The Story of a Little Boat

In the beginning, there was a humble, little, white boat, plain, ordinary and certainly not a good representation of a creative advertising agency. “We need to discuss your flair.”

Armed with a couple cans of Rust-Oleum spray paint, a box full of acrylic paints, a case of ice-cold Yuengling 20 ouncers, a staggering DVD collection and the promise of cookies and free White Castles the day of the race, TRIAD Graphic Designer Eric Brown cleared his already free schedule for an entire weekend to complete the project – personalize an 11-inch-by-7-inch-by-15-inch-tall (including mast) boat.

What ensued was a blur of back-to-back movie marathons, including all six Harry Potter movies, the original cinematic releases of the original Star Wars movies (not the disappointing Episodes I, II, and III) and of course a few horror movies to stay awake. The goal of this whirlwind paint-slinging madness was not simply to create a sweet looking toy boat to play with in the bath tub – that was just a bonus. Every year the Kiwanis Club of Columbus hosts the Corporate Regatta fund raiser. Proceeds from the event provides a $12,000 donation to the summer reading program at the Columbus Metropolitan Library as well as $25,000 that is used to help Central Ohio children.

As part of the event a design competition was held, which TRIAD’s Big Daddy Roth-inspired boat won runner-up. Corporate sponsors and business leaders in and around Columbus traded in their briefcases and BlackBerrys for Super Soakers and sandals to race their decorated boats across the small pools that had been set up in front of the library. The winner of the regatta received $1,500 to put towards the charity of their choice. And while TRIAD did not win the race this year, plans have already been set into motion to improve upon the boat’s design and come home with the “W” in 2011.