Chris Mars '10 & Pat Tierney '11

Produce lighting, backdrops, and media displays for Fortune 100 and 500 companies. Check.

Create opening and closing ceremonies for over 20,000 screaming fans at national and international events. Check.

Design an awesome fair booth for your alma mater. Check.

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From small to big, from east to west, Chris Mars ’11 and Pat Tierney ’10 are all over the place with their work through Bow & Arrow Productions.

Bow & Arrow is an innovative communication fulfillment company specializing in corporate and special events. In layman’s terms, they create mind-blowing displays and events while working closely with their clients from start to finish.

As a producer, Mars is in charge of planning an event and then conducting the intricate flow of light, sound, and video at the time of said event.

As Director of Communications, Tierney is in charge of developing the content for clients and how they present it as well as any communication aspects for Bow & Arrow.

As a team, they do outstanding work, and they consider Simpson a major player in the reason for their success.

“I think for us,” Tierney explained, “Simpson prepared us to go straight from college into careers that have us working across the country and overseas… So we find ourselves in really diverse situations in our careers, and I think Simpson helped lay the foundation for us to be ready for that.”

Mars added, “The things I experienced in my time in the communications major, it directly played a role, almost exactly, for what I went into right out of college and gave me a jump start.”

One of their most recent events they helped produce, was the opening and closing ceremonies for the USA Special Olympics in New Jersey, where over 20,000 fans and athletes were on hand to witness the spectacle.

It was a project four years in the making, and in the end made for a great successful moment for the two alum.

“When we worked for so long to create that one moment,” Tierney said, “where you get to showcase these athletes and show the country and show the world what they represent and what they’re capable of, it’s just a really cool thing that I think everyone at Bow & Arrow was very passionate and proud about.”

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Even as their international reputations grow, Mars and Tierney still never forget where they came from. In fact, in what may be their best project so far (in our opinion), they teamed with Simpson College for the second consecutive year to create the Iowa State Fair booth.