Do Ya Dada?
NEWS
In our January newsletter we talked a bit about the fun we re having with all the new material available in the public domain. To recap, January 1st is a non-holiday called Public Domain Day, in which a whole year s worth of content suddenly becomes up for grabs. Because of a series of interventions on our copyright system largely undertaken to keep Mickey Mouse out of public domain, we are currently digging for content all the way back in 1924.
But you know what? There s a lot of cool stuff to work with from 1924, and it seems particularly apropos to spend some time with this content as we enter into our own 20 s. We gave you a few suggestions of 20 s concepts to revive but our favorite was German Dadaism, French surrealism s stern older sibling that had its heyday in the 20th century s late teens and early 20 s.
So, let s talk about the Dadaist movement in a very practical way and how this could be a cool 20 s connection to your next event, or how last century s Dadaism might inspire some ideas for your 21st century event.
What is Dadaism?
Dadaism is an art movement that emerged in the cultural fallout of World War 1. The stresses of the protracted conflict in Europe, combined with interpretations of the cause of the war being rooted in cultural and intellectual conformity inspired this anti-art revolution. If antebellum art and culture was about order and logic, then Dadaism would revel in irrationality and chaos and be absurd by design. At the outset of the 20 s Dadaism was a formidable field of political, visual, musical, and poetic criticism of the cultural status quo.
Visual artists like Marcel Duchamp, produced readymade works by signing everyday objects.
Pioneering photographer and OG punk Hannah Hoch innovated the photomontage and mixed media collage.
On the literary side, Hugo Ball wrote nonsense poems around random sounds. Here s his most famous work, Karawane as performed by Marie Osmond (she s a little bit Dada).
You know how a lot of art in the 20th century is kinda weird? Dadaism can take a lot of the blame for that. There d be no 8-hour Andy Warhol stationary films of the Empire State Building without it.
So, thanks Dadaism.
How to Apply a Dadaist Aesthetic to Your Next Event
People like to use the word experimental with art movements like Dadaism. Experimental as a qualifier often gets applied to things in the art world that are obnoxious-for-arts-sake but the application of the term makes sense for Dadaism. The purpose of a Dadaist piece is to elicit a reaction. Don t get intimidated here, there isn t supposed to be hidden meaning. Through conflating different medias in a collage, defacing a famous portrait with a mustache, or applying an artist signature to a water fountain, you ve created a new artistic reality.
Basically, your goal is to trigger an emotional response from your audience that should hopefully inspire a new way of seeing the world. Whereas some argued that as an anti-art, Dadaism was intended to offend sensibilities, there are of course positive emotional responses that you can glean from your audience using a Dadaist approach.
Meme culture is without question a form of current Dadaism/Surrealism. A central aspect of Dadaism and meme culture is a tacit wit that makes its viewers all suddenly feel part of an in-joke. But be careful here, if you force it like these companies or Mike Bloomberg you re going to have a bad time.
We re just spit balling here find an absolutely bizarre, but harmless and non-alienating way for attendees to sign in to your event, then display it like a priceless art object or smash it on video (or both). Choose distinctive, seemingly clashing visual themes and meld them together for a new style. Broadly, apply a unique alternative system of visual order, or new ways to interact with commonplace objects to make a strong impact. Better yet, just get weird.
A few weeks ago, we shared this photo of Marriott Courtyard s Sleepover promotion for the Superbowl. There s an absurd element to this that could be argued to be Dadaist:
How to Use the Dadaist Mindset to Plan/Brainstorm Your Next Event
Before you sit down and think about your goals or head towards a project management plan, consider writing a short manifesto. Seriously, writing an art manifesto in the 1920 s was basically the equivalent of having a Tumblr for the era. Dadaism was all about manifestos.
Manifestos are typically full of tons of wild unverifiable claims, left-field interpretations of human nature, and insane ambition. But that s the point. They aren t held back by traditional reason and constraints. They re not even always about follow-through. Manifestos are intended to be a starting point, or a brazen call to arms and this is why they re often very exciting, charismatic documents.
If you could have it all, what does your group actually want out of your next event? Go crazy. Don t worry about what s possible clear your mind and rattle off some revolutionary rhetoric about your group s goals in 15-minutes flat. The manifesto exercise is often a great way to bring far reaching ambitions and goals to the fore that can be very useful when it comes down to the actual planning of your event.
Find some inspiration in one of Hugo Ball s Dadaist manifesto from 1916.
Send us your event manifesto and get your Dadaist-inspired event started today!
