The iPod – possibly the most extraordinary audio advancement since the 1980′s Walkman, is a lifeline for most seeking to escape the cacophonous noise of every day life. (I quite empathise with Tube commuters.) Yet today, I was asked by a bride to be’s Mum whether she would have to implement such a player, during the intervals of our sets at her function.

No no, clients deserve better than that. If we’re playing background music at a corporate event then it can work, but at a wedding I feel we have a responsibility to keep the entertainment non stop and flowing. I’ve seen bands walk off after their set, plug in an Ipod…then there’s this long silence and a song (oops forgot to stop the shuffle function) and then…a silence again and then….wooah, here comes Dads favourite Rolf Harris number. That’s not right. Even if I do love Jake the Peg. By the way, Rolf Harris recorded the most excellent version of Led Zeppelins “Stairway to Heaven”. Check it out. I think he’s cool.

Back to the point.

True, an iPod can be programmed to play a set-list, but it cannot announce the post-dinner speeches at a wedding. Nor can it encourage guests onto the dance floor. (Unless I have missed the release of yet another ‘Generation’) The only method of satisfying all musical tastes, would be to encourage each guest to bring their own audio and earphones…as in a silent disco. Imagine the ambience!

I have been addressing this issue for a number of years, with the ‘Auto DJ Disco’ feature, and for me that’s what anyone should expect from a professional swing band if there is no DJ booked. I installed an proper DJ software program on my laptop which I take to gigs. Now I must confess that although  I don’t need pitch bend, cup, delays, flangers or beatmix effects, (oooh behave..) or 4 virtual turntables, this program is a boon for me and everyone is happy.  I program the songs and and it cross-fades seamlessly from one song to the next and adjusts the level automatically.

Now this does NOT by any means replace the talents of a professional DJ. (although  to be Frank, some of them I’ve seen shouldn’t  be allowed to call themselves Disc Jockeys) Nevertheless, it keeps the ‘power of play’ in our hands, and allows us to tailor the track-list in accordance with our sets – while keeping in mind the budding dancers in attendance. This lessens the likelihood of  “Poker Face” preceding our second set of  Rat Pack Swing Band classics! And the Bride and Groom are happy because they don’t have to worry and because I care.

I’m inclined to think that the D.I.Y DJ route is something more couples are evaluating – particularly in the current climate. Yet the lack of charisma, humour and flavour without an entertainer or DJ is something that to me, would be screamingly obvious, no matter how high the music volume.

No. Somehow, I can’t see it either.”

Sinatra designed the retreat in the late 1960s with architect Ross Patten and contractor Albinas Zemaitaitus. The home took three years to complete at a cost of 1.9 million dollars, Fox News reported.

It had been designed as a hangout for Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies, but the home, which was first listed in 2009 for 4.8 million dollars, also hosted a variety of other celebrities and politicians.
The actor had named the home “Villa Maggio” after his Oscar-winning role as

Private Angelo Maggio in the film ‘From Here to Eternity’, and he had owned it for 12 years before he donated it to Loyola Marymount University.

Evidently, the school didn’t make use of it and sold it in 1989 for 1.4 million dollars. Perched on seven-plus acres of elevated granite terrain, Villa Maggio includes a main house and two guest homes, a pool, helipad, and a total of 9 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, many with views of the surrounding hills.

Several other casinos from the earliest days of gambling in Sin City were remade into new megaresorts, but the Sahara’s owners don’t yet have a plan for the property.

“The continued operation of the aging Sahara was no longer economically viable,” CEO Sam Nazarian of owner SBE Entertainment Group said. The property will close May 16, officials said.”While the closing of any hotel is sad, it is a natural and expected part of our great city’s history,” Murren said. “While today we pause to reflect on many great memories and stories of its legendary past, like so many before it, there is a brighter future for this property.”

Murren pointed to the Desert Inn making way for Wynn Las Vegas, the Dunes becoming the Bellagio, Aladdin renovating into Planet Hollywood and the original Las Vegas Sands giving way to the Venetian. And, when Murren’s company built the $8.7 billion CityCenter, it used the land that had held the Coney Island-themed Boardwalk.
Future uncertain 
Phil Ruffin, the owner of Treasure Island in Las Vegas, said redevelopment of the Sahara would be good for the Strip, but he predicted SBE will have a hard time getting financing.
”I hope we live that long — I don’t see it for a long time,” he said. “I’d like to see it happen but I don’t think it’s anything imminent.”
Ruffin said the Sahara’s neighborhood looks “very bad.”

