An Extraordinary Day in the Life
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Everything's OK (…and there's work to do)
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Sid's Not Vicious
Corporate Prose by Ken McGloin
Did you ever enter a hotel lobby wishing you weren’t there?
There I was again at another corporate retreat
All lined up at the gate I mean check in
Waiting for the booby prize ... our own rooms
Behind the desk, an attractive smartly dressed women in her early 30’s
Her smell reminds me of an autumn day
Smiling, she hands me my key and welcome bag
Room 411
Happily going through my welcome bag
I look at the 2 day schedule that starts at 7:30 the next morning
A team-building event after lunch. NO!!
The next day at lunch I’m running intel on what the “team builder event” is going to be.
Wish I could skip this, but the CEO is going to be there. Who is the CEO this year anyway?
I enter the ballroom; roundtables inhabit the room like flying saucers
Lights down ... A band on stage starts playing a blues song
On the screen behind them, no U2 logo but instead “Face the Music”
I check my cell phone no bars ahhhh ...
The MC tells us our table is a band and our task (whether we accept it or not) is to write a song
Our table/band is composed of 3 guys from France, a woman from India and 6 dudes from the mid west
None of who have any musical talent.
We agree to psychically channel Bob Dylan, nothing ... then we go for the Maroon 5 but the channels are closed; it was up to us and we only have 40 minutes.
Our writing “coach” from the band introduces himself as Frank Lloyd Wrong.
We all had picked aliases at this point. I was “Sid Delicious”
Mystified unwillingly we joke around and finally the muse comes
The bar’s open ...
After a brief encounter with Sam Adams
We start to write:
“Woke up at 5, on the road by 7
Am I going to work or am I going to heaven
Were’ Rolling with the Punches cause we ain’t got no choice
Were’ Rolling with the Punches cause we ain’t got no choice”
(3 verses, a chorus later)
“Who will be singing this?” FLW asks
“You are” we instinctively shout in unison
“You’ll do it, it will be fun,” he says
The hallway next to the ladies room is now our own private rehearsal studio
Women walk by us smiling as --
FLW has us stomp and clap as he plays a guitar. We sing.
Then we nervously discuss our routine
“Maybe we should take turns singing,” “no lets all sing together,” ” but you can’t understand the lyrics if we all sing it together.” FLW tells us that the lyrics will be up on the screen so it would be up to us how to represent. Although, he passively aggressively suggests splitting up the singing, it up would help to sell the song better.
Sing verses by ourselves? I could sing but never in front of anyone. Especially myself,
We’re terrified and excited all at the same time.
It’s show time and we are pumped
The MC calls our band up first “The Papas and Mama”
The band playes us on with 7th Nation Army by the White Stripes
We march to the primal beat onto the stage
I feel like a rock star, we’re draped in sun glasses, wigs, bling and blues hats
FLW tells us to eat the mics ( the musician talk for get close to it) and now
“Ready” 1, 2, 3, 4 ...
We stomp and clap our infectious beat, the audience joins in
I can feel it
This is going to be a one hit corporate wonder
It’s my verse, I get to the mic and instead of belting it out
I whisper my part. The band suddenly gets soft and the room quiet
I have everyone’s attention, I’m having a moment. It is a great one
Before I know it the band gets louder and we all shout our last chorus.
Checking out the next day
The same women (still smelling like autumn) is at the front desk
As she swipes my card for the incidentals
I see my name on it and realized that I will now go back to my life.
Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame
Last night I had 5.
That’s another 10 left for Sid Delicious
What!? You Don't Have The
Face The Music Album Yet?
Now’s a perfect time to get Your Work is Your Song for yourself, and as a great give-a-way for friends and co-workers at the office. An eclectic, rocking collection of FTM-penned songs about work, life, change, and inspiration.
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Satisfied Clients
"You and your team were wonderful with everyone and the music really did bring it all home for us..."
–
KR
VP of HR
Large Healthcare Organization
"Did a great job getting "nerdy" professionals up on stage…these were not marketing or sales people, there were analytical people (i.e., not your typical "put me in the spotlight" folks)."
–
Carrie Kemmer
Texas Christian University
"This was our 2nd time using FTM and the overall experience was even better than the first time around. Everyone was very engaged as demonstrated by the popular open mic element at the end of the program - FTM set a terrific overall tone for our event. Many thanks for making our event a success. It's always fun to work with a creative and extremely professional team."
–
Janice Smith
Leadership Development Consultant
Ernst & Young
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