Check Out These Slick Wearable Tech Solutions for Your Next Event
NEWS
Our focus this week is the rapidly growing field of wearable technology and how it can make your next event an exciting, cutting edge affair. While we re not quite at the point where I can trust a t-shirt to screen my calls or renew my Hulu subscription, we are at an exciting innovative moment that is sure to change event planning in just a few short years.
In particular, we ve looked into 3 different devices that have been rolled out specifically for the events industry. These wearables are intended to make on-site event management a breeze, and provide event attendees with means to navigate spaces and exchanging information effortlessly. They can also provide with valuable data on how much information is exchanged and which areas of your event received the most engagement.
These devices even lend themselves to gamification, a hot buzzword in the making that refers to providing special incentives and achievements to event attendees as they meet each other and engage aspects of your event.
And as a bonus each of these wearables are environmentally friendly. They re reusable and most components in each are recyclable so there s no need to worry about them languishing in a landfill forever. That s some nice event greening for you!
So without further ado let s check out the Klik system:
PixMob s Klik system offers three different Bluetooth-enabled devices: a badge worn on a lanyard, a wrist band, and a button. All of these devices synchronize with each other and the Klik app, and all of these devices have plenty of empty real estate to showcase event and sponsor logos.
Klik lets your event managers handle registration quickly and easily. It allows them to update and change schedules and send that info to all your attendees in an instant. For your attendees, it provides an easy way to exchange contact information or provide instant alerts across a whole convention center. It can even allow attendees to receive notes from a discussion panel or a trade show participant. All it takes is a single swipe.
Here s a peak at the badges. They look like souped up versions of that pager you get at Panera Bread when you re waiting for a bread bowl to blow your daily calories.
The Klik family is also unbelievably low maintenance. They hold a charge for days and are rugged enough to withstand some abuse without incident. Think of Klik like Ron Popeil s Rotisserie set it and forget it.
I hope that reference resonated. I promised myself years ago that I would never get old and I think this is skirting the line. Let s press on.
Event Farm s EFx wristbands bear a lot of similarities to Klik. The EFx is a wristband system that communicates directly with an EFx app and allows any user to instantaneously exchange or collect information. They re also fully customizable with any brand logo.
EFx s wristband tech also allows you to set up payment systems for your guests to swipe their money away on impulse, and provides architecture in the app to manage product pickup. Want an easy way to make sure everyone at your open bar is supposed to be there? EFx has it under control.
We ve mentioned these PEEX earpieces in our article on SXSW panels but we ll go a little more in depth on their utility here.
These special earpieces are backed by Elton John, and have been rolled out for special testing and promotion on his current farewell tour. There are two things you need to know. First, this wearable tech streams high quality audio with extremely low latency. That means in a live setting you won t notice any lag between what you re seeing and hearing. Second, each setup also comes with its own equalizer that you control from your phone, which means any individual will be able to tune the sound of live or recorded audio to their personal preference.
Now, these completely make sense in a music context. If I m at an Elton John gig and my man kicks in to Tiny Dancer all I want is a crisp, clear listening experience free of surrounding color commentary and sing-alongs. The guy behind me that s 4 beers in, loudly describing his memories of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on an 8-track is interesting but doesn t really add to the magic of the moment, does it?
But we also see a number of creative non-musical applications for these devices. As opposed to expecting your audience to be seated in a room for a panel discussion, what if they could roam about freely with the option of tuning in or out at their pleasure? What if you did away with PA s and allowed your audience to control and customize their listening experiences from their seats? Think of how easy it would be to make quick and easy announcements or provide additional information about your trade show straight to attendees. It also doesn t hurt that these gizmos look a lot cooler than Apple Airpods.
While you should definitely give wearables some serious consideration, remember not to fall into the trap that Google did with Google Glass 6 years back. Your audiences will be happy to have a very quick registration, an easy way to exchange or receive information, and they ll very likely be cool with you taking anonymous stats on how users navigated your event, but they won t want to be creeped on. Be upfront and honest with your audience about what to expect with this fun gear and I m sure they ll be psyched to be part of the futuristic experience.
Do you need some cool new tech at your next experiential event? Get it touch with us today and make that happen!
Let s talk about Iowa.
NEWS
Hopefully this won t become a theme, but we have another article related to ongoing crisis in event management here for you. 2020 has been a rush so far hasn t it?
Let s talk about Iowa.
