That’s a wrap on our first-ever The Experience: An Exclusive Client Showcase!
What began as an idea to create a new way of connecting with our clients became an evening filled with meaningful conversations, live demonstrations, great food and drinks, exciting giveaways, and, most importantly, stronger relationships.
When we started planning The Experience, we wanted it to be more than an open house. We wanted our clients to step inside MSD, meet the people behind our services, explore capabilities they may not have worked with before, and have genuine conversations with our experts.
Thanks to everyone who attended, supported us, and helped bring the event to life, that is exactly what happened.
The Power of One Relationship
At MSD, we talk often about relationships. We do not talk about them because it sounds good in a mission statement. We talk about them because relationships truly shape how we do business.
One conversation can uncover a challenge. One introduction can connect a client with the right expert. One successful project can grow into years of trust. And one relationship can open the door to solutions a client may not have known were available.
Many of our client relationships begin with one need: an HVAC service call, a plumbing issue, an electrical project, a building automation question, a fire alarm need, or an opportunity to improve a facility’s energy performance.
But facilities are complex, and their systems rarely operate independently.
A client who first knows MSD for HVAC may eventually meet our Building Automation team. A controls conversation may reveal an opportunity for Building Energy Solutions. A facility project may require expertise from Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Alarm, or another part of our organization.
That first relationship can connect a client with an entire team of experts who are ready to listen, understand the bigger picture, and help identify the right solution.
That is the power of one relationship, and it is what The Experience was created to celebrate.
An Evening Built Around Our Clients
Throughout the evening, guests explored different areas of MSD and connected directly with the people who work in them every day.
Our teams represented services including Fire Alarm, Electrical, Plumbing, Building Automation, Building Energy Solutions, HVAC, and more. Clients had the opportunity to ask questions, discuss their facilities, see demonstrations, and learn about the many ways MSD can support them.
For some guests, that meant spending time with MSD team members they already knew. For others, it meant discovering an entirely different side of our organization.
Maybe a client met an MSD expert they had never worked with before. Maybe a conversation introduced a new approach to a facility challenge. Maybe someone discovered a capability they did not realize MSD offered. Or perhaps two people simply shook hands and began a relationship that could become valuable months or years from now.
Those possibilities are why we created The Experience.
The best time to build a relationship is not when something goes wrong. It is long before you need it.
A Little Friendly Competition
Of course, we wanted to make exploring MSD even more fun.
Throughout the evening, guests earned opportunities to enter our raffles by visiting teams, starting conversations, and experiencing more of what MSD has to offer.
Our giveaways included:
- A YETI Cooler
- A Minky Couture Blanket
- A Cutco Knife
- An Ember Mug
- A Keurig and K-Cups
- A Ninja SLUSHi
- The grand prize: Ohio State football tickets for the September 26 game
The prizes added some friendly competition, but they also encouraged guests to explore.
Maybe someone stopped by for another raffle entry and learned something new about Building Automation. Maybe a question for our HVAC team developed into a broader conversation about a facility. Maybe a guest discovered an MSD service they did not know we provided.
For us, those conversations were the real prize.
Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to everyone who participated!
Great Food, Great Drinks, and Outstanding Local Partners
A great Experience would not be complete without great food and drinks.
A huge thank-you to The Grazing Table Dayton for creating an incredible spread for our guests and to Toast and Twinkle for keeping the drinks flowing throughout the evening.
We would also like to recognize Dayton Creative, BPT, and Boost Engagement for helping with the many details required to bring The Experience together.
Events like this are made up of hundreds of moving pieces, from the things guests notice immediately to the work happening behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly. We are incredibly grateful to the vendors and local partners who helped turn our vision into a memorable evening for our guests.
Celebrating Our Industry Partners
Our relationships extend far beyond the people wearing an MSD logo.
Behind many of the solutions we provide are manufacturers, suppliers, vendors, and industry partners who answer questions, locate equipment, offer technical expertise, solve challenges, and work alongside our teams to keep projects and facilities moving forward.
We were proud to have several of those partners support our first Experience:
Premier Sponsors
- Windustrial
- Ferguson
Signature Sponsors
- Duncan Supply
- Controlled Air
Supporting Sponsors
- EliteAire
- Allied Supply
- Emerson Swan
- Dayton Reliable Air Filters
Their involvement represented something much bigger than sponsorship.
It represented partnership.
These organizations are not simply logos on a banner. They are trusted suppliers, manufacturers, resources, and people our teams work with throughout the year to deliver better solutions for our clients.
When clients bring us a challenge, our role is not simply to sell a service. It is to listen, understand what they are trying to accomplish, and bring the right expertise to the conversation. Sometimes that means involving another MSD department. Sometimes it means calling a trusted industry partner. Sometimes it means bringing several experts together around the same table.
The goal is always the same: find the right solution for the client.
To all our sponsors, thank you for believing in this event, supporting MSD, and helping us create an incredible evening for our clients.
To Our MSD Team: Thank You
The Experience required support from across MSD long before the first guest walked through the door.
There were invitations to create and deliver, spaces to prepare, displays to build, demonstrations to organize, vendors to coordinate, signs to install, clients to contact, food and drinks to arrange, giveaways to prepare, and countless other details to manage.
On event day, our people stepped up again.
They welcomed guests, represented their areas of expertise, answered questions, led demonstrations, made introductions, helped people navigate the event, and ensured our clients felt welcome from the moment they arrived.
When the evening ended, there was still cleanup and teardown waiting.
It truly took a team.
To every MSD employee who helped plan, prepare, set up, deliver invitations, speak with clients, represent our services, clean up, tear down, or simply ask, “What can I do to help?” Thank you.
The goal of The Experience was to showcase MSD, and our people will always be the most important part of that story.
Most Importantly, Thank You to Our Clients
To everyone who attended our first Experience: thank you.
We know how busy life can be, and we never take it for granted when someone chooses to spend their time with us.
Thank you for walking through our doors. Thank you for asking questions. Thank you for meeting our people. Thank you for supporting our first attempt at creating something completely new.
Most importantly, thank you for trusting MSD.
We hope you left knowing more about who we are, what we can do, and how many people stand behind your relationship with MSD.
Maybe you met someone you will need six months from now. Maybe you discovered a service that could solve a current challenge. Maybe you strengthened an existing relationship. Or maybe you simply enjoyed great food, shared a drink, had a few good conversations, and went home with an awesome raffle prize.
Whatever your Experience looked like, we are grateful you were part of our first one.
The First Experience, But Definitely Not the Last
This was our first time hosting an event like this.
We learned a lot. We had a lot of fun. And we already have ideas for what comes next.
Our hope is to continue growing The Experience and creating more opportunities to bring together our clients, employees, sponsors, vendors, and industry partners.
We are already exploring the possibility of bringing The Experience to Cincinnati, giving our clients in that market an opportunity to take part.
And as for Dayton?
We’ll see you next year.
To every client, sponsor, vendor, partner, and MSD employee who made our first-ever The Experience: An Exclusive Client Showcase possible: thank you.
You helped turn an idea into an evening we are incredibly proud of.
One relationship can lead to a conversation. One conversation can lead to a solution. And one solution can become the beginning of a partnership that lasts for years.
The first Experience is officially in the books, and we are just getting started.
