Starting a Big Event like IBM TechXchange is similar to starting a Broadway show. You want to open with high energy, convey excitement, and set the tone for what follows. One famous Broadway example is the show “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.” Composer Stephen Sondheim had written a delicate love song to open, called “Love Is In The Air.” Producer Jerome Robbins saw that preview audiences did not get that the show was a comedy and they weren’t laughing, so he asked Sondheim to create a funny opening number to set the right tone. Once Sondheim added the hilarious “Comedy Tonight,” audiences started laughing at the beginning and never stopped!
IBM TechXchange is a giant Learning Event for Technologists by Technologists. In our planning sessions for the Opening Kickoff, we identified some must haves: it needed to be both serious and fun, we should use the technology of theater to excite Technologists, and we want to sneak in a few surprises.
We began with a stage concept that would celebrate the environment that IBM Technologists are all familiar with – the frame room or data center – where computer servers are housed on metal racks, all humming, whirring and blinking as they provide the computing power for the enterprise. The 3,000 seat Sandbox Stage was built on a foundation of rack-like scaffolding with exposed equipment that blinked and changed colors. Nothing was hidden; wiring was exposed, large boxes glowed, and light tubes created a kind of visual network. Welcome to the TechXchange Frame Room!
Take a look at this fun time lapse video that shows the creation of the Sandbox Stage in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center over several days.
Once we created the environment, we knew that we needed to start with a high energy introduction. Early in 2024, at TechXchange EMEA in Barcelona, we tried out a concept for the Kickoff using a local group of Samba drummers. They paraded in from the lobby, playing and dancing their way through the Sandbox (Expo) to the stage, bringing the crowd in with them. They built to a Big Crescendo on the stage and after a rousing applause from the delighted audience, we introduced our opening speaker.
In Las Vegas, we started looking at marching bands, electric string ensembles, and even fire performers. Then we discovered the Drumbots, a local drumline that performs as “robots,” complete with LED drums and blinking uniforms and goggles, playing to a high energy electronic track. Their appearance and accompanying screen images complimented our glowing frame room stage perfectly!
Great look and feel? Check. High energy? Check. But what about a surprise?
I’ve been producing corporate events for almost 40 years now, and for Kickoffs and Keynotes, there is always a lot of thought put into the “host reveal.” I’ve seen the host lowered from above on wires, walk out of an explosion of smoke, and climb out of a box. In Las Vegas, our task was to find a creative way to introduce Ayal Steinberg, the General Manager of TechXchange, who would welcome the audience and start the Conference.
What if Ayal was disguised as a drummer? What if he were already onstage when he was introduced? It would seem like a magic trick. The Drumbots brought an extra drum and set of goggles and we rehearsed it, so that Ayal slipped onstage near the end of their set and fell into place so that he would be front and center, after the Big Finish.
No one was more excited about it that Ayal himself, “I always wanted to play drums in Vegas!” he quipped. And indeed he did.
Take a look at the final 30 seconds of the Drumbots opening and watch where Ayal slips onstage and into place (all music is original courtesy of the Drumbots). We have already begun dreaming about IBM TechXchange Conference 2025 at the Orlando Convention Center (October 6-9, 2025).
How will we top this?