Just to recap, the DNC hired small app developer and (I assume) sexy international crime syndicate Shadow Inc. to develop an app that caucus precinct captains could use to immediately report vote tallies at last Monday s Iowa Caucus. The hope here was that results could be shared swiftly and a winner could be formally declared before midnight. These hopes died when across the state volunteers reported the app freezing, shutting down repeatedly and not accepting information. This could have just been an unfortunate footnote to the evening were it not for the fact that the back-up phone hotline system also failed under the onslaught of phone calls. As these stories continue to develop, it is also becoming more clear trolls may have blocked the lines by posting the numbers on 4chan. And here we remain, on the day after the New Hampshire primary, without a final tally.
Image from The Wall Street Journal
Much of the initial criticism after the fact was focused on Shadow Inc. and stemmed from short development times and small budgets. If you re an app developer for whom a tight budget, a small full-time staff, and production crunches have never been an issue then congratulations, you re not a developer at all. You are in fact, a unicorn (and possibly just lying to yourself). We see this as being unrepresentative of all the issues that would have caused a systemic failure of this magnitude. So, we d like to be constructive here and turn the Iowa Caucus into a teachable moment for any of you out there wondering how NOT to let this happen to your firm and your custom event builds.
Decibel does provide our clients with these types of new software solutions. We haven t taken a swing at a caucus, but we re in the same ballpark with network spanned and synced iPad displays, Twitter-powered water fountains, and custom registration systems we have direct experience bringing these types of builds successfully to our clients.
We re offering you our interpretation of what went wrong here by providing 5 things for our clients to consider when searching for and working with the right company for their next archaic voting scheme or experiential build.
- Collaboration.
Every App, line of code, and keystroke needs to be a collaboration from the top down. The outcome here was SUPPOSED to be a successful caucus and yet, that focus seems to have been forgotten. Yes, the App may have had a coding error or not been properly tested or rolled out. However, that should NEVER have been the fail point. When working with a properly collaborative team with the focus on the end product (a successful caucus) the backup plan should have ALWAYS been solid. Both failed, which suggests a lack of planning from much higher up in the chain. Shadow Inc. had issues that cannot be ignored, but simply passing the buck and blaming them does not actually get to the source of what went wrong. With the right backups in place, the app could have been a 100{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} failure without affecting the end goal. - UI & Adoption
We re talking about the environment where interaction between humans and machines occur. While we at Decibel have not had the chance to review the app directly, UI is popping up in the conversation a lot. In the events industry, it is always important to know your audience. Reports of some precinct captains still using flip phones and even trying to download the app onsite just tells us all of these possibilities were not considered in advance to ensure the UI would work for the actual user. This gets into our next point, the need for time and testing.
- Timelines
From everything we are hearing, the App was rushed to market. This New York Times article suggests it came together in the past two months. This is such a compressed timeline to concept, develop, test, revise, test, deploy, educate, and validate that we can t imagine there weren t corners cut. You cannot skip these steps.Could it be done in two months? Sure. If you re Epic Games and have warehouses of beleaguered software engineers chained to desks to crank out a new Fortnite build every month then anything is possible. But from the total money spent here, it seems that this was not the case. There needs to be enough time to test and validate. For something as critical as a presidential election, even a software check that each caucus location had downloaded the app and run a test was absolutely doable but not implemented.
- Saying NO.
While we move mountains to produce out of this world events for our clients, there is a time to say no. We don t like it, but occasionally it is important for us to be good counselors to our clients and save them from themselves. You know what we mean. Sometimes clients don t take our advice, and there will always be a vendor in the lurch willing to undercut a price or schedule to get a gig but when you re working on something as big as the Iowa Caucus, winging it is wildly irresponsible. We re more inclined to be upfront so that our collaborations have a strong basis in mutual trust. It s hard to say no, but it is the right move in some instances. - Training & Tutorials
According to this WSJ teardown, training tutorials for the App weren t fully rolled out until a few hours before the caucus was underway. One thing that we ve learned is that it s much more difficult than you d think to write clear, comprehensive instructions without fully understanding your intended audience. This adorable video presents a great example of everything that can go wrong when you don t fully think through explaining how to prepare something as simple as a PBJ sandwich. Without providing effective training and tutorials to volunteers in the Iowa Caucus, Shadow Inc. and the DNC were absolutely asking for trouble. Any time you expect to roll out a new App or program, no matter how intuitive you think it might be, there should always be experts on hand to troubleshoot all inevitable unforeseen usage issues.
