We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danny & Julie Thiets a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Danny & Julie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
The difference between Rockin Road Trip & your normal party bus is that we offer a LIVE BAND ON THE BUS! For those who love live music, it is exciting to actually watch the musicians as they perform for you in an intimate venue. For those who don’t love live music, we offer the playlist option :) Everybody’s happy!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
At Rockin Road Trip, our mission is to help people celebrate WHATEVER they want, WHENEVER they want with WHOMEVER they want!! Whether that’s a surprise milestone birthday on a Saturday afternoon, a corporate team-building event on a Tuesday night or random fun on a 4th Friday, Rockin Road Trip is always the right answer!
We offer a 3hr Party On Wheels (aka Road Trip) that is customizable to work for our clients with their choice of:
– The date/time! The Big Green Bus is available 7 days per week but there’s just something special about Saturdays (plus there are only 4 of them per month) so it’s by far our most popular day! That is why we offer 3 time slots on Saturdays: Early Bird (1-4PM), Day Drinking (4:30-7:30PM) & After Dark (8-11PM)!
– The pick-up spot! Atlanta is a huge city but we work with the party organizer to choose a convenient spot for up to 34 people to meet & safely park their cars. When the Big Green Bus arrives at that location at the pre-determined time, we load up the people, their coolers of BYOB (!) & the party begins!
– The music! Some people really love a LIVE BAND & some don’t really care about live music so a PLAYLIST works better for them! Whatever works for our client works for us because music is essential to the party bus experience!
– The breweries we visit! We have no bathroom on the bus so we have to stop somewhere (for obvious reasons) so why not stop at two of the many breweries in the area!? We only visit those who support & welcome us by offering a discount to our road trippers!
The pandemic was absolutely devastating to so many of us for so many reasons. Local musicians & local breweries have really struggled to survive but it certainly taught us that we’re ALL in this together! We think that’s worth celebrating with ONE live band, TWO breweries in a THREE hour! We organize the entire event & add a personal touch — What could be better?
Music, Beer & a Busload is not just our tagline… It is our MISSION. Let us help YOU celebrate your next event in a unique & unforgettable way on the Big Green Bus!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic was absolutely devastating for those whose livelihoods depend on groups of people. That includes airlines, restaurants, hotels, musicians & breweries. We are here to tell you that it also includes party buses!! Can you imagine trying to convince 30 people to pile into a party bus? It wasn’t just difficult — it was impossible. So we immediately canceled all costly expenses like insurance in April 2020 while we hoped the situation would resolve itself ASAP.
Just as so many businesses attempted to pivot to survive the economic hardship (as in restaurants with take-out), we created a mobile entertainment service within the Rockin Road Trip framework & we call it ‘Party On The Go.’ If we couldn’t get the people to the party IN the bus, we thought we’d bring the party to the people OUTSIDE of the bus!!
Party On The Go would allow us to provide a safer environment for celebrating in the post-COVID world so we added several big-screen TVs, an awning & an 8 x 12′ stage to our bus. The idea was to offer COVID-safe pop-up concerts & tailgate parties at the client’s location!
The idea was brilliant but we found that the execution was more challenging than we would have hoped due to the scary times.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
Danny & I are co-founders in business & in life! We met at a sports bar in 1994 while both searching for a score to the Minnesota Vikings game & we’ve been together ever since that day! We are extremely compatible because we each bring valuable skill sets to the Rockin Road Trip:
– Danny excels when it comes to logistical issues such as the musical & mechanical connections that must be maintained for a successful road trip.
– I handle everything else! :)
We are a TEAM & Rockin Road Trip depends fully on each of us!
He always jokes that he couldn’t do it without me but that doesn’t mean he likes doing it with me LOL.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rockinroadtrip.com
- Instagram: rockinroadtrip
- Facebook: ATLRockinRoadTrip
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiOaXCLMd-YT6WFp6Nwy5yw/playlists