In the spring of 2005, the leadership of the Chuchill Memorial and Library in the United States, located on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton Missouri, entered into discussions with The Lintecum Group to assist with the planning and production of what would become an unusually complex and high profile event.

The leadership of both the college and memorial wanted to commemorate the upcoming Sixtieth Anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech that he delivered on March 5, 1946 at Westminster. Only two known details about the special event were settled before meeting with The Lintecum Group: One, the date of the three day commemorative weekend had been established and second, a part of the celebration weekend would include the rededication of the Churchill Memorial & Library. The memorial, housed within the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, was originally dedicated in 1969. Having under gone a $4 M renovation in 2004 and early 2005, it would only be appropriate to open the new state-of-the art museum to the public during the Sixtieth Anniversary weekend event.

The college’s public relations staff nor the small memorial staff had experience in producing major events with the scope and magnitude that was being called for by the Sixtieth Anniversary event. Other than the rededication of the memorial there had been no clear consensus as to what events would be created to mark this special occasion. There had been little pre-planning discussions between the various constituencies who had stakeholder interest in the event. Complicating the early planning process was the fact the leadership group was focused on having Prime Minister Tony Blaire and President Bush make a joint appearance at the commemorative event. This would prove to seriously hinder decision-making on an array of issues throughout the summer and fall of 2005, wasting much time on something that never had a real chance to materialize. These challenges were further bolstered by the limited amount of time available for planning as their first discussion with The Lintecum Group was held only nine months before event week.
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