Are you looking to organize a caucus or hopefully something more straightforward and attuned to the modern era? We can handle that! Get in touch with our wonderful team today to get your next big event underway.
How is the Music and Events Industry Coping with the Coronavirus in Beijing?
NEWS
We were planning to drop an article this week about wearable technologies that will make your next event rad, but that s sidelined to bring you something much more now.
As it happens, our blogger is an American who has living in Beijing for nearly a decade (hey, what s up guys?) and has spent the past 5 years organizing music, art, and brand events in the city. Beijing is unsurprisingly a challenging environment at the moment, and we thought it d be interesting to get his take on how the city and events industry there is reacting to the current health crisis.
If you ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks (scooch over, please let me join you under that rock) you might have missed out on the Wuhan Coronavirus. Just to recap, a new easily transmittable virus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan less than 2 months ago and is now running wild across China and beyond since the emergence of the virus coincided with China s major travel season: The Lunar New Year. This is basically a perfect storm in epidemiological terms.
China has taken extreme but understandable measures to try and contain the virus s spread in Wuhan and its home province of Hubei, effectively quarantining the entire region by restricting all travel in and out. However, this is not the only place where China is seeing lockdowns. Most cities in China have implemented their own restrictions on public interaction. Schools, dormitories, and most workplaces have been ordered to remain empty until anywhere from February 10th to indefinitely at the national level, and some cities and small towns voluntarily taking more extreme measures to protect themselves from the virus s reach.
I don t want to downplay the importance of protecting the nation s public health in the least, but as an event manager here, my concerns and those of my peers in the same industry are turning more and more towards the massive economic consequences these restrictions will have over the coming months.
In China (and increasingly internationally), Beijing is known as a creative hub. Beijing is home to dozens upon dozens of bands and DJs who are supported by a number of large and small professional venues. If you re a brand like Converse or Vans you make exclusive event deals with these venues and associate yourself with bands. If you re a national or international brand looking for a product launch and want local young people to think you re cool you reach out to a local promoter to get a major local DJ for your event. More or less.
But if performers and audiences either can t return to the city due to public health restrictions, or are too afraid to attend a public event, or are short on money after being out of work, then down the line the creative culture in Beijing could encounter some real trouble. If the health crisis continues past February, it s likely that some venues or performers will be unable to weather the extended lack of revenue and be forced to throw in the towel.
Just to give you a better idea about the situation for the music and events industry in Beijing, I spoke to two major venue owners and a rising local band to see how their livelihoods are being affected by the coronavirus. I m intentionally leaving identifying information out so they don t get flack for speaking out, so here s three anonymous vignettes:
- All our gigs in February have either been canceled or postponed. The situation is serious and we don t want anyone getting sick. Besides that, audiences and promoters are afraid of attending anything. We ll have a considerable loss and it might go on beyond February, but eventually things should be fine.
- The virus epidemic has had uncontrollable, bad consequences to venues in Beijing and across the whole country. All our recent events? nearly all our February events, and even some in March and April have been canceled or postponed. The epidemic is of course unpredictable, and the situation is uncertain.
This could eventually lead to extreme operating pressures on most venues. We re still expected to pay fixed expenses like rent and wages, but without any money coming in. No shows means no cash flow.
I haven t returned to Beijing yet, so I can t speak much about the current restriction policies there. Apart from closing schools, delaying work return dates, and monitoring body temperatures on public transportation we haven t received official restrictions for music venues.
- Compared with the general population, the number of confirmed cases in my hometown (Heilongjiang) is large. For us, it is currently impossible to enter or leave the city. The highway and train stations have been closed off. Cars and street vehicles have also been banned. Occasionally you ll see some people shopping on the street.
Three members of my band are here, while one is in Szechuan. Right now, we re worried about whether a tour we have planned in late March can still happen.
Live music is greatly affected. Oddly enough, I ve seen a lot of bands livestreaming their shows or sharing videos of past shows they ve performed. I think this might be an interesting opportunity for change. Everyone is thinking about new ways for music to survive and reach audiences.
It s still too early to tell how the events industry will be affected in China in the long term, but we do see one major change to the events and live entertainment industry already underway: the reliance on livestreaming and social media technologies as a stand-in for physical attendance. Livestreaming tech here is being treated like a public health necessity, and we suspect even long after the coronavirus s presence has been mitigated, many parts of the events culture will have partly or fully adopted digital mediums for event engagement and continue to use these formats to keep their audiences feeling at ease. This could be the impetus for a slew of partially or fully online events venues, or kickstart new ways to participate in live events from the safety of a bedroom. As the situation unfolds, we ll be sure to keep you updated on how the industry handles these new uncertain realities in China s capitol.