The unfinished multibillion-dollar Fontainebleau development that filed for bankruptcy court protection is nearby. Billionaire Carl Icahn, who ultimately bought the property, sold its furniture to a casino on the California-Nevada border and hasn’t said when construction might resume.

There’s no guarantee something glamorous will emerge. The former site of the Landmark hotel, whose implosion in 1995 was included in the movie “Mars Attacks,” now holds a parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center. After the Stardust was razed in 2007 so Boyd Gaming Corp. could build its $4.8 billion Echelon complex, the project stalled. And a $5 billion complex that was supposed to replace the New Frontier never materialized.

The Sahara first gave a hint that change was afoot the same day CityCenter’s anchor casino, Aria, opened with 4,000 rooms in 2009. That’s when the Sahara announced it was mothballing rooms in two of its towers for the winter season.
But Nazarian called the northern end of the Strip, which includes the Sahara, the “future of Las Vegas.”
”With Las Vegas showing early signs of recovery, we are confident that we ultimately will find a creative and comprehensive new solution for this historic property,” Nazarian said.

We play weddings and corporate gigs with very different crowds of people and no two are the same, so I place a lot of importance on getting a feel for the moment and the crowd. There are full on dancing crowds, sit and listen crowds, guests who look as though they’re ignoring you but then come and compliment you at the end of the evening, and so on.Each person has their own point at which they feel ready to party, so if its straight away you need to be ready and keep the momentum, or build things gradually to finish with a grand finale.

I’m constantly watching the room to see and gauge the reaction. I walk around the room in the band breaks (once I’ve put appropriate background/dancing music on) to feel the energy of the room. (unlike some bands I know who plug in an ipod and disappear to the bar) I monitor the mood constantly, keep the band ready to come back on if required, check with the organisers or hosts to make sure everything is to their expectations and so on.

I take great pride in our bands ability to switch styles at a moments notice, rejig the order of songs, play special requests, or change the setlist timings. Sometimes people are not ready to dance(having just finished eating) so we might play mellow upbeat to still give atmosphere, or for example throwing in teasers early on but adjusting the musical flow when the buffet is ready.

I just don’t get it for example in smaller events of around 100-150 guests, DJ’s start with some thumping disco beat at 8.30 in the evening. That means you’ve got 3 1/2 hours to fill….where so you go from there? (usually an empty dance floor around 10pm)

There’s an art of seduction when it comes to entertaining, you cant just charge in and expect people to go all the way in the first half hour.(please excuse the metaphor)You need to build things appropriate to the feel and character of each specific event.

A bands role is not just to turn up and play music.That’s only part of it. It’s also to be professional entertainers, to work with the crowd, be part of the event and to mirror the audience’s perception of being entertained and having a good time.

Every gig is equally important to me.

When it comes to what to look for, use the example of a caterer. You would not simply hire a company to produce all the food for your guests without discussing the fine details at length with its representative, understanding what goes on behind the scenes for what they will prepare, making sure that expectations are understood on both sides and feeling comfortable that you are working with a solid partner who will make sure your guests have a great experience.

The same goes for a function band and its bandleader. It’s not just about the music. You need to interview the bandleader, because it is he (or she) who makes the difference between simply having music and having great musical entertainment. It is the bandleader who get his players going, who makes the beat happen and who creates the atmosphere, reading the room, worrying about continuity during the band breaks, making sure the musicians are well behaved etc..

The qualities you need to look for are those of a good leader – someone with a strong personality, who is articulate and has good people skills. Check to see if he (or she) takes his function band entertainment seriously, or if he does the odd part time gig with a few mates every now and then (this is not the man for the job).  Ask about how he puts together the type of music he plays, because you need a band with a wide enough repertoire to be able to feel the atmosphere, match the music to the mood and up the tempo at just the right time. That requires bringing together real entertainers, not just good calibre musicians.

A real professional will also know about the sound and lighting systems, band access, logistics – and will gladly add his penny’s worth.In short, someone who cares as much about the smooth running of the event as you do.

Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure that the bandleader of your choice is reliable, so that all members of his band will be at the venue with their instruments on time and ready to create an event to remember. Because you only get one shot at it-once the event is over, it’s too late..

While everyone was focusing on The Dress (and what every else was wearing), being a member of a function band I (also being male) was much more interested in the music. Kate and Wills are both well known for being thoroughly modern, so I dared to think that there may be some deviation – either before or after the church ceremony – to reflect their preferences. Alas, no. Clearly Elton John (with David Furnish, but no baby in tow) was happier being a guest than an entertainer. No place in the proceedings for a swing band like mine, either. But I hear Ellie Golding got the gig with a few famous guests.

On reflection, the choice of music mirrored the depth of the occasion. One day they will (hopefully) be our king and queen, so the marching brass bands, choirs, organ fanfares, hymns and, of course, the National Anthem just had to play their part – and they did, echoing the solemnness  of the day.

What would a national occasion in Britain be without the Trumpet Voluntary or, indeed, the especially composed Valiant and Brave fanfare played by the Royal Air Force’s Central Band. Never mind, I can’t play that type of music and anyway, I don’t take it personally that my swing function band wasn’t booked, although think of the publicity if I had the opportunity to  to croon “It had to be you” as they walked down the aisle.(and through the trees)

An estimated TV audience of between two and three billion viewed the proceedings, from the arrival of the guests to the happy couple driving away in Charles’ Astin Martin. Pomp and ceremony is what we Brits do so well, so it’s up to you, Harry, to give us the opportunity to show the world we can do it again; and to give those brass bands, carriages and uniforms another airing.

And Harry, if you do read this blog post, go on…make an enquiry. A commoner function band like mine would almost certainly be available.

Now without adopting a political slant on the subject; the obvious disruption to crude oil supply and trade is going to have a ripple effect upon fuel prices, and as we all remember from the last fuel crisis, prices increased to the extent they became disgustingly extortionate, with panic buying – do you remember the petrol station queues?

Like many a function band, the Stirling Austin Swing Band is reliant upon regular private transport to get from A to B. According to the news stations, petrol prices are set to rocket to 140 pence per litre, a steep rise from the reported 128.65 average of last month. While the increase seems only marginal when you glance at the figures; standing at the petrol pump brings the truth painfully home, especially if you’re a function band musician filling a van or car  prior to journeying to a gig. So what does this mean for function bands? Can we begin raising our prices to meet the inherently rising costs of getting to and from venues?

Unless your function band arrives in an electric minibus,  the added cost spread over 6 or 7 musicians (even  sharing cars ) travelling 100 miles is quite significant. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate the client isn’t always prepared to pay more.

But most of what we pay for fuel has nothing to do with the middle east, its the level of fuel tax that is the problem. According to one online fuel tax calculator (www.abd.org.uk/fuel_tax_calculator.htm) the true cost of fuel at 140p per litre is…57.5p and over recent years the tax rises have been extortionate. Some of you may also have noticed that the VAT is applied to cost of the petrol inclusive of fuel tax. So you pay tax on the tax you pay to buy fuel, and the taxman takes a cut twice after increasing the fuel tax.

Thats ridiculous. So I’ve come up with a better scheme for petrol pricing.

Let’s tax petrol based on the quality of your journey.  If it doesn’t contribute much to David Cameron’s “Big Society” well-being, you will pay more, and if it’s for a good reason, you pay less. For example, if you can’t be bothered to cook real food and you drive to Macdonalds for some Macplasticnuggets and an apple flavoured sugar pie, you pay the highest rate. At the other end of the scale, if  you travel to play good music and bring enjoyment to married couples and corporate delegates, then that should be the least taxed. And to be Frank, exempted.

But in the meantime, till the government adopts my proposals, if anyone knows where I can buy a cheap and reliable electric minibus that has a range of 300 miles, let me know. We’ll turn up at your wedding, recharge the van while we’re all having a party and be gliding silently back down the M1 at no extra cost at all.

While it was The Beatles who really put Abbey Road on the map, with the album of the same name in 1970; much of it’s modern attention has been influenced by the use of the pedestrian crossing upon album covers since the ‘Abbey Road’ release. The Shadows, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and even Oasis, have since used the imagery – although industry insiders still agree it’s in homage, rather than copy-cat creativity.

