Jon Paul presents...A Few More Notes

SHOW REPORT :
Corporate Entertainment for Britannia International Movers’ Convention,
Marriott Hotel, Cardiff - 11 June 2011

I was delighted to be able to provide the opening entertainment for the first night of the Britannia International Movers’ Conference in Cardiff.  I was booked through Animo Events, who were organising the whole event on behalf of the company.  Britannia was also celebrating 50 years in the shipping and moving industry, so I felt privileged to be involved in this landmark occasion.

In the planning I had worked closely with Keith & Charlotte at Animo, who required entertainment to greet delegates before their opening dinner, then entertainment through the evening.  It was all about creating a big impact without being brash – sophisticated without being stuffy – but still offering the option for some fun if delegates wanted to ‘unwind all the way’ after their long journeys. 

After the event, Charlotte’s feedback said:  “We booked Jon to perform before and after dinner at a conference welcome event we arranged at the Marriott in Cardiff. Right from the start of our communication with him, we were impressed by his professionalism and attention to detail and this was further reinforced during set up and on the night.”

Last minute adjustments were easily accommodated, and we were able to judge background music from the excited buzz coming from delegates waiting in the outside bar area.

Animo had arranged for an additional staging company to set up performance space and backdrop (Missing Link Conference Co) and we were happy to work alongside them to finish the installation with one of our Premium package set-outs – complete with movie-premier style mini search-lights and 5ft flame effects, which really added drama to the hospitality suite.  Additionally I provided the skills of my team member Carl to act as supporting DJ/sound engineer and assure all audio was appropriately balanced for the room while I performed. 

Keith from Animo really wanted to make an impact on the visitors, and to ‘play up’ Welsh aspects of the venue.  For many this was the first time visiting the country, and our Welsh culture was being accented throughout the whole event – including a visit to the Millennium Stadium later in the trip.

As a grand overture therefore we planned the timing intricately for maximum impact, and as delegates entered the room, I launched into a stirring rendition of “Delilah” – welcoming them to their first evening Welsh Capital with a bang and a smile, as most got the irony of a stereotypically short Welshman (er...me, then) singing a stereotypically Welsh song!  This was instantly followed by a huge swing number – Bad Bad Leroy Brown – as a quick taster of what was to come later in the evening.

 And now the science part.  HR and Training Managers may find it useful to know that a few corporate entertainers experts call this technique the “guerrilla sets” or “slots” approach – it serves to instantly grab the attention of attendees and then quickly disappear, injecting energy into the proceedings and leaving the audience enthused and anticipating more. 
More importantly, but also acts as an ice-breaker...no marshmallow- ‘n’-spaghetti structural-engineering involved.  (HR gurus will understand this ole doozy!)
Guerrilla techniques can work with DJ skills, but a moving, dynamic focal-point such as a live artist or entertainer/events presenter arguably facilitates this better.

Guerilla-slots like this also give tables of delgates something to talk about with colleagues they may not have met before, plus adds variety to proceedings where timings or budgets do not stretch to multi-act events.  It is quite similar to the warm-up approaches used by several of my American peers, but can be more suited for the sometimes reticent British or continental businesses, who can be more passive earlier in proceedings.

Many corporate entertainers don’t do this, and stick rigidly to typical ‘sets’ or pitch at too high an energy level too early.  Personally, I believe many entertainers need to cater to their customer’s needs and thus provide great value through shaping the whole event.

Coming back to the night, I cleared the stage ready for a guest speaker, who used the dedicated speech microphone we had set up.  On this occasion I was not hired to reappear as the evening’s official host/ MC, as traditionally Brittannia use an in-house representative with whom everyone is familiar. 

It was fascinating for me, watching from the wings, to observe a different approach to the opening welcomes and thank-yous, using alternative vocal projection, mic-technique and focus-pulling methods to mine.  Plus (being a little selfish!) and excellent ‘breather’ opportunity to ‘touch-base’ on upcoming background-music programming with Carl my sound-guy.

Some delegates had already made music requests to Carl, so we left a mix of swing and smooth soul music playing as the delegates enjoyed the opening courses of their dinner.  Following the main course, however, I was straight back on stage providing a half-hour set of some fabulous Swing & Big Band staples. 

Much to the organisers’ surprise, the delegates were not as tired nor as shy & retiring as imagined, and I soon had people singing along at the tables to “That’s Life” and even dancing to my punchy rendition of Michael Buble’s “Sway”.

Animo Events later wrote that my “performance was superb and he judged the mood of the room perfectly.”  

As requested, the live performance took a short break to allow guests to request disco and karaoke songs of their own.  The client commented about this, saying “It wasn’t an easy crowd, but Jon managed to get people on the dance-floor, and he even got a delegate up on stage”!  Karaoke won’t work for every corporate group – but Animo had proposed this as something different and it was clear on the night it wasn’t as big a “risk” as I’d feared!

Finally, I came back and closed the night with a mix of upbeat classics including ‘Pretty Woman’, ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ and ‘Mustang Sally’ – and was delighted to get a huge circle of dancing delegates singing along as I took the microphone out to get groups singing “guest slot” backing vocals, setting one table against another.  A little bit of inter-departmental competition can’t be a bad thing!

Charlotte at Animo Events commented that the “lighting rig really added a party feel to the event.”

I was told that the company’s executives were delighted that we had transformed what can be a downbeat first night into a memorable opening in a professional & successful manner. 
I’d like to think this energised the employees and enabled them to be creative and positive the next day.  This is one illustration on how investing in quality entertainment should be considered a wise business decision that can have positive impacts.

From my personal experience attending similar events,  I understand that employees infer from the bored, budget DJ wearing ripped jeans in the corner that no fore-though or effort has been put in from management for them, and they can therefore respond unenthusiastically in working groups and seminars  – immediately reducing the impact & success of corporate events.

For me, it was a real pleasure to be able interact & respond to the attendees on the night – and the flexibility of the organisers in letting their delegates’ mood lead the entertainment, rather than it be a prescribed style, resulted in a memorable and exciting first night! Equally I could have turned my hand to cocktail performance – this time however the whole group were ready to get down to business!

As a result, Animo Events said of my services: “We would certainly use him again, and would wholeheartedly recommend him to others.” I’d certainly be delighted to work with Keith & Charlotte in the future and naturally also offer my best wishes to the staff & management at Brittannia for another 50 successful years in business.

Take care…and have fun!

Jon Paul

Jon Paul is available for high quality corporate events for 50-1000 people, providing first class performance and presentation for awards ceremonies, presentations and corporate events & celebrations throughout the UK; he’s able to act as your MC/host for the evening, live performer or simply to arrange appropriate background music, disco or PA/AV solutions. 

Jon believes that corporate entertainment should not be based on ring-fenced and salami sliced budgets but rather invested as quality blue-sky thinking to assure tick-boxing for the diversity of your workforce & client-base.  While always seeking to push the envelope, Jon never relies on purely plucking low-hanging fruit, but will regularly touch-base and mind-map in a virtual working group with event management coordinators in order to bonsai-clip entertainment logistics & workflows into bespoke gift-tied corporate solutions.  Phew.

 
From years of working in corporate environments, Jon is fully conversant with most management-speak nonsense like that you’ve ploughed though above, and can often translate this to something roughly comprehensible to the actual, real human beings that most businesses actually employ.  Keeping it real, but keeping it professional – surely what most people will actually want at the end of a hard day’s networking...right? 

Jon is available to engage, motivate and entertain your staff and clients throughout the UK.  Contact Jon for more details or to chat through your corporate event planning.