SXSW Panels Round-Up!
NEWS
Austin s South by Southwest (March 13th -22nd) has become much more of a destination event for fans of music and film in recent years, but its conference remains critical for cutting edge takes on UX design, social technology and marketing. The schedule and abstracts for the conference panels are up and we ve spent the last couple of weeks browsing the amazing offerings. Here s just a handful of the super cool speaker and panel sessions we found that pertain to events.
1: CANNABIS & YOUR EVENT: ELEVATING YOUR EXPERIENCE
Abstract: The integration of legal cannabis into the live events industry is one of the fastest growing partnerships happening today. In a conversation about this fascinating relationship, panelists will discuss the current state and future of cannabis at events, and how to bring cannabis to your event, from music festivals to eSports tournaments and more.
With cannibas now legal in 11 states including the District of Columbia, it certainly stands to reason that there should be new above-the-books ways to professionally incorporate cannabis into your next event. I doubt anyone reading this article has a problem with an open bar is this really this much of a far cry from that? A lot of weight is added to the panel by the inclusion of Axiom Advisors. Axiom are renowned on the West Coast as consultants to major companies on public policy, technology, infrastructure, cannabis, you name it. If anyone is approaching this topic holistically and thoughtfully its them.
2: THE NEXT FRONTIER IN OMNICHANNEL MARKETING
Abstract: Your events create engagement, excitement, and connection. During this time, they are the most immersive and effective marketing channel your organization has. So why has it proven so difficult to integrate events into your omnichannel marketing strategy? New technologies are making it possible to provide a seamless, personalized brand experience at every customer touchpoint including your event experiences. In this session we will explore how event marketers can deliver more value by extending attendee engagement year-round and bringing events into their omnichannel strategy.
Here s an awesome speaker event hosted by Eventbase. Eventbase have the sickest multi-purpose events app in the industry. Whether you re pulling together a corporate event, tradeshow, or conference, Eventbase lets you assemble a unique app specifically tailored to help you and your audience keep track of everything and stay organized. As an event organizer you can even pull in some great data analytics on event traffic and user experiences as well, which is invaluable information to stay connected with your audience well after your live event wraps up. Omnichannel marketing is Eventbase s wheelhouse. We re looking forward to getting more info about seamlessly integrating digital and real-life event experiences for consumers from this session.
3: HOW TECHNOLOGY WILL ENHANCE LIVE EXPERIENCES
Abstract: Live events are at the eve of their digital disruption from augmented reality to virtual reality, in this session, David Johnson, COO of music tech startup PEEX, will examine how fans are wanting immersive live experiences more than ever, and how technology is driving this. Live events are the closest connection fans will ever experience with artists David will discuss how technology will help make that experience even more connected and personal. Although technology can t and shouldn t replace the emotional journey of the live experience, David will explain how it can and should serve to enhance and augment its reach, quality and impact.
This isn t the last time you ll hear about PEEX on this blog. We actually have a cool article on wearable technology in the works for next month that will go more in depth about their special gadget. Whereas many in the experiential events industry are focused on creating unique visual experiences, PEEX is focused on making the sound of your next conference or stadium rock show as personalized as possible. Their special earbuds not only stream audio directly from the stage to your ears without latency, they allow you to use a personal 5-band EQ to fiddle with the levels and make your own concert experience sound better than the real thing. We re looking forward to this unique audio-focused take on mass personalization.
4: MIND JOURNEYS: DESIGNING FOR COGNITIVE UX
Abstract: Our brains don t experience events objectively. Our brains filter everything we encounter through a lens of biases, needs, goals, feelings and prior experiences, creating an impassable chasm between the event and our conscious experience of it. While behavioral economics has attempted to understand the brain s filtering mechanisms, experience design has largely remained focused on documenting the practical and emotional journeys, ignoring our underlying mind journeys. We ll explore how principles of behavioral economics can be combined to recognize, and even nudge, a user s mind journey through Cognitive UX. We ll wrestle with dark patterns: when does nudging become hacking? We ll show how thoughtful Cognitive UX can help brands create deeper and more meaningful relationships with users.
This likely trippy panel is hosted by Huge Inc., a far-reaching but eccentric and trendy UX Design & Marketing Firm based in Brooklyn (surprised?). Consumer experience is a key focus of any event. We don t want our audiences to simply enjoy their experience, we want to leave a strong impression that can translate into a stronger consumer/brand relationship later on. Huge Inc. is at the forefront of experimenting with fresh ways to engage and retain consumers from opening their own special caf , to maintain their own publication on digital design. We can trust they can name check concepts like behavioral economics and have the chops to back it up.
Was this pretty far out? Keep track of SXSW s panels here for some bleeding-edge concepts to integrate into your next event. If you suddenly feel inspired for your next event, don t fight that feeling, get in touch with us to day and get those ideas rolling!
So NFL, About that COVID Plan
LIVE EVENTS, NEWS
You know what? Let s talk about sports. That s a nice safe topic right? Can we all just be chill and talk about the NFL for a few minutes without anything bad happening? Can we just have that, universe?
We spent the summer watching the various ways different pro-sports leagues tried to push forward despite the circumstances. The MLB had an interesting strategy at the outset: test players constantly, maintain social distancing, keep the stands empty and pipe in crowd noise to the telecasts. That worked really well until a bunch of players got COVID like 5 minutes after the national anthem wrapped up.
The NBA by contrast created their Disney COVID bubble where players would live, hang out and play in a closed system. While this method was quite restrictive, it did actually work. Like it really worked. The NBA just wrapped up their their 2020 season with the Lakers winning their 17th NBA Championship title and (even more impressively) ZERO COVID cases.
We had zero positive tests for as long as we were here, MVP Lebron James said. That s a success for everybody that was involved.
Enter the NFL. This is likely the most challenging sport to pull off during a pandemic since gameplay requires 22 players to be packed into tight spaces where they just breathe on each other and occasionally move the ball 4 yards in either direction.
After putting on an excellent virtual draft back in the Spring, we expected the NFL to be absolutely on top of their game for their kick-off on September 10th. So how did the opening games pan out? What precautions has the league taken to ensure the safety of their players and confidence in their schedule?
Well, the biggest issues with the season plan were theoretically hammered out at the tail end of July. If any of you sports fans recall, the NFL and NFL Player s Association came to a lengthy agreement that included extensive testing, strict training regiments, new salary caps, roster changes, and everything else imaginable and unimaginable.
The NFL/NFLPA agreement is seriously exhaustive. There s pages of requirements detailing things like how air should be circulated in indoor stadiums. There s new rules about who teams can send out to witness the coin toss. There s rules about masks. There s even rules about how loud the piped-in crowd noise is allowed to be across the league so as not to provide an advantage to one franchise over another. Seriously.
And while the NFL teams would not be playing in a bubble like their NBA counterparts, the amount of logistical work that went into new rules for play suggests the NFL was at least as serious about protecting the health of their players as they were in protecting their finances. And really, that s just about the best we can all hope for this year.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (25) carries the ball against the Houston Texans in the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Another point of departure that the NFL took from other professional sports leagues was in the allowance of some stadiums to seat actual fans. Each franchise has been allowed to apply their own rules to live attendance based on local pandemic conditions, and the complete list of who is selling tickets can be found here. While some franchises like the Denver Broncos will only allow family and friends of the players to view games, the Kansas City Chiefs actually allowed 16,000 fans to spread out across their 70,000 seat stadium. This arrangement can be seen well here, as fans boo the Chiefs and Giants standing in silent unity to call attention to police brutality (btw, have you registered to vote?). The New England Patriots and several other franchises haven t ruled out the possibility of hosting fans until later in the season but did commit to keeping their stadiums empty at least through September.
Now aside from that unpleasantness in Kansas City, the remainder of opening weekend seemed to have gone off rather smoothly, albeit with a slight drop in viewership from past years. So clearly, the NFL seems to have figured this out and the rest of the season should go smoothly and as scheduled. There s no story here.
Oh no, wait. Hang on.
Yeah, nevermind. Actually there s COVID everywhere.
As rough as the NFL s opening weekend was, that seems to have thus far been the high point of the 2020-21 season. But don t just take it from me, I m only capable of informative snark. Here s ESPN s Dan Graziano with a breathless, dramatic rundown of the state of things at Week 5:
Already the most exhausting season in history, the 2020 NFL campaign now peeks its head around the corner into Week 5 amid cacophonous calamity. Every morning brings fresh news of positive COVID-19 tests, schedule delays, amended protocols, questions that spawn more questions. Two games were postponed last week, and two more already have been postponed this week. The Tennessee Titans are under investigation and have been banned from their own facility for 10 days so far. The New England Patriots two best players have tested positive for the coronavirus, and they haven t practiced yet this week after playing on Monday night. Both teams Week 5 opponents wait for final word on whether and when they might play. No one knows where the next COVID-19-related issue will start, only that it will, and bring with it even more questions and complications.
This week has seen some major changes to the regular season schedule to accommodate teams battling COVID. In the short term, the NFL just issued several changes to their management plan in response to the virus moving through the Patriots as quickly and easily as an opposing team breaks through their offensive line. Anyone exposed to COVID and anyone that person has come in contact with are now required to isolate for a minimum of 5 days, even if it means missing a game.
The NFL is now actually reconsidering the NBA s bubble strategy for the post-season and are potentially looking at Dallas and Los Angeles as their bubble sites before the Super Bowl takes place in Tampa Bay as scheduled.
So there you go. It was a nice try, NFL. Here s hoping things get back on track and everyone stays safe and virus-free for the remainder of the season.
What Does This Have to Do with Your Next Event Plan?
Are you planning to pull together your professional sports franchise for the 2021 season? For real, one of these is bound to be perfectly fine. Isn t that how the law of averages works? We re looking at you XFL third time s a charm.
In all seriousness, here at Decibel Events we look at each of these leagues, individual franchises and major events for key takeaways on what to do, but also more importantly what NOT to do going forward.
When it comes to these major sports seasons, it appears that only the bubble has worked so far. Does that mean that you need to do a bubble to successfully host your next conference or corporate meeting? Not necessarily. It s important to evaluate your ultimate goals with each event, and we re great at doing just that. Reach out to us today to see how we can help you plan and put on your next company event both safely AND successfully.
Elevating the Ambiance: 5 Awesome Ideas for New Year s Eve Events
BACKSTAGE, COMPANY NEWS, EVENT COLLATERAL, EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, EVENT RESOURCES, EXPERIENTIAL, LIVE EVENTS, NEWS, PRODUCTION, TIPS & TRICKS
We don t do boring. Event management requires a high level of creativity. The ability to create inspired, original experiences is the mark of a competent and compelling event management team. At Decibel, we do exactly that. We re not simply talking about big-picture issues here. Consistency and attention to minor details elevate an event from average to exceptional.
Organizing events requires detailed planning and execution, design, marketing, production, stage management, and more. With New Year s Eve around the corner, here are five awesome ideas that can elevate a party s ambiance:
1. Immersive Experiences:
Taking advantage of technological creativity for entertainment purposes allows you to give your event an innovative, immersive aspect. Incorporating interactive displays and all-encompassing experiences will ensure your party is a memorable one. Cater to all five senses, mixed with thematic elements and story driven content. These elements can elevate your event from a typical end-of-year party to an unforgettable experience.
2. Creative Themes and Venues:
Theme and venue are paramount when it comes to event planning. On one hand, you need to make sure your venue aligns with your theme, while, on the other hand, it should check all logistical boxes for your unique event. Get creative, go bold. Try hosting your party in a museum, art gallery, brewery, or a bold architectural space.
3. Phone Charging Stations:
What s worse than an empty phone battery at a party? We ve got you. Include smart charging stations at crowded parties and events to give your guests the opportunity to charge their phones safely. They can pick up a portable battery, charge their phones, and return the battery to any station. These stations are present in many venues, including the Las Vegas Convention Center or MGM Grand Garden Arena.
4. Go Live With 3D Virtual Platforms:
Virtual and hybrid events can be just as entertaining, interactive, and professionally produced as in-person ones. When going live on a 3D platform, virtual guests can create their own holographic avatars that can run, jump, wave, dance, and do other things, making them perfect for participating in any party! Webcams on avatars may be turned on and off, allowing for live presentations or face-to-face chats. Attendees can also keep digital information in a briefcase to view or download directly to their devices.
5. Crowd Control Solutions:
When planning large scale events, there are a few safety measures one should consider. Floor mapping, organizing crowd control solutions, and COVID safety measures are essential for a safe and secure event. After being under lockdown and separated for two years, the intensity of the audience must be considered. Our team at Decibel provides custom plans for our clients in order to maintain safety and ensure a successful event every time. This is something not to forget.
We hope you have a very Happy New Year s Eve and wish you the absolute best for the upcoming year!
Want to learn more about planning and executing a successful NYE party? Reach out to our team of experts and we ll get it handled.
Negotiating Event Contracts In a Post-Covid World
COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, LIVE EVENTS, NEWS, TIPS & TRICKS
Les Goldberg talks with Cindy Lo from Red Velvet, Tim Glanzer from Elevated Meetings Solutions, David Sonntag from Decibel Events and Wendy Drake from The Webster Group about negotiating the contract in a post-Covid world.
Lessons for PR Agencies on taking live events viral
BACKSTAGE, EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, LIVE EVENTS, NEWS, TIPS & TRICKS
We love seeing great art installations, and wanted to take the time to recommend the In America: Remember flags exhibit on the National Mall. Developed by Suzanne Firstenberg, this exhibit honors the 650,000 Americans that have died from COVID-19.
Some great lessons can be learned from the concept and execution of this exhibit, and wanted to share some great key learnings for our Agency and Corporate clients as they concept and plan their own mobile media tours, exhibits, and touring events.
Start small, and evaluate:
Suzanne Firstenberg started with an installation at RFK stadium and 200,000 flags. The idea took off and the new exhibit on the National Mall is 640,000+ and covers acres. While this is a tragic reason to expand the art installation, it is a great lesson in starting with a smaller proof of concept, and then expanding in the future.
Simplicity and Scale:
This exhibit is not terribly expensive to execute. It is developed with simple white survey flags. More than 600,000 of them over acres on the National Mall. The simplicity and scale of this art installation gives it the gravitas to make it a show stopper. And this scale makes for a great photo. This is evident from images from the ground level of viewers, the aerial shots from the lifts, or the drone shots in the air.
Social Shareability
Most agency clients are looking for their events to be shared socially. This is a Master Class on how to make your message explode on social media. WIth the simplicity and scale mentioned above, this prints very well on camera. It is also a VERY simple message that helps the public visualize the scale of 640,000 deaths. Humans are very bad at estimating the scale of large numbers and this message is crystal clear and demonstrates it perfectly.
Press Attention:
Agency clients are always looking for the magic bullet for the press to take interest in their PR Stunt, media tour, or live event. The press has certainly amplified this exhibit. All the reasons mentioned above make for fantastic art. This really helps with the visual medium for outlets. It also makes a tough concept very easy to understand. But most importantly, there is no corporate agenda here. They are not selling anything and it is not commercial. This is the main challenge for corporate mobile media tours, events and exhibits that have an agenda. Where we come in at Decibel is how to craft these events to thread the needle for clients into a meaningful and impactful exhibit without too heavy handed corporate messaging.
All in all, this exhibit is a great opportunity to learn these techniques and apply them to your own Agency events, PR Stunts and marketing tours. And on a personal level, it s worth a visit on its own as well.
2021 Emmy Awards Reviewed- Hits and Misses
BACKSTAGE, COMPANY NEWS, EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, NEWS, TIPS & TRICKS, UNCATEGORIZED
Did you catch the 2021 Emmy awards ceremony this Sunday? We have fairly strong opinions here at Decibel about the production, and curious your own thoughts about the broadcast. Tl;dr tight shot was rubbish but we are encouraged to see live events happen safely.
The Emmy s saw attendees back in person (and in a fancy tent) this year. If you have ever designed and built out a production in a tent, you know what goes into the process. It is not easy, and a LOT goes into how these types of productions are designed. As you can see below, the event was built outside of the Staples Center. We have some great behind the scenes productions shots so you can see *behind* the facade into what it looks like backstage.
So what worked? I loved what I will call the attendee experience. The in-room experience looked great and I believe that the event guests had a great view and experience in the space. The long runs of LED down the length of the tent were solid as were all the graphics that made it to screen. I also loved the second stage backdrop and look. I am also thrilled to see the event pass COVID-19 protocols to get this many people in one place, all vaxxed and tested for the event. This should be a good model for other large scale events.
What fell short? The tight shot was absolute trash. I am actually really surprised this was able to make a national broadcast. It may have worked for those in the room, but any good producer learns early that you produce for your primary audience. This would be the television viewers and what did we get? A large solid color cyc that was wrinkled in the corners and a giant Emmy statue. In the tight shot, we only really got to see the mid section of the statue and the presenter. I would LOVE to know how in the world that made it through approvals.
In addition, there seemed to be a bit more gack in the different shots. In some instances, this was in the form of staff walking through the live shot, or just undressed hardware. I was also surprised about the audio quality for the broadcast.
All in all, I was glad to see a live event again and looking forward to the opportunity for more clients to take the leap safely and get back to these in-person events.