Fort Worth Company Managing Several Inauguration Events
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FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - As Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States Friday, many inauguration events will be under the watchful eye of a Fort Worth-based events company.
Staff from Encore Live, LLC will be managing notable events tomorrow that include the Freedom Ball, the Armed Forces Ball, and the swearing-in ceremony itself.
"We have to keep stopping even during very long days, and stressful meetings, and the craziness of bringing all this together, and we keep thinking 'What in the world are we doing here?'", says Encore Live's CEO Walter Kinzie.
Encore Live's inauguration prep until now has also included several intimate dinners and performances. But Kinzie says today is when the real work begins.
"If you're a football quarterback, you dream of hearing your name called at the Super Bowl," he says. "If you're in our business, this kind of thing is what you dream of. This is the granddaddy of them all."
The company was tapped on November 30th to help with the logistics of the inauguration. Staff immediately flew to New York, and they've been working there or in Washington, D.C. ever since.
Kinzie remembers when he got the call from Trump's organization.
"I was in Las Vegas, and the call came in at 3:18 in the morning that time," he says. "My wife and I were asleep, and as we're talking I put the phone on speaker because I needed someone to validate what I was hearing. And then she looks at me and says 'Well, you gotta go'".
On a regular day in Fort Worth, Encore Live organizes everything from family celebrations to philanthropic events to the Cotton Bowl. Kinzie credits his diverse staff and the quality of their work as the reason the company got this job.
"Our customers ultimately end up singing our praises, and I'm so proud that our connections with them helped us land this," Kinzie says. "There was no resume that we sent. We just got a phone call."
Tomorrow, Encore Live staff members will be across Washington, DC at all the events they're helping to run. Kinzie says with all political feelings aside, it will be a tremendous day.
"I'll remember forever the first time I realized this was real," he says. "Our grandkids will talk about what Grandpa did on the day that someone was sworn in to be the 45th President of the United States. It's been an incredible experience. We'll be telling stories about this for the rest of our lives."
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