You might be wondering what on earth Abbey Road has to do with ‘building bridges in business’, and to be honest, so was I, when I first read the Whitebook press release. Perhaps intent on driving some tourism through those infamous Georgian doors, the marketing wigs at Abbey Road have partnered with Hainesnet – the event, tourism, and team-building specialists, to offer a fantastic opportunity for companies. I can quite see the allure actually. Those team-building techniques of old simply don’t cut it in our dog-eat-dog competitive Millennia, but recording a soundtrack with colleagues – yeah that could work and produce a really tight band that instinctively gel , just like the real rock n roll stars do .

Or not. You see, it could go both ways. If the objective of a team building day is to build better relationships with your colleagues at work, then the best way of sabotaging that is to have your drummer (a.k.a. Terry the geeky  guy from IT) constantly missing the beat, the bassist (a.k.a. Kevin from the warehouse) slapping bum notes, the guitarist (a.k.a. Simon the middle aged sales rep) trying to bend it like Clapton, but the wrong way and Jessica (a.k.a. the hottie receptionist) bawling into the mike like Amy Winehouse’s cat after rehab.

After a couple of run throughs, it can become insanely irritating. Anyone who’s ever been in a band where people either hear a different version of the song in their heads to the other band members, or simply can’t play, it can drive you to diva level verbal tantrums that dent egos and destroy relationships .

I once worked with an events company to put on a “Strictly Corporate Dancing” style event, with our function band live, choreographers, judges, the whole caboodle. It worked a treat, but only because the organisers knew how not to push people too far outside their dancing capability comfort zones. Hainset are a well established and professional outfit, so I’m sure they have got it covered.

Or of course it can also produce a beautiful experience that builds bridges between colleagues and ultimately leading to more profits. As long as people understand it’s just a bit of fun.

For some it might be safer to just take a photograph of them crossing the road – that way they only need to look good on the album cover.

]]> http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/all/building-bridges-in-business-at-abbey-road-studios/feed 274 http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/all/tweetups-new-business-born-from-micro-blogging http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/all/tweetups-new-business-born-from-micro-blogging#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:56:13 +0000 Stirling Austin http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/?p=490 A foray into the world of social networking is almost like entering an alternate dimension. Happily, I’ve reconnected with a number of pals working the function band circuit themselves, yet on the other hand, I’ve been subjected to a barrage of ‘Retweets’ and nuances, concerning everything from the political relevance of Lady Gaga’s ‘Rebirth’ via a giant egg, to supposed humor injections that are usually of the play on words variety. Even done a bit of retweeting myself.

Catching up with the news in the corporate sphere at the weekend, I was interested to read of the recent ‘TweetUp’ meeting, held at London’s snazzy new function venue – Altitude London 360 Black. Interesting naming for a venue!

This new social seminar of sorts, joins together social media marketing experts, with those like me, an independent business user, for the purposes of enlightening us on the wonders of social networking for business. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s really just a big event designed to generate more interest in social media marketing, therefore driving more business the organiser’s way, but the handy lessons and talks could actually prove useful to newbies entering the business world. It might also prove beneficial to function bands unsure of how to brand themselves.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to have remarked on this, but I wonder how twitter will stand the test of time as a business marketing tool, since the amount of information thrown at you can be mind boggling.

Obviously the more you communicate about your business, the more people know about you. But whether social media is a natural way to do business in the long term remains to be seen. Yes it can build brands, but also it can become the business norm in consumer marketing to regurgitate snippets of information with adverse effect.

Now don’t get me wrong, if a company has something interesting to say or relays relevant information, thats great. But for example, I subscribed to one business site where I had found an interesting article. Over the next few days I received no less than 10 tweets per day, some of which were interesting, but with many links to other articles, and if I was easily distracted  I could have spent hours doing something else rather than what I was supposed to be doing. So here’s the thing:

• lets suppose I follow 5 business sites, and 20 friends , 25 in total
• The average person/business tweets 15 times per day ( From a TechCrunch article analyzing Twitter stats) Thats 375 tweets per day
• The average words per tweet (based on traditional publishing guidelines of 5 characters per word and an average of 100 characters per tweet): 20. So 375 x 20 =7500 words. At 30 days per month that’s 225000 words per month.
• The average published paperback novel contains around 70000 words, so you’re getting the equivalent of a three and a half novels per month. Just for you to read. Thats  42 books a year. And so on. Phew! Brain still working? Oh but there’s more:
• The average time to type a tweet: 30 seconds
• In a company, if 10 of your employees are twittering 15 times per day that’s 10 x 15 x 30secs = 4500 seconds / 60 seconds =75 minutes per day.
• 260 working days per year per employee =260 x 75 minutes per day =19500 minutes in a year which is 325 hours per year.(eg.32.5 hr per year per employee
• Say the average UK salary of a twittering employee is £20,000 each that’s (37.5 hrs per week)
• That breaks down to £333.33 per employee per year.
• Number of employees in UK 29.12 million.
• If 20% of employees tweet, then the productivity loss in £5.8 million

Now don’t get me started on Facebook updates, not to mention the other social media platforms.

But you can follow me on twitter.

]]> http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/all/tweetups-new-business-born-from-micro-blogging/feed 284 http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/articles-on-hiring-the-right-band/live-music-for-business-events-a-key-business-process-for-the-corporate-soul http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/articles-on-hiring-the-right-band/live-music-for-business-events-a-key-business-process-for-the-corporate-soul#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:14:57 +0000 Stirling Austin http://www.stirlingaustin.com/blog/?p=460 If you’ve ever had the fortune of invitation to a prestigious product launch, grand opening or corporate awards ceremony, you’ll probably be familiar with the general hype surrounding such events. It’s usually taken months of planning, several hundred boardroom meetings, and endless refining to get the show pulled together – and if there’s publicity to be had, you can guarantee the media circus will be buzzing with anticipation.

That’s nothing compared to the expectation of clients – something I have become very much acclimatized to both during my life as a ‘suit’, and even since turning my back on the ‘Man’. Although never I turn my back on stage of course…

Travel, leisure and hospitality are the leading industries within which there is always something going on. Whether it’s a prestigious travel awards ceremony for the best estate agents, or the ‘Master Chef’ post-final party – they attract big attention, lots of coverage and often rely on the publicity for spin-off product launches or sponsorship drives. Inevitably, they also need entertainment that will keep guests entertained for longer than the thirty minutes allocated to speeches, and live music with function bands is often the solution.

Of course for most businesses, budget in many cases will be a key deciding factor and if its a small corporate reception only for an hours networking, then background music will suffice. In the last couple of years, many companies have been cutting live music from corporate hospitality, either due to economic factors or because they didn’t want to appear extravagant in difficult times. Hard to put on a big party for some, at the same time as you might be dispensing difficult news elsewhere.

But in my opinion, if music was made part of our business culture then it could raise profits. No really, I’m serious. Try this for size.

Let’s suppose it was considered a “key business process” to accompany business with music. Key business processes, for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, are those processes which are considered to have  have maximum impact on the success of an organisation, since they deliver results that are directed towards specific and measurable business goals. These are the business processes that an organization must excel at to remain competitive, to be instilled within the organisations corporate culture and methodology so  that employees, management and shareholders can produce the best results.

All senior management teams must have an in depth knowledge and understanding the key business processes in order to drive improvements in these processes through planning and resource allocation, as these improvements will have greatest effect on the business of the company.(Okay, I just put that last bit in because I felt like writing some pointless corporate speak)

If it was a “KBP” to have live music at every corporate event, then maybe business people would begin to act differently, since their “psyche” could be bombarded with mellow sounds and positive lyrics. Sort of subliminal, n’est ce pas?  (The Greeks believed that the soul or “psyche” was responsible for behaviour, so  I’m sure we can still find a quango to make a recommendation on this in the workplace)

The point is, booking live music could equal more profit.

In this vein, seeking something a little bit classy, and fundamentally big for the “Oscars of the travel industry”; the organisers behind the British Travel Awards 2010 sought out London-based big band ‘Red Hornz’ for the main musical stage, while the London Banqueting Orchestra was also on-hand to deliver decadent classical numbers during dining. Both cover weddings and event functions. Similarly, the Cost Sector Catering Awards 2010 held at the London Hilton Metropole, (which recognises excellence within the hospitality industry) also featured a smattering of function bands music, with jazz singers and cocktail quartets during the four hour awards bash.

Just goes to show, some people have got the right idea. And perhaps I should write one of these business guru books, something like “Humming in the boardroom for your ROI”. Must speak to James Caan about writing the introduction…..

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