INSIGHTS WITH VICKIE MITCHELL
STRIKE THE RIGHT CHORD
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t a meeting, music can be much more than background noise. It can energize tired travelers, inspire fresh thoughts and ideas, cement friendships among previous strangers, create memories and soothe tired travelers. Local music can give people a greater appreciation for a place and its people. By tapping into local talent, meeting destinations help meeting planners find the right music for the occasion. Here are a few examples of how convention and visitors bureaus have helped make music part of meetings and events.
Add music to your meetings
School bands roll in Little Rock Fifes and Drums add a Colonial kick
During the Revolutionary War, the shrill trill of a fife and steady beat of a drum were more than music. Fife and drum corps’ tunes telegraphed essential battle information to troops as far as a mile away. Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums, which was created almost 65 years ago, can be booked to add a Colonial kick to any meeting or event. As they play authentic 18th century melodies, teenage boys and girls march in red waistcoats, tan knickers, white knee socks, buckled black shoes and navy tricorn hats. Many who have played with the Fifes and Drums returned several years ago for a 50-year reunion. “When we marched down Duke of Gloucester Street, every window rattled and we shook the whole town,” said one of the alums. visitwilliamsburg.com
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Remember the days when arriving at the airport was a big deal? Friends and family, waiting and waving, thrilled to see you? The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau brought back the excitement of arrival a few years ago during National Travel and Tourism Week. It recruited the Mabelvale Elementary 2 Cold Drum Line to play as tourism industry reps welcomed arriving passengers at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. It’s an idea that could be duplicated for arriving convention goers. The CVB and state tourism department also put another school band in the spotlight a few years back during a Travel South conference event at the Clinton Presidential Library. The energetic Little Rock Central High School marching band greeted arrivals. It was a reminder of the continued vitality of the historic high school, where the nine Black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine integrated the school in 1957, propelling the civil rights movement forward. littlerock.com
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