A Special Message from Ron Rausch
Does anyone know where 2023 has gone?
Every single day, I’m excited to go to work with the most amazing group of people in the event and video industry. In 2023, we had four individuals added to our Wired crew. We welcomed Jonathon Wardlow as a lighting designer, Andrew Stewart (better known as Stew) joined our audio team, Joel Porter came on board as a part of our video crew, and last but not least, Drew Bahr joined our warehouse team. With these four additions, we have filled out our staffing needs for the year.
This summer, four interns from schools across Eastern Iowa joined us. It’s an incredible experience to see students learn and grow with us, and we get to watch them grow into the future. We are excited to announce that in 2024, Wired Production Group will award one student at Kirkwood Community College with a $1,000 scholarship to invest in their future in either the Digital Arts or Digital Media programs. As our company continues to thrive in our industry, we want to continue to focus on growth within the next generation of event and video professionals. Thank you to the Kirkwood Foundation for making this possible for us.
As a lifelong resident of Eastern Iowa, I think giving back to the community we live, work, and play in is very important. In 2023, we launched our Wired Gives Back program. We look for opportunities and partnerships between our staff and community within our focus areas, including Arts Education and Employment, Veterans and Active Military Assistance, Youth Services, Animal Welfare, Diversity and Safety, and other programs matching our staff’s interests, values, and community involvement. This year, we have been honored to support the University of Iowa’s Indian Student Alliance “Nachte Raho” event, Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival, Cedar Valley Pridefest, Freedom Foundation, Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, Linn County Toys for Tots Families Helping Families of Iowa, Summer of the Arts, and more. We enjoy highlighting our partnerships and helping connect others in our community to the nonprofits we serve. I encourage you to learn more about our Wired Gives Back program on our website.
From concerts, campaign launches, product demos, trade shows, employee meetings and celebrations, and many, many video projects, our clients have taken us to 36 states in 2023. While it’s important for our staff to be home with their families as much as possible, we enjoy serving our clients across the United States and beyond. Each show across the map creates memorable moments that our team reflects back on often.
Every year, we research and invest in technology upgrades that will serve us and our clients best. In 2023, we added over 100 new intelligent moving lighting fixtures, 16 portable LED video posters, and new LED screen management systems for large-screen designs, to name a few.
On behalf of my team, I’m proud to say that we have experienced another year of record growth within our company. 2024 is just around the corner, and I look forward to leading this team into another year of new clients, events, video projects, and adventures.
See you in 2024,
Ron
PS. Our staff is in a heated debate about the best quote from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Please help us settle the feud by casting your vote below.