace as well. After all, it’s contagious and can simply make you healthier overall. Who wouldn’t want that? So start cheesin’, people!