Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers to Host a Major Corporate Meeting
Every year Empire secures a comedy superstar to host a large-scale annual meeting for a major global corporation and approximately 20,000 of their regional employees. In 2008, Empire brought in the star of NBC’s hit comedy, “The Office”, Rainn Wilson, whose physical humor made the event wildly successful.This year, Empire tapped Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers to take the reigns at Safeco Field.Seth Meyers is best known for his role as anchor of Sarturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment. What is less well-known is that Seth is also the head writer of Saturday Night Live, as well as cast member. His skill as a writer paired with sharp comedic wit made him the perfect host for this highly-demanding event.
In preparation for the event Seth worked with the client’s talented creative agency, Wexley School for Girls, and Empire to develop customized material, including a monologue, video sequences, and even a Weekend Update-style presentation for the event. Upon arrival in Seattle, Seth also shot a series of brief interstitial videos to introduce speakers. These included backgrounds like the Seattle Space Needle and Seattle’s famed Pike Place Fish Market where Seth literally caught a Salmon. Each video introduction played at the meeting was met with roaring laughter and applause.The earth-shaking finalé of Seth’s performance came as he explained to all the attendees that a seismograph had been placed in the building across the street and instructed everyone to stomp their feet in order to create a human earthquake. The vibrations of the 20,000+ person audience stomping rocked the stadium and cheers rang out when the live video feed showed that they had buried the needle!Seth Meyers worked closely with Wexley School for Girls and Empire on details such as scripting, costume, special effects, staging, etc.Empire negotiated the deal for Seth and worked with his management in order to negotiate time off from his duties at Saturday Night Live. An Empire talent producer also worked with Seth onsite to work closely with Seth for rehearsals and shoots to ensure the best possible performance.
Empire is a leading source of celebrity and headline talent for corporate meeting hosts, spokesperson roles and personal appearances.
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
