At
Arzika, an experiential marketing and event management company in Troy, the writing really is on the wall.
Graffiti painted on the wall of the "Pit", a large open workspace shared by Arzika employees, is meant to inspire, with words scrawled in a collage of colors: passion, teamwork, pride, care, risk, dream...
The mural is a playbook for the company.
"We wanted an artist to do something that would show our core values, our attitude," says company president
Rob Palmer, 36, a Michigan native and former varsity football coach in Florida. "It's there to remind us why we're in this business, that it's not just a job. It's something we care about. ...We make sure the work gets done, but we don't forget it's about having fun, about creating opportunities that help businesses and Michigan."
Palmer and his wife, Tracy-Ann, co-founded the company, whose motto is "Connecting Companies Through Unforgettable Experiences" in 2005. She has stepped away from day-to-day operations and now serves as executive director and a member of the board.
When the couple started the company five years ago it was based around producing a single signature event -
Midwest Technology Leaders Symposium. Since then, Arzika has more than quadrupled in size, and other events have followed.
The firm's core business is bringing people together to discuss topics - typically tech-oriented topics - that can help them do their jobs better and/or more efficiently, whichever the case may be. At Arzika-produced events, attendees get information and face-time with the people and companies that can make this possible. It's a valuable opportunity for competitors who want to meet and hear how their professional counterparts and other high-profile pros are handling business situations and learn what opportunities exist. They can learn about current trends and case studies, as well as best practices in their fields. At the same time, the conferences can bring business to participants and sponsors.
Putting on such shows – think networking on steroids - takes producers, writers, artists, graphic and set designers, lights, camera people, researchers, business developers, sponsors and more.
"One of the things I like to tell the staff is it's really not the glitz and glamour - the lights, the videos, the loud music, things like that. It's the content and the quality of the people who are there," Rob Palmer says.
Arzika is an African word for prosper, and it was taken from Tracy-Ann Palmer's heritage. She was born in Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa.
The name is fitting for a company that in five years has taken that one event and expanded to six or more this year, and likely more than 10 by early 2011. Some events are Arzika's own creation while others are client-created conferences. This year Arzika broke from its traditional large-scale events to take on smaller breakfasts for Verizon and
McAfee in Chicago and Troy. "Next year we're going to basically double this year's amount of events. We're on pace to double revenue," Rob Palmer says.
Coordinating events can be a year-long process, depending on demands. Work in earnest can start as much as eight months out from the conference date. And while the number of events may not seem large, a lot goes into selling an experience.
The staff is just coming down from producing a couple of big shows, including its cornerstone Midwest Technology Leaders Symposium, which was held May 26 at the
MGM Grand in Detroit. More than 250 people attended - up from 60-75 at the inaugural gathering in 2005. Shows have featured tech and business world stars such as this year's guest, Michael Locke of Google. Microsoft's CIO Tony Scott was on the roster a few years back.
Last month, the company hosted the Midwest CFO Forum in Dearborn. And back in April, Arzika helped produce
Future Midwest 2010 at the
Royal Oak Music Theater, providing a gathering place for those interested in digital media and digital marketing. Festival idea-men Jordan Wolfe, co-founder of the TechNow conference, and Adrian Pittman, founder of the
Module Midwest Digital Conference and partner in Wearemodule, hired Arzika to manage registration, volunteers, operations, and logistics that included closing Royal Oak's busy 4th Street for a fair in front of the music theatre. It was not an easy task, but it was fun and rewarding.
One of the company's biggest challenges comes in November when it transforms what was the Celebrate Michigan Expo into
Michigan Emerging. Arzika is working with Expo founders Jan and Marshall Rice, "two of Michigan's biggest cheerleaders," he says, to rebrand the renamed event at a different place, different time, and with a different focus.
Attendance at Celebrate Michigan has declined in recent years and Arzika plans to reverse that, promising to attract 750-1,000 guests. "Celebrate Michigan was a fine event, but we want to take it to the next level," says Rob Palmer. Michigan Emerging takes place Nov. 17 at the
Ford Conference and Event Center in Dearborn and will be the featured event of the week during
Global Entrepreneurship Week.
"We want to highlight the successful entrepreneurs and small businesses in Michigan," Palmer explains.
The Palmers became local entrepreneurs themselves after living in California, Connecticut, and Chicago before deciding Michigan was where they wanted to be. "We saw Detroit was very rich in technology and had some great companies and executives," Palmer says. "People thought it was a great idea, that there was a need for a place for these companies to come together. Everyone had been talking getting together but it hadn't been done."
So the Palmers jumped in with its first event. "Starting a company in Michigan was easy because of the talent pool we have here," Palmer explains.
Tracy-Ann had her own talents in technology and event planning to bring, after planning more than 20 events in 24 global industries. She now works full-time for a San Francisco tech company. She met Rob not long after moving to the U.S. in 1998. By 2004 they landed in Michigan.
He had grown up in Portage, Michigan and left when he was 18 and ready to rope in his own life and work experience. "We weren't worried about finding a job," Palmer says. "We were worried about finding a job that would pay what we were used to." As it turned out, Michigan's lower cost of living evened out the difference in salaries. "It's been great. What we are is a young, colorful, vibrant company," he says.
Young applies to the company and its employees. Of 12 staffers, six come in under the age of 27. Company-wide, the age range at Arzika never tops 40. Recent additions have brought the staff up to eight full-time employees, two part-timers and two interns. And demand keeps growing.
It's important to note that while Michigan is hemorrhaging younger demographic professionals, Arzika employees are proof positive that some can be convinced to stay.
Amanda Bate, the company's 24 year-old communications specialist, was looking for a forward-thinking company like Arzika and believes that it has the potential to rev up the economics of Metro Detroit and Michigan. In fact, five of Arzika's 12 employees moved from out of state to work here, proving that youth flight goes both ways.
Bate, a
Valparaiso University graduate, could have lived anywhere, but felt something pulling her back to Michigan. After earning a master's degree in political communication in Dublin, Ireland, the White Lake native returned in May 2009. "I had every intention of working in Chicago. When I started hearing what was going on in Detroit and Michigan I came back. It was where I wanted to be. I wanted to be doing more to make Michigan work."
She and Rob Palmer see events like Michigan Emerging as a means to accomplishing that.
It will highlight and look to attract guests interested in the state's emerging job sectors: life sciences, mobile technology, finance, homeland security and defense to name just a few. People with creative minds, business smarts and entrepreneurial spirit steering small companies to success will be featured and celebrated.
"There are so many brilliant people in Michigan," Palmer says. While great things are happening at business incubators such as
Ann Arbor SPARK and Detroit's
TechTown, he explains, there are also success stories to share from smaller guys doing it on their own.
"We want to put a spotlight on these companies," he adds. "Entrepreneurship is what's going to bring us out of this economic situation."
Kim North Shine is a Detroit-area freelance writer who likes to throw parties but has no idea how to host an event. Her previous article was IT In Scrubs.Send your comments here.
All Photos by David LewinskiPhotos:
Rob Palmer
Midwest Technology Leaders Symposium-Courtesy Arzika
Worldly Goals
Future Midwest-Courtesy Arzika
Amanda Bate