Hey Chicago! It’s Been a Year!

One year ago, we launched the Forever Ready Productions Chicago office.

Well, officially. We actually planned the expansion six months before then.

Charlie and I joined the Forever Ready team in January of 2020. We had just left a job in television news and were ready for a change of pace. We packed up our apartment in Dubuque, Iowa and drove to Memphis, Tennessee and jumped right in. The plan was to do business research and development, travel to Chicago for business meetings, and then make the move to the Windy City by the Spring.

Then COVID happened.

It was the last thing we expected. Literally. In a list of things that could go wrong, Charlie wrote “economic downturn” at the very bottom. “Yeah right,” we thought.

But we continued planning, only pushed back our move a few weeks, and officially landed our first client in Chicago in May of 2020. That’s when the real work happened.

Charlie, Lauren, Scott and I worked on executing our first-ever virtual, LIVE event for the Center for Enriched Living. At the same time, Charlie and I worked with Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center to create a virtual tour. Those first two projects couldn’t have gone better and gave us a much-needed confidence boost.

From there we covered a community clean-up in Garfield Park and captured stories for the Center for Independence. We worked with folks and animals at the Community Animal Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.) and produced a virtual event for a nonprofit in New Jersey. New Jersey! We also produced two virtual conferences for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservatory, both of which had international audiences. The pandemic threw so many challenges at us, but it’s obvious it also gave us so many opportunities.

Now in 2021, we’re coming full circle by producing CEL’s second Virtual Chefs’ Night. This event is going to be even bigger and better than the first. Mark your calendars for June 28th!

Here’s to a great second year in Chicago!