What do you get when you combine 40 former cast members from the hit CBS show Survivor and two fun filled days of public and private events? The Festival of the Reality SuperStars held June 27-29 in the sister cities of Council Bluffs Iowa and Omaha Nebraska. The brainchild of John Carroll, a former Survivor himself from the Marquesas edition, together with the expertise of Missouri based special event and incentive company Daily Plan-it, the gathering of celebrities was organized to thank the fans and raise money and awareness for local charities.

The first order of business was arranging accommodations and airfare for the 40 former Survivors, a task the in-house guest relations department at Daily Plan-it handled efficiently by tapping into assorted web based travel sites to get the best pricing and schedules available. “Because the Survivors came in from all corners of the country and various sized airports, we couldn’t go out and negotiate zone or group contracts. Every ticket had to be purchased individually,” said Sonya Crews, Director of Guest Relations. “But this ultimately allowed us to accommodate each celebrity’s schedule and keep our budget down.”

Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino and Hotel stepped up to the plate when it came to housing the former Survivors. Daily Plan-it coordinated rooming lists with the four-star property and transportation arrangements for the guests to and from the airport. “The hotel bent over backwards to make sure the Survivors were well taken care of during their stay,” said Crews who staffed a hospitality room, along with six other coordinators, exclusively for the celebrities.

Several of the former Survivors were brought in a few days early to participate in media interviews, appearances at the Omaha Children’s Hospital and a trendy fashion show organized by Fringes Salon in the Old Market District. “Meeting with the kids at the hospital was definitely a highlight,” said John Carroll. “And the fashion show was a blast because the salon did a fantastic job with hair, makeup and choosing the right clothes.”

The weekend kicked off with the Coors Light/Harrah’s Go Tribal Party, a ticketed event with both a live and silent auction to benefit the Nebraska Aids Project. Starting with a lively entrance down the red carpet, the celebrities paraded into the ballroom to the beat of authentic tribal drums. The former Survivors each brought something personal to auction including many of the luxury items or clothing they actually had on the show, and served as auctioneers to help drive the bidding. The highest dollar item of the evening came when Jenna Morasca, million dollar winner from the Amazon, hawked a personally autographed copy of her and fellow Survivor Heidi Strobel’s issue of Playboy. Close behind was an exclusive Shaba Soccer t-shirt offered by Ethan Zhon, million dollar winner from Africa and a water canteen used on the show by Thailand contestant Helen Glover. Event organizer and President of Daily Plan-it, Jill Snodgrass, said the auction went even better than expected. “The audience loved the interaction with the former Survivors and the highest bidders got their items personally autographed on the spot which added to the excitement,” she said.

The stage decor, custom created by Daily Plan-it Creative Director Mary Ann Hall, was filled with monolithic rocks, tiki torches, palms and dramatic lighting in a tribal-council like set, which helped add to the authentic reality TV show experience for the guests. Four elaborately decorated food stations themed to represent the various show locations included south pacific, oriental, tribal and rain forest and served such tantalizing fare as giant coconut shrimp with citrus sauce, Thai chicken sate skewers and smoked pork loin with apple compote. “The Chef at Harrah’s did a brilliant job matching the cuisine with our décor and everyone ranted and raved about the stations,” commented Mary Ann Hall.

Saturday’s Festival held in the outdoor venue space at Harrah’s offered a free opportunity for fans from across the country and as far away as Sydney Australia and Osaka Japan to get up close and personal with their favorite former Survivor cast members.  Even with the heat index above 102 degrees, attendees participated in a variety of events including interactive inflatable games provided by Bryan Hill Entertainment with the former survivors serving as ‘hosts’, the Qwest Autograph Island offering photo ops and personal cell phone calls made by the survivors and a Sweet 98 radio station talent show judged by former Survivors Mitchell Olsen and Jerri Manthey, Outback and Sean Rector, Marquesas, with the winner receiving a trip to New York and an audition with BMI.

Another extremely popular event included a private luncheon with the Million dollar winners and extreme fans with the proceeds benefiting Cystic Fibrosis. “My volunteers and even a few of the lunch participants have emailed me and told me it was the experience of a lifetime.  You gotta love to hear that!” said Shannon Lee, Executive Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The highlight of the day, however, was the Reality Stage Show, designed and produced by Daily Plan-it. Representatives of each Survivor season took the stage for an interactive question an answer session with the audience members. Then the even episodes competed against the odd episodes in hilarious mini-competitions that found them hurling water balloons, assembling a totem pole and running an obstacle course while carrying water over their heads. The final challenge was a word scramble that left no question as to the ultimate winners – the Odds – as Sonja Christopher, first cast member ever voted off of Survivor, easily solved the puzzle with the help of her teammates.

“Despite asking the cast members to ‘survive’ the heat,” Snodgrass quipped, “everyone was in good spirits and really got into the competition aspect. Even Daniel Lue,” she joked in reference to the Amazon Survivor’s inherent balance beam troubles he had during a team challenge on the show. “The former Survivors are like one big, happy family and they enjoy each other’s company which makes it really fun for the fans,” she said. “We were thrilled to be a part of a festival that brought together more former Survivors in one place than any other event in history and look forward to taking this reality program on the road.” John Carroll praised the work of Daily Plan-it’s dedicated team of professionals saying, “Jill and her staff were amazing to work with. I had a vision of how I wanted the Festival to be and they brought that vision to life, totally exceeding my expectations.”

Daily Plan-it, along with Reality TV SuperStars offers a source for corporate clients, universities and organizations to arrange former reality television cast members from Survivor and other shows for appearances, autograph sessions, endorsements, and special events. Daily Plan-it also offers turn-key programs including the Reality Stage Show which can be modified to suite any message, the Festival of the Reality SuperStars, interactive competitions and teambuilding events and the ultimate travel incentive program – Reality Escapes. For more information, contact Daily Plan-it at 573.635.0979.