How Did Utah State University Transform a Dirt Floor Arena into an Awe-Inspiring Event Space?
The “Create Your Aggie Impact” campaign for Utah State University was launched publicly in 2022. In 2024, the arrival of a new university president and re-focused campaign priorities created a unique opportunity to bring together some of the university’s most loyal supporters. This event showcased the remarkable work being done on campus, highlighted the ongoing need for philanthropic support, and provided a platform to make major announcements about the campaign’s progress. In a landscape crowded with conventional campaigns and events, Utah State University Foundation continues to redefine the traditional campaign model, emphasizing the strategic role that events play throughout the campaign’s life. In 2024, a new university president presented an opportunity to create a “soft relaunch” of the campaign to connect the President to the university’s supporters and make some big announcements regarding the campaign’s progress. This invite-only event was developed by the USU Advancement team and produced by The ARC Collaborative and our team of event professionals at Wired Production Group.
Wired Production Group provided the full technical event production staff of 11 team members and two semi-trucks full of audio, lighting, video, rigging, and staging equipment for the one-night event. This production spanned a total of 2,390 miles round-trip.
An Event To Remember in Salt Lake City
The event design was built around the client’s venue of choice, the Bastian Agricultural Center, just outside of Salt Lake City. USU selected this non-traditional event venue to showcase one of the university’s newest gifts to the campaign, generously provided by a loyal family, which also happens to be the largest gift in university history. The 85,000-square-foot event center is situated on over 100 acres with a 45,000-square-foot horse arena. As the arena is used primarily for concerts, rodeos, and sports tournaments with a dirt floor, USU worked closely with The ARC Collaborative to create a rustic theme to complement the location and event messaging.
To provide a guiding light for guests, Wired Production Group provided an exterior lighting display. The exterior walls and pillars were illuminated with USU blue and white uplighting to complement the interior event design.
While the event center boasted plenty of space for the event, there were various design challenges to overcome. Our WPG Lighting Designer and Video Engineer, Nick Coso, conducted the site visit to develop a design plan and executed the design with Bryon Winn.
“I had the opportunity to be a part of both the 2022 campaign launch and the design of the 2024 event at the Bastian Ag Center. Between the two events, it was most exciting to create design elements that created a cohesive feel for attendees and see the final design come together. These events were made with bones that can be utilized for multiple shows. USU is always willing to take risks on their event designs, and it has led to impressive events that support their mission!”
To elevate the level of luxury in the arena, the event design included Omnideck flooring to cover the dirt floor and five trusses for rigging with an LED stage. The floor covering was an excellent choice as it was needed to cover more than half of the arena floor for event attendees. The rigging plot was designed to allow for banners to be displayed, GT truss for lighting fixtures, and cable runs to reach across the arena.
Along the perimeter of the arena, Utah State University provided 14 banners from their communications team with inspiring university-themed visuals to create a more intimate environment in the open arena space. These visuals specifically showcased the collaboration between USU and its partnership with the Space Dynamics Lab, celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of student athletes, and explore USU’s groundbreaking undergraduate research initiatives.
The mezzanine overlooking the arena hosted its own experience to complement the program. On the mezzanine, experiential centers were designed to showcase the four focus areas within the fundraising campaign: athletics, STEM/4-H, undergraduate research, and English. The mezzanine was decorated with string lights and LED posters to highlight each area.
Impact That Lights The Night
In year three of the campaign, the campaign has already received more than 120,000 gifts from over 22,000 donors throughout all areas of impact. USU was excited to announce $30 million in recent gifts for their campaign during the event!
“Highlighting the Create Your Aggie Impact fundraising campaign event, two transformative $10 million donations were announced to kick off USU Athletics’ ambitious $125 million “Reach and Rise” initiative. These foundational gifts to USU Athletics came from the Blake Kirby family and an anonymous benefactor. Kirby and his family have pledged another $2.5 million to support a variety of additional USU initiatives, including the Phil Swenson Chair in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.” – USU.edu
“The ARC Collaborative and Wired Production Group are the ultimate partners in event production. Their professionalism is evident in every stage, from planning to execution, ensuring a seamless and spectacular experience. They bring creativity, resources, and expertise beyond expectations, leaving a lasting impact on our university, donors, and administrators. Not only are they consummate professionals, but they are also a pleasure to work with—making everything run flawlessly. I cannot wait to collaborate with them again in the future!” – Scott Olson, Chief of Staff, USU Foundation
Celebrating Philanthropic Efforts Through Events That Matter
Wired Production Group holds an incredible sense of pride to have been a partner to The ARC Collaborative and executed this special event to support the Utah State University Foundation in 2024. For more information on the “Create Your Aggie Impact” campaign, please visit www.usu.edu/advancement. To learn more about donor engagement and fundraising event production with The ARC Collaborative and Wired Production Group, please connect with our team of professionals.