We couldn’t stop laughing when somebody sent us this link to a YouTube posting of a Bulgarian Idol wannabee! How anybody can turn the words ‘I can’t live’ into ‘Ken Lee’ is beyond us but it serves as a fitting tribute to one of our favourite clients who has been good enough to support Line Up for over 20 years.
So, Ken, we salute you!
The train from Oslo takes the scenic route through the city of Stockholm; sweeping around to the Southern outskirts, it turns North and speeds through Sodermalm and Gamla Stan before coming to rest at Central Station. In the light of the evening sun, the setting is unmistakable: the shimmering waterways, the fairy tale architecture, rich in oranges and yellows. This capital is beautiful.
Luckily for me, it’s also the place I called home for two months last Summer. A dealer car launch for Volvo kept me – in addition to several other members of the Line Up team and a supporting cast of scores of Swedes – very busy indeed. As a project, it afforded a perfect taster of the Scandinavian lifestyle.
It’s summertime and the natives are embracing the sunshine with great gusto. Understandable, given the long hours of darkness endured in the winter, and the resulting near-hibernation that reportedly accompanies the cold months. For now, the Swedes finish work early, drink cocktails by the waterfronts, journey to weekend summer cottages and dance until (the very early) dawn. All this occurs with encouraging regularity; there is no working late, the holidays are long and the nights out grand.
Fantastically, the Swedes have maintained this preservation of the good stuff to sit alongside their modestly successful economy. Preservation, generally, is key. On 22 June, the nation celebrated midsummer’s eve and though there is little genuine belief in the origins of this festival, the importance of schnapps, singing, games and frolicking in the woods are not to be underestimated. Yet the locals also spend enough time at the grindstone to ensure a healthy affluence. Signs of poverty are rare; care for the elderly is the envy of the world; university study is free; and yes, there are an extraordinary number of beautiful women.
There also seems to be a very liberal attitude to annual vacations. I wouldn’t mind being able to put the following message on my out office (a genuine reply from a company here, received in early July) and not expect an indignant reaction…
“I am out on my annual Summer fishing tour. Will be back mid August. If anything urgent, please contact me on my cellphone.
All the best, Michael”
Note the distinct absence of a cellphone number.
Certainly, there has been precious little opportunity for fishing excursions on this project. The two-day programme (repeated around 40 times for groups arriving from all corners of the globe) does, however, cover the local highlights. One day in the city, spent mostly in conference at a chic Sodermalm hotel but also including a trendy and lavish dinner in the heart of the city; the other, basking in the glory of the Nordic forest which enclosed the test track and annexed custom-built structures.
As a travelling producer, there’s a natural curiosity to explore how live events are delivered by the locals. My last evening in the city was spent wandering the city squares, casting a curious eye over the offerings of the Stockholm Cultural Festival. The enthusiasm for the arts here is really quite inspiring: everyone seems passionate about music, be it schlager (Europop – the unholy offspring of Abba et al), metal or otherwise; the capital is teeming with museums and galleries; creative design is apparent from the architectural triumphs to the homeware boutiques. My wanderings lead me to Kungstragarden, the location for the event’s premiere spectacle and where the festival’s largest stage has been constructed. The wild cheers of the crowd heightened my anticipation, as I navigated the crowds to catch a glimpse of the show.
On stage, three platinum blonde teenage girls wail nervously into microphones and offer occasional wiggles, barely discernible as dancing. They appear to be reading the lyrics from a single monitor in front of them. Their ‘performance’ is being relayed live to a giant screen at the side of the stage, which is covered in the livery of a mobile phone company. In short, this is karaoke, en masse and corporate-sponsored.
I should, perhaps, be disappointed that here lies no cutting-edge technology, stunning creativity or sophisticated event execution. However, this is not the overriding emotion. Tired from the exertions of the working schedule and not a little despondent due to my imminent departure, I still can’t fail to be warmed by the efforts of the trio, the wild fervour of the crowd, the sunshine, the glorious backdrop of Stockholm in the summer. There is no polished production on display here but everyone – everyone – is having a good time.
After 25 years at the helm of Line Up, I am still very proud to call us a production company. I’m satisfied this is not an over-claim because I know that I employ a number of talented producers who do exactly as the name suggests – produce world-class face-to-face and visual communication solutions. Call me old-fashioned, but in a world of crazy jargon, I like this back-to-basics description.
