St. Croix Chocolate Company - Best Festival

Company: St. Croix Chocolate Co., Marine on St. Croix, MN
Company Description: St. Croix Chocolate Company creates fine, fresh and beautiful artisan chocolates, delicious cocoa bombs, and small batch caramel sauces. Based in the historic village of Marine on St. Croix, Minn (pop, 679) since 2010, we have a national following. Recently featured in Forbes. Recent winner of International Chocolate Salon Truffle Artistry, Good Food Award, Scovie Award and Int'l Chocolate Award.
Nomination Category: Event Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Art, Entertainment & Public - Festival

Nomination Title: St. Croix Chocolate Company's Dino Day

At St. Croix Chocolate Company, a small artisan chocolate shop in the historic village of Marine on St. Croix, Minn (pop. 679), Easter is a busy and joyous time. We create thousands of chocolates, as well as molded chocolate hedgehogs, bunnies, chicks and eggs for our customers.

One evening while working alone late at night, founder and chocolatier Robyn Dochterman began to imagine a celebration foranother egg-centric critter....the dinosaur. By the time she finally went home, she’d begun to hatch plans for Dino Day.And every time she pictured it, she laughed out loud. Soon, she sprung the idea on Deidre Pope, co-owner, and a small but intrigued staff.

Our main goal was simply to give people a safe opportunity to be outside, engaged and delighted, especially after a year of COVID, street construction and a long Minnesota winter. Additionally, our usual customers tend to be middle-age women, so we relished the idea of introducing our brand and developing arelationship with a younger audience and becoming part of their family's Easter tradition. Finally, a big sales day would be an added bonus.

We purchased six inflatable dinosaur suits for participants to use and planned an obstacle course for those daring enough to don the suits and compete. There was field hockey using pool noodles, a straw bale wall, hippity hop riding and a spoon and egg race to the finish, with comically giant spoons. We made chocolate dinosaurs, eggs, and dino t-shirts. We stocked up on dinosaur stickers and temporary tattoos to give to kids.

To "seed" participation, we recruited three town luminaries, including the VP of the bank, the owner of the general store, and the pastor of the church to be in the first heat of the race. And we created a giant dinosaur egg trophy to be awarded to the winner of the heat.

Dino Day dawned a little chilly, but fortunately, there were no meteor showers (dinosaurs hate meteor showers). Thirty minutes before we opened, there was a line outside our door and it only got longer as the day unfolded. But the line looked out over the course, and we offered chocolate samples to those in line, so no one complained about the wait.

Our livestream hostsprovided color commentary andour staff helped competitors into and out of the suits. After the invitational heat, kids raced against each other, families raced together, and even grandma took on grandpa in a heat marked by continuous giggling. “That was just what I needed!” said Grandma.

Despite only having a month from conception to execution and a budget of less than $2000, we were delighted with Dino Day. Seventy-three people raced and far more attended. Not often are events both profitable and hilarious, but Dino Day delivered both in abundance!

Optionally, list the appropriate creative and production credits for the nominated event, such as the following: Advertising Agency/City: Client: Art Director: Cinematographer: Creative Director: Designer: Director: Illustrator/City: Music Producer/City: Photographer/City: Printer/City: Producer: Production Company/City: Programmer: Writer: Web Development Firm/City:

Max Haynes, photographer
Minnesota Livestream, livestream and compilation video
Web design and support, SuperDeluxe Studios