Successful Meetings - October 2008 - (Page 41) > A Tale of Two Cities Fortune 1000 That special relationship—between shipbuilding workers who endured Hurricane Katrina and survivors of New York’s 9/11 tragedy; between two communities struggling to cope—had been forged by a remarkable and enduring fact: Cast into the bow of the New York is seven-and-a-half tons of steel recovered from Manhattan’s fallen World Trade Center. challenges demanded of a special event of historic importance, involving thousands of participants. From the very conception of the ship’s construction, all the way through the naming celebration on March 1, the vessel was intended to forever link hurricane-ravaged New Orleans with terror-devastated New York. That special relationship—between shipbuilding workers who endured Hurricane Katrina and survivors of New York’s 9/11 tragedy; between the two cities’ fire and police departments; between two communities still struggling to cope—had been forged by a remarkable and enduring fact: Cast into the bow of the New York by those New Orleans shipbuilders is seven-and-a-half tons of steel recovered from Manhattan’s fallen World Trade SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS OCTOBER 2008 Center. “There’s symbolism all over this ship,” notes McCallam. “The bow stem is the foremost part of the ship, the first that slices through the water, and thus the hardest and most steadfast piece of the ship. It’s a fitting tribute to the memories of those who died on 9/11.” The challenge for McCallam and her colleague, meeting planner Teresa Chubb, was to maintain the solemn protocol of a traditional Navy christening event, while at the same time create something memorable that evoked these special purposes. “Most of our shipbuilders who worked on this ship are Katrina survivors,” says McCallam, adding that the shipyard also was damaged by the storm. “This ship was one of the reasons they came back successfulmeetings.com to work. They’re still rebuilding their homes and their lives, so bringing this ship to life ran parallel with their own efforts.” TWO CITIES CELEBRATE Because of the complexity of the two-day event, Northrop Grumman hired two firms to handle the arrangements. Local DMC BBC Destination Management was tapped to arrange the elaborate Sponsors Dinner the night prior to the christening event as well as all transportation. For the christening-day celebrations, Northrop hired Baltimore-based P.W. Feats, which has extensive experience in just such events. The Sponsors Dinner on opening night was a seated gala for 500 invited guests. The natural theme was, of course, “Big 41 http://www.successfulmeetings.com
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