Start Spreadin the News. Raleigh Rocks with Custom Made Theme Song
Convention Center Staff Pen, Perform Tribute to Capital City for New Video
(RALEIGH, NC) – New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles have their themes, now Raleigh does, too – courtesy of the staff at the new Raleigh Convention Center.
On “Shine, Raleigh, Shine,” Event Sales Manager Michelle Boyette belts out lyrics by Sales Director Laurie Okun, with Boyette’s band, Citizen Jane, alternately strumming and surging behind her. The anthem animates a new video promoting the Raleigh region as a convention destination brimming with culture, commerce and cutting edge knowledge-leaders. You can see the video and sing along to the new song at www.raleighconvention.com.
“We’re passionate about Raleigh as a destination, and we’ve turned that passion into a performance we hope will inspire others to come experience our city,” explained Okun, who based the song’s chorus on the convention center’s tag line, “You Shine Here.”
As part of her research, Okun looked at promotional videos produced by other cities. She came away believing that a customized song would provide a powerful emotional hook, strong narrative backbone and a more complete overall experience. Okun and Boyette recruited Eric Collins, a sound engineer at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, to arrange the song. They also tapped students from the Wake County Public School System who performed in “Aida” last year to provide vocals on the swelling chorus. The end product has met with good reviews at trade shows and marketing meetings.
But the new theme isn’t the only reason staffers are singing. The convention center marketing team – working closely with partners at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau – has doubled a key business plan projection, according to an independent analyst, and is on pace to exceed even more. “Based on my analysis of your data on year-to-date event and room night bookings, it appears that the Raleigh Convention Center is on path toward exceeding our event and room night projections,” said Tom Hazinski, managing director of HVS International and author of the center’s 2003 business plan. “This is one of the best set of advanced bookings I have seen prior to a convention center opening.”
The new, state-of-the-art convention center is a key element of Raleigh’s $2 billion renaissance.
About the Raleigh Convention Center
Set to open in 2008, the new, state-of-the-art Raleigh Convention Center is the future hub both of an economically vibrant, knowledge-rich region and a dynamic downtown. The facility will include more than 500,000 square feet of space, 19 individual meeting rooms, an exhibit hall with 150,000 square feet of space and a 32,000-square-foot ballroom. An attached four-star Marriott hotel will offer 15,000 square feet of meeting space. To take a virtual tour, visit http://www.raleighconvention.com/tour/.
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(RALEIGH, NC) – New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles have their themes, now Raleigh does, too – courtesy of the staff at the new Raleigh Convention Center.
On “Shine, Raleigh, Shine,” Event Sales Manager Michelle Boyette belts out lyrics by Sales Director Laurie Okun, with Boyette’s band, Citizen Jane, alternately strumming and surging behind her. The anthem animates a new video promoting the Raleigh region as a convention destination brimming with culture, commerce and cutting edge knowledge-leaders. You can see the video and sing along to the new song at www.raleighconvention.com.
“We’re passionate about Raleigh as a destination, and we’ve turned that passion into a performance we hope will inspire others to come experience our city,” explained Okun, who based the song’s chorus on the convention center’s tag line, “You Shine Here.”
As part of her research, Okun looked at promotional videos produced by other cities. She came away believing that a customized song would provide a powerful emotional hook, strong narrative backbone and a more complete overall experience. Okun and Boyette recruited Eric Collins, a sound engineer at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, to arrange the song. They also tapped students from the Wake County Public School System who performed in “Aida” last year to provide vocals on the swelling chorus. The end product has met with good reviews at trade shows and marketing meetings.
But the new theme isn’t the only reason staffers are singing. The convention center marketing team – working closely with partners at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau – has doubled a key business plan projection, according to an independent analyst, and is on pace to exceed even more. “Based on my analysis of your data on year-to-date event and room night bookings, it appears that the Raleigh Convention Center is on path toward exceeding our event and room night projections,” said Tom Hazinski, managing director of HVS International and author of the center’s 2003 business plan. “This is one of the best set of advanced bookings I have seen prior to a convention center opening.”
The new, state-of-the-art convention center is a key element of Raleigh’s $2 billion renaissance.
About the Raleigh Convention Center
Set to open in 2008, the new, state-of-the-art Raleigh Convention Center is the future hub both of an economically vibrant, knowledge-rich region and a dynamic downtown. The facility will include more than 500,000 square feet of space, 19 individual meeting rooms, an exhibit hall with 150,000 square feet of space and a 32,000-square-foot ballroom. An attached four-star Marriott hotel will offer 15,000 square feet of meeting space. To take a virtual tour, visit http://www.raleighconvention.com/tour/.
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