Mike Walker Creative

I have done a few events with politicians and including the President of the United States. Those events always intrigue me. There is nothing that happens that isn’t on purpose. From the location of the stage to the way it’s shot on camera nothing is left to chance.

I watched Obamas speech tonight and came away with a few thoughts.

I am not going to get in to the politics of his speech, but I wanted to point out a couple of things I noticed in the presentation of the evening:
1 - The set was amazing. I thought it was interesting that the Obama camp turned to the entertainment world, in this case Britney Spears set designer, to design the set.
2 - Obama’s entire campaign has been built from the beginning on size. It’s an unspoken message being sent, but he has raised more money than ever before, it was the largest gathering for a democratic convention acceptance speech, etc….it sends the message to all watching that the “change revolution” that he is preaching is what a large population is embracing.
3 - While trying to convince Americans that the campaign is huge he spent the majority of his time speaking directly to the “already convinced” democrats in the stadium. His largest audience was on the other end of the television watching in their living rooms. I was surprised his people didn’t have him speak to the camera a bit more.
4 - His teleprompters were off to the right and left and he spent a good deal of time referencing them. It was a long speech so I understand, but I have to wonder if he would have come off even better on tv had they moved them closer to center.
5 - I thought it was highly interesting that at the end of his speech they played a country music song. In fact I thought it was very smart. It connects him to another audience that he might not currently have a connection with.
6 - As a side note I had to wonder a couple of times if Obama didn’t spend a fair amount of time watching the movie “American President”. His speech had flares of the emotion and presentation from the movie.
7 - Having read and listened to the famous “I Have a Dream” speech countless times I think I came in to this evening expecting more. I thought his speech was fine, but I thought this was a chance to be epic and it just didn’t happen…just my opinion…

I came across this from Mark Horvath.

“reason non-church friend doesn’t go to church. He can get the blinged out, high def, carnival Jesus by staying home and watching TV.”

What a great question and insight from someone who doesn’t attend church…and who it sounds like won’t. It got me to thinking about what the real turn off is. As simple as it is, it’s really a matter of the heart and a person/organizations motivation.

Being a media guy who has worked with churches as well as the entertainment world I love great presentation done well. That being said, I do think it’s healthy to ask the question why…why is it important to have all the bells and whistles? Is it because it gives a better chance to reach people we wouldn’t otherwise reach? Is it because we need to keep from being outdated? Is it because deep down there is an ego we are trying to feed?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for all the cool tech. I am an audio file so good audio is paramount to me. I believe great video is important…not because it’s cool or cutting edge, but great content and high def screens can go a long way to making a large room feel more intimate. At least for me, it’s all about the audience. Better technology done right gives you a better chance to communicate to your audience. Great tech with done with the motive of being cool while being disguised with empty words of “trying to reach or connect with people” is exposed quickly. You can talk all you want, but your audience knows…so…..why use all the stuff?

What’s your motivation? What messages are you wanting to send? What’s really behind your messages? As the old saying goes “you can get by on charm for 10 minutes, but the you better know something”. You can wow your audience for a time, but if they come to the realization that it’s all for show they will move on to someone or somewhere else.

I have always searched out people who inspire me and can challenge me to think. I love to read books and blogs. Some of the people and books I enjoy reading are:
Jim Collins
Chris Anderson
Wooden on Leadership
Beyond Basketball - Coach K’s keywords for success
Pour Your Heart Into It
Seth Godin
Terry Storch

This is a very condensed list, but some books and people I have been reading recently. As I listed above, I have gotten to really enjoy reading the books and blog by Seth Godin. Today he had a great blog that I thought I would share.

Having come from a touring background as well as working with most names in Christian music as well as some big names in secular music (I am about to add a couple more to the list - more on that to come), I have worked with people in music who get it and some who don’t. I think the blog sums up several of those who don’t. Good stuff…check it out!

I was speaking with a peer who was telling me about a situation with a client. The client is going back to the well of a few gimicks that worked well for them a few years ago, but has since changed its personnel, its customer base, and its overall approach and brand. The problem is, in this case, that what worked several years ago will likely have a resounding thud this time around.

