His advertisements for this chocolate bar with the wafer innards really spoke to us… he engaged and his message resonated like all good branded experiences. And it was smart and funny in a very understated English way.

Check the video clip of his TVC to see exactly what we are banging on about and then brew up a nice cuppa english breakfast tea and crack a Kit Kat or two. Then take a deep breath and thank your lucky stars your not a burnt out single-goal-driven Salmon. Not so far anyway.

On a slightly more serious note, you should always try to feature more fish in your weekly diet. I’ve been reliably informed by the health food store lady that Omega 3′s (sadly not code for a super small Dennis Quaid looking spaceman travelling around in your body) found in fish oil is meant to be fabulous for your brains and your bloods and so on. Cool. Anything that gives us an improved edge on the design and delivery of great event experiences that is legal and good for the heart can’t be all bad.

It should be said however that while writing about this – I have not eaten any fish or taken any fish oil capsules. I have however managed to polish off yet another Kit Kat… and in fact on passing glance, it also looks like the little line drawing of the Salmon at the top of this post has also developed a hankering for Kit Kats. Oh dear.

OK from tomorrow it’s fish for lunch for the entire events team!

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

The good news is that we have been busy collecting all sorts of cool things and amazing event experiences to share with you and we’ll look at posting this into 2010 along with other things that take our fancy and we think you may take delight in.

And since I am the first to post in 2010 – here is a little randomness for you. A cool image of a brave Ewok warrior challenging the might and fury that is the gigantor Squirrel – all at grim and gritty pavement level. I can just see the SciFi and NatGeo channels launching themselves into a battle for event coverage of this epic battle.

Impressive and inspirational for sure and I think there’s is something in this for everyone.

This image is courtesy of ‘powerpig’ who has some fabulously fun imagery on his flikr profile. Make your day and have a look at the photostream. Oh and it kinda goes without saying – LucasFilms owns the Ewok.

To all fellow Ewok Event Warriors – do not fear but embrace the esteemed Brotherhood of Squirrel and have a fabulous 2010!

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

Consider branding slogans such as ‘Nike = Just Do It‘ or ‘, Compaq (HP) = Inspiration technology‘, ‘Nokia = Connecting People‘ or ‘FedEx = Absolutely, positively overnight‘. With amazing economy, they capture the essence of each companies personality, project their unique selling point, and are universally recognized within the marketplace.

A good event name and in turn theme should do exactly the same thing – present and project personality and purpose.

With the instant recognition that comes with famous movie one liners, they too can also serve as a creative resource starting point when developing an event identity.

Two one liners that I like to drop into conversations with work colleagues and family alike are – whispering in a knowing way that ‘I See Dead People’. And falling dramatically to my knees, arms outstretched to the sky and screaming ‘Stttte-lllllllla!’ Care should be exercised when delivering this when receiving the bill or check in a restaurant. It is not appreciated as a general rule by anyone.

I am also mindful of not sharing these movie inspired one liners around my significantly better half. It would seem that my wife no longer is blessed with a sense of humor. Along with a new facial tick whenever I am in the house. She also objects to the sound of me breathing while I sleep. But enough about me.

Check out this compilation as it counts down in 200 second the 100 top movie one liners. It’s really interesting to note how many of these have now become a firm fixture in our day-to-day language.

Good fun and a great source of ideas for building a marketing campaign from. And yet…

I am a tad disappointed.
This compilation missed the two all time favorites.

Despite the huge number of Jack Nicholson appearances there was no ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth’. And the famous line taken from the last Tom Cruise movie, before he really lost his mind, didn’t make the list. My wife likes using this one. Let’s not go there. She is lovely, she just has shockingly bad taste in her men… thank goodness.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

This probably comes as no surprise that we are huge champions of brainstorming.

The results are always interesting. Sometimes surprising and curious. And brainstorming for us, has always proven to be a great source and driver of creative innovation in the design and execution of events.

We do it as a team, we do it with our suppliers and partners, and we love doing it with out clients.

But it’s not always about working in groups, some of our best ideas have come from individuals finding their ‘muse’ – we call them ‘idea-showers’. Taking a break in a new cafe, flicking through design magazines, a wander through an art gallery for lunch, justing sitting back eyes close with iTunes running Genesis style.

Different strokes for different folks.

Personally I subscribe to crunching up a ball of paper and tossing it across the office for a 3 pointer basket.

if you’d like to practice before indulging in the real deal – check out these two FACTOR168 approved flash games.

Totally free to play and accessible from any web browser – the first is strangely titled Cyrkam Airtos.

It’s a nice touch where you have to catch the paperball from another fellow wihtin the office before you get a chance to drop one in the basket. More difficult than it first appears.

The second game is kinda more ‘technical’ in that you need to contend with urban environment elements (desk, chair, rotating fan) to drop the balls square into the baskets. This game is called …to the rescue.

If anyone out in the wide world of webbery strays across other paperball games – sing out and share this strange passion of mine.

* The image above is courtesy of Chuck who seemed to have taken a stab at their own ‘mousetrap’. It would seem that Chuck have taken it upon themselves to reinvent the wasterpaper basket. Umm okay.

