Baylor Health Care System Foundation Taps Corporate Magic for Launch of $250 Million Fundraising Campaign

The Baylor Health Care System Foundation retained the messaging architects at Corporate Magic for the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the organization's 110-year history -- asking the community to help raise $250 million to transform the way health care is delivered to the local area -- and to make their launch event an evening for the ages.

Close to 400 Baylor Health Care System supporters, philanthropists, and community leaders gathered at the iconic Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at Dallas' AT&T Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, February 27, for the important public campaign launch.

"The launch of our most ambitious fundraising effort to date marks a very special, and incredibly important, night for Baylor," said Rowland K. Robinson, president of Baylor Foundation. "We selected Corporate Magic as our production partner from among several candidates based first on their exemplary track record in event production and, equally important, on their vision for making Baylor's doctors, nurses, and staff the stars of the show, rather than resorting to celebrity appearances and glitzy performers."

Emboldened by the theme "Beyond Excellence," the event began with an eye-opening account of Baylor's groundbreaking medical advances and other contributions over its 110-year history -- including the first-ever blood bank in 1939; the first pacemaker implant in the Southwest in 1960; and the first adult liver transplant in Texas in 1985. After gaining a new appreciation for Baylor's leadership role in health care, research, and medical education, the evening's focus turned to the system's ambitious vision for the future.

The Corporate Magic team planned and organized the entire production, ranging from a series of specially produced video features to the lighting and staging elements, and everything in between. The Dallas-based production company was even charged with handling the more logistical, yet pivotal, nuts and bolts of the event, including menu and vendor selection, managing dozens of volunteers, and countless other behind-the-scenes activities.

"We were challenged to create a powerful production that wouldn't just tell the Baylor Health Care System story in a new and compelling way, but that would emotionally move the audience," said Jim Kirk, president and chief executive officer of Corporate Magic. "We chose to push the envelope with a state-of-the-art screen and to set-up the Wyly Theatre in a way that's never been done before. We also used nearly 80 people with a connection to Baylor onstage during the production -- employees, grateful patients, and community supporters."

Corporate Magic planned several dynamic theatrical elements for the evening, including a dramatic floor-to-ceiling video screen that lifted to allow the evening's speakers to enter the stage, cloaked in fog. The stage floor was likewise constructed out of high-resolution Projection Fabric on which vibrant graphics were displayed. To top it all off, Corporate Magic unveiled Dallas' first "virtual choir."

"This was a singular opportunity to introduce our first comprehensive fundraising campaign to the broader community, and we are extremely excited about the approach Corporate Magic took to staging the event," said Robinson. "They really did their homework on the Baylor Health Care System, and as a result, our audience was given an indelible picture of what's in store for Baylor and the North Texas community in the years to come."

The evening began at 6:30pm with a reception featuring hors d'oeuvres prepared by Wolfgang Puck and following the program, concluded with a surprise dessert reception.