The Boomwhacker Energiser session we delivered for one of our clients in Sweden this month was definitely one to remember! Here is Steve Rivers’ account of the trip:

”The venue at our recent event in Gothenburg was quite different to what we are normally used to when delivering rhythm events for conferences.

Most of the conference venues were booked up for one of Sweden’s big annual hockey championships and this venue was described by the client as ‘the bottom of the barrel’. Despite the client’s advance apologies about the room , I was rather excited about something – most conference facilities are carpeted but this venue had a hard floor.

A hard floor is one giant stamping percussion instrument! (I think you can see where this is going!)”After the fabulous group of corporate delegates had got to grips with the Boomwhacker tubes and a rhythm was playing in full swing, we invited everybody to try out a final ‘bonus’ excercise.

This involved integrating foot stamps – everybody stood up and stamped a beat on the floor while ‘Boomwhacking’ an ‘off beat’ ‘Cha! Cha!’ in between the stamps. What is so great about this exercise is that there is a hard and easy way to approach this. One way is to stamp an even beat with your feet and then try and clash the Boomwhackers in the spaces in between. For the more coordinated, this poses no obstacles, but many people find themselves playing the Boomwhackers on the foot stamp. The easy alternative is this – clash the Boomwhackers when you lift your knee; your foot has to come down to hit the floor anyway and, when it does, you get the stamping beat.

However your mind can better handle focusing on the knee coordination because your arms feel more integrated. It is really a very small adjustment of focus – which creates big results. I will never forget the smiles in that room when everybody could see that they were now playing multi-task beats like a kit drummer – their feet providing the down beat and the Boomwhackers creating the off beat. Don’t forget that 99% of this audience would probably believe they had no sense of rhythm at all! I think the session surpassed everyone’s expectations (including mine) – the sound of that room with the’Boom-cha-cha-Boom-cha-cha-boom’ will stay with me for years to come!”

Why book a corporate drumming event for your conference? Our unique events really harness the power of team work! Giving your workforce or delegates the chance to express themselves creatively in an engaging and exciting environment, there are so many benefits to group drumming that we can’t help but shout about them… Increased confidence

• Motivation
• Inspiration
• The chance to connect with others
• Develop new skills
• Discover a new hobby

Whether you have 10 delegates ready to take part or 1,200, we can tailor-make our events to suit you. We design, prepare and deliver with care and attention to detail from the set up through to the delivery to ensure you have an unforgettable experience that you’ll remember for years to come.

Following the ‘Boomwhacker’ ice breaker we delivered for Skanska UK’s management conference last month, we have received some fabulous photographs.

These pictures really capture the mood of this session which involved up to 175 delegates getting ‘tuned in’ to one another through rhythm and harmony. Boomwhackers are a fabulous way of bringing a big conference to a close. Although everybody was spread out on tables, the Boomwhacker percussion tubes created a fantastic way of drawing everybody together. Once all the different coloured tubes on each table started playing, you could really hear how all the combined rhythms made the ‘whole greater than the sum of its parts’.

All of a sudden the big room felt a whole lot smaller as everyone became connected through the music!

It was an incredibly busy week for corporate drumming events last week! First there were two big Boomwhacker Conference Ice Breaker events – one at the beginning of the week for 150 delegates at the Forest of Arden in the Midlands, the other on Thursday for Skanska at the Hilton Heathrow. The final event on Friday was a Drum Circle team building event for the Walt Disney Company UK and Ireland.

Walt Disney had picked an extraordinary venue for their drumming session. We remember they were extremely excited about their choice of venues when they first contacted us. When we arrived on the day we understood what all the fuss was about.

The photo you can see above may look like a lovely garden in the country, but it was in fact a roof top garden right in the middle of London – six storeys below was the normal everyday noise, hustle and bustle of the city! ”My god!” you exclaim – ”that’s a fully grown tree!” That wasn’t all – just around the corner you could find a flock of flamingos gracefully dipping their heads in and out of a pond. Then round the other corner and up the alleyway was what looked like an Italian Village with a fountain and sunken garden.

It was a shame that it was in late November as it would have been lovely to drum outside – perhaps as a drumming spin on the Beatles famous roof performance!

It was however way too cold for that and the drumming session took place in one of the luxury rooms overlooking the garden.

The Disney team were really fun to work with. The group not only had a good sense of rhythm (always helps) but were able to have fun! Highlights for the session leader (Steve Rivers):

The drumming ‘point and sweep’ game – brilliant group dynamics, leadership, and eccentric musical conducting by certain characters in the team! The Boomwhacker session – the sound of all the colours coming together sounded beautiful!

Unbeatable Energy would like to thank the Walt Disney team for their participation and sense of group spirit. Also special thanks to the staff at The Roof Garden for their help with the event logistics!