The Client Spotlight Series
Beginning this week, Schipul will be starting a spotlight series for our amazing clients. The series will highlight a different client each week on Facebook, and will include a monthly blog post dedicated to showing off one amazing client! This post is dedicated to Reliant Park and all the great things they’ve done for the Houston community.
The Contest!
Schipul will be giving away 2 free tickets to a Houston Texans preseason game! To be considered eligible, simply comment on this blog post or on this post on our Facebook page with your favorite story about Reliant Park. You can write an entire novel, or just 2-3 sentences, but either way Schipul wants to hear about it!
Don’t wait too late because the contest ends at noon CST on June 15. All participants before this date will be entered into a random drawing for the tickets. Read on for some examples of Reliant Park stories from the Schipulites. Good luck!
Let’s take a trip to Reliant Park
So much History
Reliant Park needs no introduction to the Houston community, but for the rest of the world: it’s Houston’s largest entertainment venue. Reliant Park holds 5 large venues including Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL Houston Texans, and the Astrodome, the old home of the Houston Astros and Houston Oilers. The park is famous for hosting the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Houston, Wrestlemania, and countless concerts from the world’s biggest musical artists.
A few of Reliant Park’s many notable claims to fame include building the NFL’s first retractable roof stadium with Reliant Stadium, the Astrodome, being the first domed structure of its size, and the city’s METRORail station stop in the park that allows for cheap and easy transportation for site visitors. The park is also known for Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, and for giving shelter to thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims while they pieced their lives back together.
Our work with Reliant Park
Schipul has been working with Reliant Park since developing their website in 2005. In 2011, Schipul began a new redesign project with Reliant Park to update the website design to reflect the park’s new branding. It was also important to Reliant Park to have a CMS that had content-adding friendly functionality that would include interactive maps with directions for parking, an extensive event calendar with search capability, and an array of rich media addition options to document all of their events.
Knowing that image means everything to an entertainment venue, the Schipul design team submitted multiple designs for the Reliant Park team. With the help of both teams, they were able to produce a functional, media-rich website that truly reflects the new Reliant Park branding. This 6-year business relationship has been maintained through Schipul’s commitment to customer service, and both company’s outstanding communication lines.
Check out the newest Reliant Park website!
Fond Memories of Reliant Park from the Schipulites
After sending out an office email asking my co-workers to send me their favorite memory of Reliant Park, I was surprised to receive a quick response from a large amount of the office. The people of Houston absolutely love Reliant Park and have all had some experience there that they will never forget. Here are some of our stories:
Caitlin Kaluza, Marketing Manager
We definitely have a large Aggie following in the Schipul office, starting with our CEO, Ed Schipul. Caitlin is one of the zealous office Aggie alumni. Her favorite memory of Reliant Park is “having a blast” while watching her fighting Texas Aggies in last year’s Meineke Car Care Bowl in Reliant Stadium. The Aggies were able to pull out their first bowl victory since 2001, with a score of 33-22 over Northwestern.
Courtney Pemberton, Business Development Manager
Courtney is one of the few and proud Dallas Cowboys fans in the office. She was able to buy tickets to the Houston Texans’ and Dallas Cowboy’s game in the 2010 NFL season as a birthday gift for her boyfriend who is a Texan fan. Fortunately for Courtney, the Dallas Cowboys managed to defeat the Texans that day with a score of 27-13. “It was glorious”, says Courtney. She also asks that you refrain from looking at her while you look at her picture.
Rachel Schipul, Consultant
Rachel loves the annual Nutcracker Market. She calls it “a little slice of Texas Christmas heaven”. Every year she and a close friend go through all the food and boutique booths. “Somehow my friend always ends up purchasing some very large physical object that we end up lugging all the way back to the car. Last year it was an ottoman!”
Ed Schipul, CEO
Ed is a known Reliant Park fan who has attended countless events: anything from WWF to dog shows. He most frequently visits Reliant Stadium to watch his Houston Texans. One of Ed’s many hobbies is photography. Check out some of his favorite pictures from Reliant Park on Ed’s Flickr account.
Forrest Purser, Support Team
Of all the times Forrest has been to Reliant Park, his favorite memory is graduating in the Reliant Stadium. Forrest was amazed walking around the ground level of the stadium and walking through the tunnels. He “wondered who else had walked this same walk”. He still says that it can never replace the AstroDome as his favorite piece of Reliant Park history.
Sarah Worthy, Tendenci Community Manager
Sarah has been to so many Reliant Park events, from the Houston annual Rodeo to NCAA Championship games and trade shows; she’s done it all. Her best memories of Reliant Park are taking her son the the circus, and to see his pure joy from the train ride to the circus.
Sarah specifically appreciates Reliant Park’s wide array of vendors and the decongested ride into the park on the city’s MetroRail.
Check out more of Sarah’s circus photos on her Flickr account.
Dharol Tankersley, Data Analyst
Dharol is a season ticket holder to the Houston Texan games, and has also been to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo several times. She enjoys the cleanliness, the cowboy statue, the open dome, and the ability to take the metro there on gamedays. Dharol’s favorite memory is the “unmatched energy” of the Texan fans all the way through the last minutes of fourth quarter last season when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Katrina Esco, Account Executive
Katrina visited Reliant Park to see John Legend at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last year. She went with Schipul co-workers Cindi Crigler and Rodney Sabrsula. She loved the carnival, the concert, and how helpful the Reliant staff were. She described it as a “great experience.”
Share Your Favorite Reliant Park Memory & Win!
Now it’s your turn – share your favorite Reliant Park memory in the comments or on this post on our Facebook page to win two tickets (& a parking pass) to the first Houston Texans pre-season game Saturday August 15 vs. the San Francisco 49ers! We will randomly select a winner at noon central time on June 15th.
