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.