In case you haven’t heard, an IZEA team, with fearless CEO Ted Murphy at the helm, headed to Park City, Utah. We premiered our newest celeb platform Staree, during the Sundance Film Festival!
We laughed, we cried, we visited Walmart at 2AM and ended up in an urgent care center…oh, and we met tons of awesome celebs, who we are thrilled to welcome to Staree and the IZEA family!
So, how does one from sunny Orlando, whose average January temp is in the 70’s deal with Park City, Utah? The answer? Lots and lots of layers- oh, also boots- you gotta have some boots, people!
Ted, Ryan and I had plenty to say about our airport and flight experience- check out some of our flight highlight tweets below:
After downing my wine, watching a handful of Futurama episodes, and falling asleep on a very nice young man, I awoke to see we’d arrived in Park City!
Launching Staree at Sundance was a match made in heaven. What better place to marry our newest IZEA product to our target users- celebrities? Staree is a new celeb-only media hosting app that helps celebs connect to their fans through their social channels- while also monetizing and protecting their content!
We Arrive!
9PM We head to our gifting suite and set up our booth!
11PM? 12AM? We finish and head to our first Sundance meal: pizza! (It was $64!)
2AM We head to Walmart to handle some last minute planning (and I load up on meds).
3:30 AM I remember to go to sleep, but I’m not sure Ted or Ryan did.
1. Time to unpack! 2. Ryan sets up the wi-fi. 3. Our suite is in the main box office, I discover! 4. Ted puts together our giant TV stand. 5. I find the red carpet! 6. Last minute 2AM visit to WalMart.
Let me tell you one thing about Park City: I hear it is beautiful. I wouldn’t really know, though, since from dawn until dusk, we were in the awesome Talent Resources gifting suite! I hear great things, though. Maybe you can tell me if it’s as beautiful as they say?
Day 1
Ryan and I brave the winter wonderland and get ready to make an impression! Ryan makes the first celeb-sighting when he gets in line behind Uma Thurman at the deli (fun fact, she uses the name ‘Carrie’ on her orders)! Needless to say, she was not the last celeb we’d have the pleasure to see during our stay.
1. Our awesome Lenovo tablets and Sennheiser headphones! 2. Excited to start the day! 3. Ryan walks Soyon An, American Idol’s head stylist, through her new Staree account. 4. Our busy gifting suite! 5. Chris Kattan and I post to Staree. 6. Ryan and Are You There, Chelsea star, Laura Prepon, use Staree. 7. Traci Lords and I pose with her shiny, shiny hair. 8. Musician Matt White gets awesome headphones after signing up. 9. MTV star Jareb Dauplaise shows us some love after setting up his Staree account!
Day 2
Staree was making waves across the Twittersphere and we had a blast walking new celebs through the platform and launching their accounts on the spot! This was the only day all three of us were at the suite- it was crazy! By the end of the day, I’d lost my voice and was in need of some…medical assistance.
1. Ryan is interviewed about the web’s most awesome celeb-only app, Staree! 2. Ted and Modern Family’s Nolan Gould. 3. Jamie Chung and Ted get cheeky. 4. I get chummy with Spy Kids vet Alexa Vega. 5. Ryan impresses Mario Lopez with Staree. 6. Lens-sharing with our new best friend, The Sopranos’s Louis Lombardi.
Day 3
I was down for the count. Ryan and Ted braved the suite together and continued to spread the Staree word. All in all, our trip was a massive success! We are thrilled to have launched at Sundance and can’t wait to return next year!
Also, yes, we had to leave our giant TV stand at the airport…whoops.
Psst! Want more? Check our more Day 1 photos here, Day 2 photos here in addition to some video here.