They call them the ‘waste-less’ baskets because they are constructed from 100% recycled cardboard, and printed with low VOC based inks that is totally recyclable.

Smart design at work. I wonder if the ‘world will beat a path to their door’. Perhaps.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

No not that one… nor the one with the Salsa dipping sauce and Mojo Webb soundtrack… no. It is my Finnish pleasure.

I can’t recall exactly when I cam across this musical… umm.. phenomenon… and I can’t remember who introduced me to them but I am externally grateful. They always brings a smile to my dial and when the creative well is a little shallow, this outfit always seems to refresh and re-energise me.

They are a Finish Rock Band created by a Finnish (you’ll notice that I really like using the word Finnish where ever possible in this paragraph) film director Aki Kaurismaki (seriously that is his name, cool huh?) who featured in his Finish film cunningly titled “Leningrad Cowboys Go America” starring a fictional Finish progressive rock band with a taste for polka – the Leningrad Cowboys. Finished with laboring the Finish.

After the film, the band not expectantly took on a life of its own. Recording music, making videos and giving concerts. The band appeared in two other Aki Kaurismäki films, “Leningrad Cowboys Meets Moses” and “Total Balalaika Show”.

This second film featured the band in concert and for the first time with the 160-member Alexandrov Ensemble. It was in Helsinki and it was magic.

The Cowboys followed this up with a slightly smaller ensemble, about 70 odd Alexandrov member. They played at the 11th Annual MTV Music Awards in New York to an estimated global audience of 250 million people worldwide. Not bad at all.

This strange musical fusion of Finnish Art-Pop and Russian Military gave birth to some of the oddest cover renditions I have heard, but nothing more so than their glorious take of “Sweet Home Alabama” – the signature hit song from one of the most famous airplane crash band’s Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Check out the wacky glory of the Cowboys and the Alexandrov’s in action below.

About ten years after this concert film the Cowboys and the Ensemble got back together for a concert imaginatively titled “Global Balalaika Show“. And they were still popular! They have since toured regularly including private corporate functions… although I suspect seeing them perform without the Alexandrov Ensemble would be a little disappointing in some ways. For me anyway. The clash of stiff Cold War feeling military uniforms with the pop-art explosion of the Cowboys loud-jackets and Cirque de Soleil inspired pointed hair and shoes. It’s this visual and audible clash set to music that makes it all work so wonderfully.

As a general rule, the Leningrad Cowboys consist of eleven cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. Their songs indicate a strong thematic preference for Genghis Khan, Russian folk standards, tractors and rockets, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, and of course vodka.  Naturally.

That’s not to say that they haven’t tried their hand at more contemporary-ish songs.

The second clip embedded below is their version of that late ’90′s hit from punk-ish group Offspring. In some ways I like this song “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” more so than their other offerings. If for no other reason than it features the Ladies auxiliary of the ensemble opening the track by singing “Give It To Me Baby” in heavy accented English. Adorable and fun.

AND check out the way they have gone about staging the concert. Tiered stage levels and an elevated catwalk flown through and above the audience. Transferable to a memorable corporate environment? Yes sir.

The Leningrad Cowboys official site can be found overrrrr….overrr… here!

and the wonderful Russian Choir and Backing band is the Alexandrov Ensemble… and their site can be found……over….. there!

As a special added bonus for 168′ers – we have organized, kinda, for their entire site to be presented totally in Russian for a greater cultural experience. Awwww pretty.

Your most welcome.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

Options and combinations. Endless sides. Huge laminated menus. But thankfully they all shared a common trait – they were all unimaginatively literal. They detailed exactly what was in the meal to the exclusion of everything else. And that’s mighty handy for a traveler half out of her mind with roadtrip candy and cola.

America is the land of choice. No doubt about it. When I visit for business and pleasure, I always try to make time to spend sometime walking the floors of their supermarkets like Winn-Dixie or Vons. The long cabinets packed full of every different type of ice cream flavor possibly imagined. It leaves me gob-smacked and disgruntled by my poor excuse for a diary aisle back home.  Our chocolate and beer is far superior. There is that.

A personal favorite is the more upmarket (eye of the beholder) and the seemingly more personal service offered by Trader Joe’s. Love their little hand written menu suggestions, in-store product reviews, and a selection of cute shop-boys hard at it.

The thick paper bags in the West Hollywood store are so retro cute. They make me feel so much greener while I over consume  – well more so than my normal plastics. And they sound great when you crumple the tops up as you walk.

Anyway back on message – Americans are a lot of things, good and not so good, and one of them is that they are literal. They say it how it is. They are not shy about coming forward and spelling it out. Unlike say the French… sure they always sound cool and exotic in their accented English but really… what are they really saying? So… obscure.

And I suspect that as a nation the French share a limited appreciation for a massive range of diary confectionery goods to choose from. A vast wine or cheese selection? Sure. The French love it. Mint Ribbon Ice Cream with Pralines… nope. Only us Australians and Americans there… the English? Most probably still in the pub eating salt and vinegar Walker Crisps and nursing a pint of something warm that may with care and refrigeration resemble beer. Gross generalization but there you have it.

