Clipper ran a one day promotion to launch their contactless card readers. Clipper is a taxi service that runs up and down the Thames, transporting busy commuters and tourists with spectacular views of the London skyline.
I was asked to fill their 6 waiting rooms (Canary Wharf, Embankment, London Eye, North Greenwich, London Bridge & Blackfriars) located along the Thames with 3500 labeled balloons before 6am. The balloons needed to last all day (from 6am to 7pm) so I didn’t want to start inflating until Midnight (nobody wants to use Hi-Float with a quantity like this). I opted for 12″ rather than 10″ to make sure they could hold the tag and last all day.
To execute this I went for 3 teams. 2 Teams with 2 crew starting at the outside points and 1 lonely worker inflating 1000 at the central location. The guy on his own (Paul Muffet) was my insurance plan, he just had to inflate as many as possible until either team 1 or team 2 reached him. I allowed 30 minutes travel between each station and an average of 300 balloons per person per hour. The labels were tied to the ribbons in advance to save time on the night.
The only issue we had was difficult access. These boats are for pedstrians who walk so getting a vehicle anywhere near them was not possible. I’d opted for the lighter G20 cylinders which were easy to trolley up & down the London side streets.
Here are some of the prizes received by the lucky London commuters:
Apple Watch, Sony Smartwatch, Flowers & A Years Clipper pass.
The crew were all finished for 4am (& when we reached Paul he had inflated 950, what a legend). My thanks to Dave Crossley, Alex Dixon, Meesh Spoony & Paul Muffet for the help (these guys).