Empire Delivers Hootie and the Blowfish For a Major Kentucky Derby Event
For the fourth year in a row, Empire Entertainment provided headline talent for a major Louisville, KY-based corporations' Kentucky Derby celebration. In the 132 years of the Kentucky Derby there had never been an official sponsor; however, this year Empire's client boasted this prestigious honor. A week of events and activities was was capped off with an inspired performance by Hootie And The Blowfish at a major party on the night before the running of the race. Well known in the corporate concert circuit, Hootie and The Blowfish are a nationally and internationally known concert act who deliver a high energy show of hits and coveers that is perfectly suited for many corporate events. For this engagement, the band added to its already formidable lineup by adding percussion player and a third guitar. The result was a 75 minute, full throttle carnival of dancing and singing along to well known hits by the band like "I Only Want to Be With You" and other surprising contemporary standards like Kool & The Gang's "Lady's Night."
Empire had to overcome the challenge of tight logisitical management for this engagement as Hootie and the Blowfish's lead singer, Darius Rucker, was asked by Tiger Woods to perform at his father's funeral that same morning in California. Ordinarily, this would have been an easy solution with the use of a private aircraft however, in this case because so many private aircraft visit Louisville for this event, special arrangements had to be made to accommodate the landing. This done, Darius arrived in Louisville in plenty of time for the pre-show meet & greet and concert. "Each year we up the ante" remarked their Master of Ceremonies before the concert. When it was over, the client's respose to the evening: "What will we do next year to top it, I don't know".
Empire is a leading producer of major entertainment and hospitality events at sporting events and have delivered major programs at such sporting events as the Kentucky Derby, The Winter & Summer Olympics, the Super Bowl and World Series and World Cup among others.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
