The CAGE: A different view
2011 marks my 3rd consecutive trip to the Arnold. For all 3 years, I've had the privilege of working for Animal. I couldn't ask for anything more. This year was different. In previous years, I would arrive on Thursday night, catch a meal and hit the sack. I'd walk into the arena the following morning to see the Cage erect and ready to rock. We'd stock the shelves and we'd start rolling. Not this year ...
This year I had the pleasure of heading out to Columbus a few days earlier. I arrived Tuesday night. NG and I caught a meal and went to bed. We had a few long days of labor ahead of us. Wednesday arrived and we met up with G Diesel to make our trip down to the expo center. We walked up to booth 419. There was no Cage erect. No 200lb dumbbells on the rack, no sound system booming. What stood in its place was yellow tape marking the outline of our booth. Around the 'booth' stood 20+ pallets of equipment. Time to get to work.
A few hours after starting, the fence people showed up with what would become THE CAGE. At that moment, it came in a pile of pieces. What it would become ... would be epic. As we started to piece together what would ultimately become THE CAGE, I took a glance around the expo center. Aside from us being there working, there was only a handful of other people in the arena. All of them were show labor people assigned to a booth. No other supplement company had their guys out there building shit from the ground up. Just another reason why Animal stands above the rest. We do it right. While we're doing backbreaking work, the rest of the companies and their employees are farting around at home, relaxing and having a good ol' time. Not us.
After putting in roughly 7 hours of hard work, we packed it in for the day. A lot more had to be done the following morning. We didn't have much time left. Thursday morning came and it was back for another day of labor. I strapped into my work boots that I've been rocking for 10+years, we got to work. Hanging banners, building shelves, folding shirts, stocking THE BOX, etc. Mid-day, J-DAWG and JUGGERNAUT showed up and got to work themselves. We had just a few hours left. Time to make the final push.
As the hours passed with each day, the Cage took form. The CAGE transforms from a flat, open space to a booth that the competition simply cannot compete with. I am proud to have played a part in building this masterpiece. A ton of work goes into planning this show. Building the cage itself takes a lot of time, patience, and strength. We all possessed those qualities in helping to make THE CAGE a reality.
Once the Expo Center officially opened its gates to the public, it was off to the races. All I could do was hope that everything went smoothly. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" - Mike Tyson. Words to live by. There were several things I wanted to have happen, but once the crowds formed around the booth, we had to make audibles. In the end, everything worked out. I spent most of my time behind the scenes; folding T-shirts, stocking inventory, signing papers, and handling the money. As far as I could tell, everything went rather smoothly.
I feel that we had a great Cage this year. And I want to reach out to all of you who played a part in helping to make it work. Thank you. Its because of all of you that the CAGE had the success that it did. We pride ourselves on being close to the consumer, putting them first. And you guys came right back with the same mutual respect, offering a hand whenever we needed one. I wouldn't want to be a part of any other booth.
Being more involved in the decision making this year, I was able to see a side of it that is rarely seen. Animal preaches blue collar, hardcore people that fight and claw their way to get to the top. Respect and loyalty are big parts of the Animal name. Everyone that I came into contact with this weekend displayed those qualities. Our booth was built with blood, sweat, passion, and drive. Having the booth built by some of the top guys in Animal just goes to show you what type of company we are. And I realized that we have attracted, as a brand, individuals who possess those some characteristics.
This post goes out to all of you. Whether you were an internal staff member, an intern for the day, someone who showed up and hung out in THE BOX, an athlete, or just the guys who weren't able to make it, yet took time out of their lives to watch the live webcast and/or post up pictures that were sent to them from us inside the Cage ... THANK YOU. If it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a CAGE.
Tonight I'm going to pour myself a stiff drink. I'll raise the glass in the name of Animal. Salute.