Most everyone is in the middle of tough times economy and having to get creative with budgets, programs, staffing, etc….being from a sports background I have always taken the approach of going back to the basics. Go back to the grass roots things that made things work in the beginning. The problem is too many organizations think its about a program or a gimick that brought them success, what they don’t realize is that it was something deeper that made them successful and the gimick or the program just accentuated what was already there.

Gimicks WILL NOT help you pull out of tough times…in fact, if done poorly, can sink you further in to a fast moving quick sand. Don’t get me wrong…I am in favor of doing a few catchy things here and there, but I have seen up close and personal what happens when it becomes all gimmicks and no substance. Just be careful about going back to the well too often…it can dry up quick.

Phil Cooke has always called me “the live event guy”. At first I hated the label because there was so much more I was able to do, but at the end of the day it turns out he was right. When the heats on and you don’t get a second chance…that’s my world. 

I was recently watching old episodes of a show called Studio 60 (I still can’t believe they took it off the air). In one episode the show is falling apart due to a prop master strike in LA. One of the guests of the show who is used to working in network television is freaking out when one of the regulars of the show walks by and says “this is live tv. This isn’t your little show where you get to stop and do it again”…

When you go live there is no going back. There’s no take 2, there’s no rewind function….you are live, there’s no where to hide, and anything can happen. This is why preparation leading up to the event is paramount. 

I am getting ready to do a couple of large events in the next couple of months. 1 in Washington DC and 1 in South Africa. When we go live failure will not be an option so every possible detail of the planning is being gone through with a fine tooth comb. Here are a few of the first steps we will be taking:

1 - Identify the team - Who is who, what do they do, and what roles are most critical to the success of the event. For instance, one of the events is an outdoor event during the day so lighting isn’t near as critical as it is for an event that is indoors in a dark arena or theater. 

Be as specific as you can here, but leave a little room for some flexibility.

When doing large festival type events with several bands or speakers the transitions between each one are critical. Make sure your audio team is top notch. The on stage monitor engineer and the person responsible for patching the mics are probably the 2 most critical people to your success. If the mics are patched right then the Front of House engineer has a much easier job. A smooth stage goes a long way to making sure things appear smooth for the audience. A stage that looks out of control can make an audience edgy and can lead to unresponsiveness. 

Again, identifying the team is critical. Figure out where you are strong and areas you might be weak. It helps the leading process.

2 - Lay out the 50,000 foot over view of the event for the team - listen for any concerns - there usually aren’t a lot at this point.

Take time to plot out a visual over view of the entire event to give everyone a visual.

3 - Start laying in the details of the event. Who is speaking? what mics do they use? Do you have the correct amount of wireless? Who is singing? What bands are playing? Do you have enough mics, stands, stage risers, stage space for stage changes? 

Lay out each individual stage plot and input list. In some cases I have gone so far as to map out the traffic flow of the stage to give everyone a visual of the movement to avoid on stage traffic jams.

Again, listen to the team for any concerns - address what items need immediate attention and table the rest to come back to.

Make sure to include scenic, lighting, and video in these discussions so they feel connected to what’s going on and can also help identify pitfalls. 

4 - If it’s a multi day event, lay out each day. The larger the event the more need for greater detail. I have worked on events that are broken down in 3-5 minute increments and some times tighter than that if broadcast is involved. 

5 - Communicate, Communicate, Communicate - You would think this would be self explanatory, but I cant tell you how many times I have seen departments become silos during large events. People get so wrapped up in making sure their area is covered that the quit seeing the bigger picture and they quit communicating with others as they go. I have used several methods that have worked well (and some that haven’t). In larger events where the team is spread out I like to use basecamp. In any event I always like to establish a communication hub, someone who is responsible to gather, track, and distribute all the information. This single area could make a complicated event become simple or, done poorly, can derail even the simplest of events.

These are merely a few of the things I look at. I am a live event guy who likes to do live events which can include live events going to broadcast. One of the balancing acts you have to play in broadcast/live events is who is leading. One of my pet peeves are events that look great on tv but are boring and stale live. I believe you can do both and do them both exceptionally well. My approach has always been to create a GREAT live event and have tv or broadcast capture that as opposed to putting on a great tv broadcast that’s not much fun for the live audience. The nice thing is that you get to pick.

With the events upcoming I am sure I will be posting more ideas on this as we get closer.