An army of bright green, googly-eyed frogs from Birmingham recently hopped a plane to Los Angeles and leaped straight into stardom. Their roles in a production called “GBCVB Goes to ASAE” drew immediate attention from the public, who not only gave the frogs rave reviews but predicted they would be a massive hit with a particular group of young fans.
The frogs appeared at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting and Exposition 2025, held August 9-12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A gold mine for vendors seeking to bring convention business to their cities, the meeting drew over 5,000 attendees, including 2,700 association professionals.
As the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau (GBCVB) sales team discussed strategy during the months leading up to the meeting, they began to see it as a chance to spotlight Birmingham’s reputation as a city of people with giving hearts. Frequently recognized for charitable giving, Birmingham consistently ranks among the most generous metropolitan areas in the U.S., not only in terms of monetary donations but in contributions of time, skills, expertise, and resources.
So, as part of their preparation for the LA event, the GBCVB team called on Birmingham-based Cheeriodicals for input. A company specializing in team-building experiences focused on corporate social responsibility, Cheeriodicals helped the sales team hatch a plan for hosting a community service project in the GBCVB booth at the ASAE meeting.
“Destinations from all over the country go to these trade shows hoping to bring business to their cities, and everybody offers incentives,” said Steve Pierson, GBCVB’s Director of Convention Sales. “But this time, instead of a ‘give,’ our incentive was an opportunity to give back by helping us bring a bit of joy to sick kids at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.”
The service project was designed so that anyone who dropped by the booth could easily participate. Each visitor was invited to write a note to a hospitalized child and tuck it into a pre-assembled kit, along with Cheeriodicals’ signature stuffed frog. Each kit would also include other age-appropriate toys and activities that a child confined to the hospital could enjoy.
Thus, when the GBCVB team flew out of Birmingham bound for LA, hundreds of bright green googly-eyed frogs tagged along. But as it turned out, those frogs were a tremendous asset.
“They attracted people to our booth and served as great conversation starters at one of our biggest sales opportunities of the year,” said Pierson. “Seeing all those frogs waiting to be packed into the kits sparked a lot of interest in what we were doing and how it represented Birmingham.”
All told, 160 kits were assembled. That Monday, August 11, Two Men and a Truck rolled up outside the convention center, loaded the boxes, and headed to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for delivery. Not far behind was the GBCVB convention sales team, along with a group of meetings planners and clients, who joined for the very special delivery.
“It was an incredible delivery, and the hospital team was excited to receive the kits,” said Cheeriodicals Event Manager Jessica Eller, who walked through the experience with the GBCVB team every step of the way. “Sometimes hospitals will hold off handing kits out for one reason or another, but these kits were distributed later that same day, which made an immediate impact.”
The utter joy the bright green boxes brought to the young patients was contagious, though the GBCVB team was unable to visit with the recipients in person due to hospital restrictions. Their service project incentive, as they saw in photos snapped and later shared by hospital personnel, was a success. And yes, the frogs were a hit.
“Doing something like this makes a much bigger impact than handing out a bunch of magnets and pens at a trade show,” said Pierson. “This project allowed us to do something interactive with clients that made them feel good, made us feel good, and put a smile on the faces of children who are going through a difficult time.
“We hope the people who participated will remember that Birmingham gives back and cares about people,” he continued. “This is a very giving city. We know that, but we want other people to know it, too.”
