2021: "The Year of Collaborations"

Camping World & Marcus Lemonis

As 2020 wrapped up, we turned our shock about the unexpected move of Erik from Maryland to his native Long Island to excitement for to have a New York HQ for AEP.

This came during an even more unexpected surprise: winning a brand-new camper from Marcus Lemonis and Camping World, during a holiday giveaway campaign called #RVfromSanta.

Camping World Giveaway Winners Announcement

It took a near-magical effort by friends, families and supporters who stepped up to create a Twitter campaign where Erik was un-ignorable by Camping World and even Marcus Lemonis himself, and we were immediately inspired by the goodness of humanity. With this outlook on how change can bring forth wonderful new adventures and people, we felt like we had our theme for 2021: The Year of Collaborations.

Team RWB & Shootout For Soldiers

Most recently, there has been an announcement by two organizations that Erik and Alexis have been involved with for several years: Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) announced the acquisition of Shootout For Soldiers. We were not only thrilled about this combination, but also that the Shootout For Soldiers will host 3 cities this year after canceling the 2020 tour. Baltimore, Long Island, and Canandaigua will anchor the 2021 summer season and there are sure to be some unique, inclusive and fun experiences at each! We're already seeing some outstanding collaborations gaining momentum as we hit the planning of this summer full steam ahead.

We look forward to continuing our collaborations in ways that are unfolding as we type this! Don't hesitate to reach out on social media DMs or our website to keep the collaboration momentum rolling well into 2022 and beyond!

Barstool Sports Campaign

AEP kicked of 2021 with a unique collaboration opportunity to support small businesses impacted by Covid-19. With the goal of surging the momentum toward The Barstool Fund, AEP created a social media fundraising raffle around the donation of a brand new, Sony PS5 game console to Zero Blog Thirty, a top podcast for Barstool Sports.

At the time, the PS5 was near impossible to purchase anywhere or anytime in the foreseeable future. AEP sought to be a force multiplier of donations, attention and awareness to the Barstool Fund beyond what we might be able to accomplish as individual contributors to the fund at this critical time for our nation's small businesses.

Our PS5 campaign led to successful fundraising, bringing more than $18,000 from more than 500 donors across social media platforms, and engaged niche groups in a focused way, from fans in the gaming industry to members and supporters of the military.

All proceeds were donated to The Barstool Fund which provides financial support to Covid-19 impacted businesses.

To date, The Barstool Fund has raised over $39.3M in donations and has supported 348 small businesses in surviving and thriving during Covid-19's restrictions.

Sports: A Year of Overcoming Adversity

Sports Industry Update: Competitive college sports had the most challenging year in history, and there was no shortage of stressors and “unknowable” situations for businesses, administrators, coaches, players and families to continuously adapt around.

Coaches were given an opportunity to lead through this adversity, and those who reached out to collaborate with us forged bonds within their teams even through restrictions of in-person team interaction, administrative decision-making, civil unrest, completely remote teams, and their academic requirements as student athletes.

AEP Edge: Our digital workshop developed into our 4-part “Signature Series” (which is now 5+ parts), and teams learned critical skills for getting through these stressful times as well as the critical moments in games, and for doing so as a team with on-field chemistry and meaningful bonds off the field.

All of the teams who worked with us advanced to their conference playoffs, including a first-year program establishing itself in the NCAA, which made it to the Conference Championship Game (results TBD), and another team which was re-establishing itself after years of being deactivated as an NCAA program. Our college brands have a particular focus on amplifying their culture across an AEP social media platforms. To bolster recruitment and retention for our clients' programs, we provide a unique inside-look at a team so recruits, parents, donors and administrators can see a team's culture in action, and reinforced by AEP's perspective.

Below, you'll find a recap of our work with two of our client-partners in college sports:

ONU Polar Bears

"12R Culture"

Head Coach Nat St. Laurent Ohio Northern University Polar Bears: Men's Lacrosse

ONU approached the 2021 Season in the hunt for leadership and an outlier mindset willing to "draw first blood" on the field. The tone of our AEP Signature Series, for this particular program, drove that messaging home while creating a culture fully bought-into the the "12R" culture. Breathwork by Ceci Craft, CMPC and "A Warrior's Pause" are techniques this squad tapped into quite often, and their team innovation session allowed a sense of "first blood" as their message included a concept of hitting the road all season to play anyone, anytime, anywhere, and in any division.

Brand-New NCAA Program

Head Coach Jordan Williams

Penn College of Technology Wildcats: Men's Lacrosse Excerpt from the 2021 Championship Game Recap:

PCT Wildcats Men's Lacrosse Team

(Season) One for the History Books:

"In just its first season as an NCAA program, Penn College defied the odds by reaching the title contest. In that journey, they earned six NEAC player of the week honors, landed nine players on the all-conference team, including the Rookie of the Year and the Coach of the Year.

'This season exceeded all of our expectations on and off the field. We transitioned from a club program and found success at Division III level right away, which no one including myself saw coming. I am extremely grateful for the young men who took the leap of faith to be a part of year one,' Williams said. 'We look forward to building off the solid foundation we laid this year with the addition of our incoming class and are excited about the opportunity to compete for a NEAC title again next season.'"