Sometimes being literal yields the most unexpected results. Rather than the extended song and dance… just ask for the sale… wondering – just ask her/him out. Unhappy? They’ll never know unless you literally spell it. Just as importantly – happy? Then literally tell someone… tell everyone.

The guys and gals from Dustfilms agree and have recreated some really funny results from their compact series of ‘literal videos’.

Drawing on their personal music video favorites (they are without a doubt Gen X), they have remastered them with ‘literal’ lyrics to match the video clip.

Sure – it is a little hit and miss.The Billy Idol rendition of ‘White Wedding’ isn’t so hot.However the following clip from Tears for Fears featured below is a clear winner. Enjoy.

* Check out the old card filing system in this video. Yes Virginia – their really was a world before the world wide web and ‘puters. Entire libraries were full of paper books with covers and woven spines, and ka-thousands of index cards and heavy date stampers to manage them all.

Take an electronic leaf out of the kindle book – and just say it how it is. What you want, what you expect, what you like, what you don’t. And hopefully there will be someone who will be listening and care – like we do…. and perhaps the cute guys at Trader Joe’s.  Literally speak and listen.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

Some were voted because of significant popular culture reasons – like Jackson’s performance of Billie Jean at the Motown celebrations. This was the performance that introduced the world to the moonwalk and that glove. And of course it is an outstanding pop song with it’s driving baseline.

Love it almost as much as Smooth Criminal which introduced the anti-gravity foot lean dance movement. Sheer entertainment musically and visually that put many of it’s contemporaries of the time to shame. I’m talking about you Van Halen.

Others were unanimously nominated because they are plain and simple fabulous songs. Notably two of his earlier hits fall into this category -  Rock with You and Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.

He was a very handsome man back then – young, black smiling, and with a ‘softness’.

Other songs were considered very good but the larger than life big budget of Black and White pushed it up the rankings and crowned Jackson as the undisputed Pop King of music video blockbusters.

You’ll note some songs didn’t make our top 5. Notably Thriller and Bad.

Sure – they were better than okay, sensational production values, and those group dance moves were something else buuuuut… well over time they didn’t seem to hold up on their own merits as well as the less ‘flashy’ efforts from Jackson. And Man in the Mirror and Dirty Diana were considered way too creepy, even for us fragile souls.

The number one track was selected because of it’s timeless quality, it’s sheer energy and groove, and as event professionals we well know that if you ever want to fill a dance floor quickly or lighten the mood – cue this track. It is our favorite.

The Top 5 Michael Jackson Songs

Number 5. Rock With You (1979)

4. Black or White (1990)

Number 3. Billie Jean (1982)

Number 2. Smooth Criminal (1987)

Number 1. Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough (1979)

SPECIAL MENTION goes to one of the best live performances with Jackson performing at the American NFL Superbowl with a ‘medley’ of his hits.

and in keeping with the Top 5 list – the best of The Jackson 5 with Michael up front.  “Blame It on the Boogie” (1978)

With thanks -Lean-to Image from Wikipedia, Rock with You courtesy of DailyMotion.com, Black and White from MetaCafe.com, Billie Jean from French site Wat.tv, Don’t Stop Till You Drop from MySpace Video, and all others from… you guessed it… Youtube.com.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

We came across this clip from the Today’s Big Thing and thought you might really enjoy it just as much as we did and do.

The clip presents a television performance by a South Korean lounge band – and everyone seems to be on the same safe and dull ‘musical page’ until you notice the drummer in the background. He is having a a ‘wow’ of a time…

A star performer will always shine no matter where he or she sits within the ‘band’.

* Drum image courtesy of Lilguitar – fabulous images.

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

How to best describe bucky balls?

Well the manufacturers describe them as as “the Amazing Magnetic Toy with Millions of Uses”. Really? Look I think that’s a stretch but it’s a nice tag line in any case.

The bucky balls are a collection of magnetised balls that allow you to fiddle and fumble with them as you create different shapes and patterns. Consider them a strange toy cross breed between perhaps a Rubic’s Cube, possibly an Etcha-a-Sketch (check out the wacky Etcha-a-Sketch LAND …so umm way cool and chillin in ma hangout… apparently) and without question a fistful of BB air gun pellets.

Okay. Granted. It sounds kinda boring and somewhat… well.. dumb.. but I assure you once you start playing with them (or crafting a new muse if someone in the office inquires) it can become very very addictive.

The Bucky Ball guys website can be found here.

It has a couple of info-commercial videos that are a guilty enjoyment. And of course if you feel so compelled, you can order directly from these fine folks your own set of balls. Enjoy.

Oh, and since this is our finding and sharing our creative muse part of this website and since it seems all my compadres seem compelled to post with a youtube insert, I thought you might enjoy the creative efforts of this basketball fan as he employs the etch-a-sketch toy at an NBL event with some sensational results.

Hoo-boy! Can this guy sketch. Amazing. He’d be great as a sizzle moment during a tradeshow me thinks. Check it as they say. Man, I am so not hip to the ways.

FACTOR168 | Event Management Company