If you love football, the best experience as a fan would be going to the Super Bowl, but for many reasons, that dream is usually out of reach. For Simon Shaw, owner of PEST-X Exterminating, a contest brought his dream of being Super Bowl-bound into reality.
It Takes a Village to Get to the Super Bowl
Simon’s journey to Super Bowl LIV began with a contest offered by a Raleigh, NC, company, Coalmarch, a digital marketing, business strategy, and development business that provides professional services to pest control and lawn care companies throughout the United States.
“In early November, when I learned of the contest, I contacted my Branch Manager in the Burlington, NC, office, Rob Hardin. In addition to working for me at PEST-X, Rob also has a ‘Christian Rap’ ministry in which he writes, produces, and performs music in churches all over the East Coast. I asked Rob if he wanted to go to the Super Bowl, and, of course, he did, so I told him about the contest. Rob created the content, provided the background music from a previous promo video, and he wrote the commercial that included himself as a large roach, along with his three children who were in the video as an ant, bee, and a mouse. A professional videographer shot the commercial,” recalled Simon.
The contest was open to attendees of the Coalmarch management conference that is held annually in Raleigh, NC. Companies from all over the country were in attendance. The premise of the contest was to create a 30- second commercial about your business that you would run during the Super Bowl if you had an unlimited budget. Once the commercial was actually created and submitted, then approved, voting was opened for 15 days prior to the annual conference held in early December. Needless to say, Simon and Rob’s endeavor, with the support and voting of family, friends, customers, and vendors, was rewarded.
Making the Most of an Experience of a Lifetime
The Super Bowl trip included two end-zone seats, a four-night stay the four-star Historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL, a round of golf on the famed Donald Ross course on the hotel property, a souvenir package, a pregame party with Dan Marino, former Hall of Fame QB for the Miami Dolphins, and pre and post-game transportation to the stadium from the hotel.
“Since my wife, Denise, isn’t a big football fan, she was supportive of me taking Rob, who was integral in the winning of the contest. The experience was phenomenal. We enjoyed Miami and the Cuban cuisine. On Saturday, we rented a car and took a four-hour ride all the way through the Florida Keys, ending up in Key West. Breakfast in Key Largo and dinner in Key West with Key Lime pie is a pretty good day,” Simon said.
Simon and Rob were split in their support of the 49ers and the Chiefs; Simon had met George Kittle, receiver for the 49ers, at a wedding in 2018, and spent time talking to him, and Rob was pulling for the Chiefs.
In the end, the Chiefs took home the win, and Simon and Rob got a football fan’s dream come true…all the way around, everyone was a winner!
To see the winning video by PEST-X, visit (https://bit.ly/2HzaDpJ). PEST-X has three locations: in Winston-Salem, Kernersville, and Burlington, NC or visit https://pest-x.com/
