Movement breaks the ice

Shake before serving...

I'm a big fan of David Polinchock's "crowd control" work over at the Brand Experience Lab. If you've missed it, they've got people in cinemas swaying in unison to play giant computer games on the sacred silver screen...



The most telling statement in this video is when David says that the viewers enjoyed the movie more after playing the game.

I've encountered a similar effect in my interactive theater work. In one successful show, the fun begins with the audience sitting down to a gala meal. One character is wandering around with a bellows camera, taking snaps.

Now, the various actors who play the photographer have different strategies. One will let the people stay seated and will amuse them with excellent witty patter while he sets up his camera and takes portraits. Another actor will get this bunch of strangers on their feet, stand them against the wall, switch them around, make them move into the light, out of the light, banish someone from the group, bring him back... You get the idea.

The difference is startling. While both audiences are equally amused, the shaken-and-stirred second group will move back to their table with the ice thoroughly broken (remember, these are strangers) and quickly get down to the teamwork of the murder mystery, laughing and joking all the time. The other group are just as happy with the show, but the barriers between them are still strong, and they will still be sitting slightly stiffly and making polite conversation during the second course.

Every actor who has done a warm-up knows that physical movement - especially in unison or in groups - is a strong method to break down social barriers and encourage communication. It also gets the blood flowing to the brain and encourages creativity.

If you are a trainer, teacher or presenter, remember to get your group out of their seats and moving as often as you can. If you are planning a party, remember that the simple act of asking people to stand can make the evening better. And if you are designing a customer experience, think how letting customers move and cooperate in groups could enhance their experience of your service.

Choosing rooms for successful events

Pack 'em in tight

Apart from speeches (you know I hate speeches) and bright white light, there is one thing that really kills any event. It is:

a room that is too damn big.

I learned this lesson from bike industry guru Silvio Manicardi back in my distant youth. We were organising the publicity auction of the first road-legal NR750 ultrabike. The bash was due to take place in Milan, and I was told to book a function room.

"How many people are we expecting?" asked the boss.

"About a hundred, maybe a hundred and forty," I replied.

"So book a room big enough for seventy."

The effect was spectacular - people were struggling to get in, and standing on tables to see. Photographers were - literally - fighting to get a shot. The atmosphere was electric, and our little event felt like the hottest spot in town. The NR sold for a monster sum - securing a pile of money for Unicef and our bike's place in the Guinness Book of Records.

You can see the reverse of this effect at any half-full soccer game, or half-empty nightclub. It's an easy equation: under-filled venue equals zero atmosphere.

When you are planning an event, product launch or party and want people to have a good time, it's crucial to avoid a feeling of empty space. (This is the reason why are never going to have a hit event on your trade-fair stand, so don't even try.)

Choose a room that is slightly too small, and go for a low ceiling if you can. Warm acoustics are important - nobody wants to laugh or applaud into cold silence. Even a door onto an echoing foyer can kill the atmosphere if it is left open. Don't listen to the venue if they suggest putting in free-standing partitions to make a large room smaller. This will not take away the echoing space above, and will only make the event feel more like a flop.

And don't under-heat the space. You want people to be taking off jackets, loosening collars, and letting their hair down. It's easier to open a window than to turn up the heating...

In the worst case - and if the event is suitable - you might need to consider "papering the house", as they say in showbiz. This involves inviting free (or even paid) guests to make up the numbers. Even the Oscar-organisers have a regiment of students in tuxedos primed to fill up the seats during the boring technical awards, when half of Hollywood heads for the bar and the bathroom*.

So pack 'em in. And remember - no crush, no rush.

* Of course, not every event is as inviting as the Academy Awards, so it's hard to be sure your "wallpaper" will come. Broadway tradition says the best place to give away free tickets is at the dorms where nurses live. Students will accept your free ticket, then forget to show up. Nurses are more reliable - thank goodness.

Sardine pic by Saffanna at flickr.
Stadium shot by Amin Tabrizi at flickr.

How to ruin a party

... or "Speeches, and how to avoid them"

I've written before on how painful speeches can be, and I had a reinforcing experience last night. Oh boy, did I have an experience last night!

The host of our gig did a speech where he personally introduced and thanked more than fifty (yes, FIFTY) individual people and couples before letting his poor bored (and starving) audience loose on the buffet.

It went like this:
"... And next I'd like to extend a very special welcome to Herr Schmidt, who is the Vice President of the local Association and has always supported us in so many ways over the last fifteen years we have been working together. Herr Schmidt, and Frau Schmidt, she's here too, where are you? Please stand up!

(Herr and Frau Schmidt stand up - squashed between chair and table, and bow awkwardly)

Thank you Herr Schmidt! And now on the next table we have someone else who I want to give a very special welcome to..."

Now repeat that fifty times, with very little variation. It was an hour of agony, even for the people who were being thanked. Some people were seen gnawing off their own limbs in an attempt to escape. The majority retreated into a glazed stupor. And the fifty percent of the audience who were not named could sit there and think, "Great, I'm not even in the top half!"

The result? The food was cold, the audience were bored, the (very expensive) evening was ruined. And the poor professional entertainers booked for later had a horrible, horrible job trying to lift the mood. (We failed.)

So, here is my golden rule for speeches at events.

THE GOLDEN RULE FOR SPEECHES:

There is NO REASON for anyone, ever, EVER to give a speech. Not EVER. Tie them up if you have to. I'm serious.

Unless:
a) the audience is there specifically because they want to hear that person speak (eg President Clinton)*
b) the speaker is a very good paid professional speechmaker / comedian (eg Bill Shatner)*
c) the speech is less than three (3!) sentences long.

Here is how that opening speech should have gone:

"I'm so happy to see you all here... (pause, huge smile)... just so happy! There are so many fascinating people here you should get to know, which is why we prepared this picture wall / this information booklet / these name badges so you can all link up. Have a fantastic evening, and.... let's eat!"

Can you imagine the relief, the joy, the frolicsome skip to the buffet after such a speech? The relaxation, the wonder, the easy and light conversation? The hour of extra time which people could use to really make contacts?

"But, but", you add. "what about thanking those important people who did so much?"

So, here comes the silver rule:


THE SILVER RULE FOR SPEECHES:

If you absolutely have to thank someone publicly:
a) never thank more than three people (one is better)
b) explain why they deserve thanks (be specific, tell a story, refer to your own emotion at the time)
c) ask yourself - wouldn't it be better to unveil a plaque, print their picture on the menu, name something after them or just have the band play their favourite song (maybe with lyrics written just for them)?


Think about it - you know it makes sense.


* In cases a) and b) of the Golden Rule, the speech must be AFTER the food.

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