Event Production for Forterra

‍

Overview

• Project: Spring Fundraiser Event Production
• Client: Forterra
• Category: Event Video / AV Production‍
• Sub-Category: Nonprofit / Fundraising Events‍
• Location: Seattle, Washington

‍

 Forterra is one of the Pacific Northwest's most recognized land conservation nonprofits, advancing its Land for Good™ mission through community engagement, policy work, and high-profile fundraising events. Those events do serious work: research from the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that 51% of nonprofits meeting their fundraising goals rely on in-person or hybrid events to get there. For Forterra, the annual Spring Fundraiser is a cornerstone of that effort.

Since 2024, JSB Video has served as Forterra's production partner for these events, handling everything from full AV setup to post-event highlight reels. What started as a single engagement has grown into an ongoing relationship across three successful events.

The challenge every nonprofit event planner knows: high expectations, tight budgets, venues not built for production, and programming that changes right up to show time.

‍

Background & Challenge

Forterra's Spring Fundraiser brings together donors, community leaders, and conservation advocates for an evening of keynote programming, live performance, and mission storytelling. The event demands a level of production polish that matches the caliber of the audience and speakers involved.

The production challenges are typical of nonprofit donor events, but no less real for being common:

• Venues not designed for AV. Spaces chosen for atmosphere rarely have built-in infrastructure for professional sound, presentation playback, or wireless microphone systems.
• Late-breaking changes. Run-of-show revisions, last-minute speaker tech requirements, and on-site surprises are the norm, not the exception.
• Budget discipline. Forterra needed a partner who could deliver a polished, professional experience without overbuilding the production.
• Content for after the event. A successful gala isn't just a one-night moment. Forterra needed highlight video and photography they could use for post-event donor communications and marketing.

‍

Forterra needed a single production partner who could manage all of it, calmly and competently, from load-in through final delivery.

Our Role

JSB Video has provided full-service event production for Forterra's Spring Fundraisers since 2024, serving as the unified production team across AV, video, and photography. Our scope for each event includes:

• AV Production: Sound reinforcement, wireless microphones, digital audio mixing, presentation playback, video switching
• On-Site Technical Direction: Venue walkthroughs, run-of-show coordination, real-time troubleshooting
• Event Videography: Multi-angle live coverage of keynotes, performances, and audience moments
• Event Photography: Full-event photo coverage for donor communications and marketing
• Post-Event Highlight Reel: Edited highlight video delivered after the event for ongoing outreach

‍

For the 2025 Spring Fundraiser, JSB Video coordinated directly with Forterra's internal team, their marketing agency, and the keynote's technical requirements to produce a seamless evening for 175 guests. The featured speaker was bear ecologist and podcaster Chris Morgan, whose presentation required specific AV coordination handled in advance through venue walkthroughs and detailed run-of-show planning.

When the venue's built-in AV system presented unexpected challenges on the day of the event, the JSB Video team diagnosed and resolved the issues in real time, keeping the program on track without the audience ever noticing a disruption.

This is the kind of work that doesn't show up in a highlight reel, but it's exactly what separates a reliable production partner from a crew that just shows up with gear.

Results

Three events. Three successful evenings. And a client who keeps coming back.

After the 2025 Spring Fundraiser, Sandi Peck, VP of Strategic Communications at Forterra, shared this:

"This was our third time in a year hiring JSB Video for Forterra Land for Good fundraising events. Jordan is reliable, a delight to work with, and consistently delivers high-quality results. At our March 2025 event, he navigated surprise twists and turns with venue A/V system challenges like a pro and saved the evening. I wouldn't do an event without him now."‍

‍
— Sandi Peck, VP of Strategic Communications, Forterra

The repeat engagement is the proof point. Nonprofit organizations don't rehire vendors out of habit, they rehire them because the stakes are too high to take a chance on someone new. Being Forterra's go-to production team across three events in a single year reflects the kind of trust that only comes from consistent, calm, high-quality execution.

Forterra also walked away with a library of post-event content: highlight video and photography that extended the life of the event well beyond the evening itself, supporting donor outreach and ongoing communications.

Looking for a production partner for your next nonprofit fundraiser in Seattle? JSB Video handles the full scope so your team can focus on the room. See our event production services or get in touch to talk through your event.