Case Study-House Band

The Client… A successful mortgage lender.

The Event… The firm’s annual three-day sales meeting.

The Audience… 700 smart, young and successful sales and marketing execs.

The Message… Strength through collaboration.

The Wild Card… A hard rocking Company president who could sing, play drums, and liked to wake up his troops with a little Van Halen at, say, 8 am.

The Plan… Rock their world with a music-themed event featuring a red-hot, extremely versatile, rock & roll band.

by Tom Nusbaum, event producer                                

As the production company which would execute this program, our mission was to create a powerful experience for our client. So beyond  the 17 videos we produced, beyond the 21 executive speeches we wrote, beyond the world famous “action painter” we hired, there was—in our minds— one emotional center that would make or break the meeting: MUSIC.

Music is an incredibly powerful communication tool because it can evoke emotional— even visceral —audience responses.

To drive the meeting’s message, we wanted to create a powerful “soundtrack” that would include covers, customized lyrics, video scoring, walk-in & walk-out, play ons, and interaction with the client’s top executives.

Clearly, we needed more than a house band.

My first move? I picked up the phone and called Face The Music. Having worked successfully with FTM before, I was confident they would be a valuable resource. In fact, they were much more. The boys put together a five-piece rock band that blew away all expectations. And the audience.

How? Three keys: (1) Talent, (2) Preparation; and (3) Professionalism.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

• The Opening… Combined music, voice over, graphics, and featured the band as a theatrical metaphor for how the Company would come together.
• Award Ceremonies… The Band’s performance dove-tailed with on screen images and voice over.
• Action Artist.. A tightly choreographed segment in which the band played the soundtrack for an artist who pained on stage to music. 
• The President… The company President sat in with the band, playing drums and singing a tribute to the audience.
•  Sketch Comedy… A rock & roll sketch in which the band not only played music, but also interacted with executives.
•  The “Candids” Module… A closing highlights video accompanied by the band performance of a custom-written song.

In the meeting production business, performers regularly boast about their capabilities. More often than not, the outcome doesn’t match the spin. But there was no over-promising with FTM. They simply delivered. And whether they were the featured performer of a given segment or playing a supporting role, they acted like pros.

The customer’s own meeting survey backs me up. Attendees and execs alike rated this sales meeting their best ever. The band received top scores across the board.

My observations: FTM was dependable—showing up on time and rehearsing relentlessly. They were flexible—modifying pieces and coming up with new material on the fly. They know the business world—that includes dealing with the client and the production company. And when the curtain came up, they rocked.

In seven years of meetings, it was one of the best and most satisfying programs I’ve been associated with. FTM didn’t just make us look good, they didn’t simply thrill the client, they connected with the audience to communicate in a way that was powerful and memorable.

In the corporate meeting business, there are house bands and then there are bands that rock the house. That’s Face The Music.