PEABODY, Mass. — The past few months have been trying for Michael Gallant and his Peabody business.
“COVID has really taken us out at the knees. We’ve had over 100 events canceled,” Gallant said.
Gallant owns Perfect Parties USA. This is typically his busiest and biggest revenue-generating time of the year for him and his 25 full-time employees. The company provides games and entertainment for all sorts of functions a big chunk of their business is with schools.
[Colleges and universities prepare for reopening for fall semester]
COVID-19 forced Gallant to pivot and reinvent in order to survive. Gallant came up with an idea he calls ‘A Night To Remember.’
It’s a live, tribute slide show for graduating seniors, shown on an inflatable drive-in style movie screen. The high school grads upload photos to share from their phones and stay in their cars for the two-hour program.
“The images show up on a monitoring screen that our team gets to monitor just to confirm the content is appropriate that will be showing on the screen,” said Gallant.
Most of the slide shows take place in high school parking lots. Gallant said they provide closure for the graduating seniors and a fresh opportunity for his business.
“As entrepreneurs and business owners we have to embody that Boston Strong, that resiliency and that tough mentality of reinventing and especially our world coming from entertainment and talent shows having that ‘show must go’ on mentality,” Gallant said.
So far, Gallant said his company is working with about 15 high schools on the virtual graduation slide shows.
Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts
>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here
RESOURCES:
- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
- Boston Coronavirus Information
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW