Phenomena Online is Extraordinary Events’ electronic newsletter. As a company, it is our main goal to further the development and professionalism of events nationally and internationally. Individually, everyone on the EE team works toward a personal best and with each event, we all learn more and more.

In the spirit of education, each issue of Phenomena Online will feature a breakdown of a recent event
produced by EE. We will focus on a specific element of that event that made the event unique and challenged us to go farther.

In our premier issue, we study a multiple-day event that took place in Barcelona for CEMEX a leader in the cement industry. The main objective of this program was to instill a powerful message to the CEMEX leaders who had gathered from CEMEX offices all over the world. The message – Synchronicity. Collaboration. Connectivity Equals Teamwork – was creatively incorporated into each seminar, speaker, activity and event. In the end, attendees left with a greater understanding of how to use teamwork to improve not only their own performance but that of the company and its place in the international market.

We hope that you will find this information helpful and even inspiring as you plan your next program or event.

In researching new ways to introduce speakers at General Sessions and to infuse “characters” into events, EE discovered Academy Award-winning Jim Henson’s Creature ShopTM, one of the pre-eminent character-building visual effects facilities serving the international film, television and advertising industries. Their animatronic characters have been seen in such films as Babe, 101 Dalmations, and Lost in Space, among many others.

Now, JHCS has developed the Henson Digital Performance System (HDPS), a control technology that enables puppeteers to physically manipulate the many movements of virtual, computer generated (CG) characters, in real time. Now that the CG characters are more spontaneous, they can interact and relate to people or things happening as they occur, making this technology a great addition to General Sessions, events, game show themes and more. There are similar effects available to the corporate world, but they are simplistic and well exposed. Imagine instead that characters like Gollum from “Lord of the Rings” can now come to life in your corporate event.

And, if the budget allows, this technology can also be applied to an event in which the entire entertainment is built around a show using these real-time HDPS CG characters by having them interact with the guests. This type of effect is perfect for a high-tech corporation or as a demonstration of communication for a company with that objective to convey to its attendees.

• Look for creative ways to combine education and fun with the experience of the location in order to make the memory of the event that that much stronger.
  
  
• Make sure the message is heard, seen and tasted. Experiencing something enhances retention.
  
  
• The message is in the details. Pay attention to even the smallest element.
  
  
• Collateral material. Do the events tie into the collateral? Every element needs to be a unified message from moment one through completion.
  
  
• Entertainment. Although sometimes this is the last thing planners think of, entertainment is the most important key to tying in a message. People learn when they are having fun. Choose entertainment that supports the message, that is unique and that allows people more opportunities for interaction.

Events were the main tool that Extraordinary Events’ used to drive home a corporate message to 270 CEMEX leaders from all over the globe. The message? Meeting the Global Challenge Together. The method? EE constructed the entire theme of the three-day conference upon constant, creative repetition of four key words and the phrase: Synchronicity + Collaboration + Connectivity = Teamwork.

What people experience, they remember. The following stories illustrate four events during the conference and how they underlined the theme by showing, not telling.

Even a daytime team-building event proved to be a unique way of making the message clear. Rather than creating just another tourist opportunity, EE produced a city walking tour that ensured that attendees became emotionally and intellectually involved in Barcelona and its history.

The entire group was divided into 16 teams and four locations. During the afternoon, each team would visit each location at different times and each would have the same experience there. For instance, in the Gothic plaza located in a historic palace – the location where Queen Isabella commissioned Columbus to find the new world – an actor portrayed Columbus and gave not only the history of his commission, but information about the Plaza. He also added analogies to CEMEX, alluding to “collaboration,” for was not Isabella’s and Columbus’ relationship a sterling example of this?

Along the way, guides gave quizzes and wove in the words, “collaboration,” connectivity,” “synchronicity,” and “teamwork.” At the end of the tour, all the teams came together and joined in solving a puzzle, putting pieces of information together to create one whole message – “Meeting the Global Challenge Together.”

To create synchronicity at an event, it is important to make sure all the senses are fed. At an evening event featuring a special concert, EE began with sight. The beauty of Barcelona’s stunning and historic Palau de la Musica de Catalana immediately struck attendees as they entered a room dripping in ornate, golden accents. Here, they dined on a gourmet Spanish meal and connected with entirely new people thanks to a cleverly arranged seating chart that separated friends and cliques.

Following dinner, the sensory experience continued with the electrifying sounds of Diego Cortes, Barcelona’s new age flamenco guitarist and his exquisite new age flamenco dancers. The juxtaposition of the ornate traditionalism of the opera house and the sound of the guitar and the dancers’ steps worked in total synchronicity to create a dramatic performance and drove home the theme – that together the attendees could achieve greatness.

At Cavas Cordoniu, the site of the world’s largest vintners, EE played upon the site’s rustic elegance to bring together the old and new; the shocking and traditional.

The evening began with an underground tour of Cavas, yet another learning experience and one that illustrated the concept of collaboration and how it was a necessary ingredient in the creation of the famous Spanish wine.
Dinner beneath the main hall’s dramatic cathedral stone ceilings began with a fanfare – a parade of waiters, led by dancers who descended from a winding staircase to the overture of “Carmen,” wove through the dinner tables and began to serve the first course of wine in unison. This precision service continued until the final dessert plate was removed and the CEMEX awards ceremony began.

After the ceremony, a performance by the Spanish artist, Marta Carrasco, shocked guests with its inventiveness. Carrasco twisted and danced within a huge sheet of plastic that, with dramatic lighting, contorted and shaped her body in time to music. In contrast to her performance, the Gipsy Kings took the stage for a full show, plus encores from the adoring crowd.

All elements were set against an ancient background to symbolize flexibility, collaboration and innovation. The message was subtle, but it was felt.

Final nights of multiple-day events should tie everything together and leave attendees with a lasting memory of their connection to the place, the message and each other.

The final night of this conference did all that and more. The event was held at Barcelona’s Poble Espanyol, a public courtyard built for the 1929 World’s Fair. For the event, it was lighted in dramatic, bold colors and filled with more than 200 performers, street vendors and artists to recreate an old-time Spanish festival. Entertainers performed one after another. The streets were alive with color and action – strolling entertainers, fire breathers, stilt walkers, bands, dancers, local entertainers... everything and everyone.