Flash mobs wake up corporate events

Looking for something different to entertain and educate your attendees? How about hiring a flash mob?

Nike invited a flash mob to its San Francisco golf-shoe launch last summer, and soon saw scenes of dancers holding up its shoes go viral on YouTube.

A pharmaceutical conference in Las Vegas featured a flash mob dressed as attendees that busted some moves.

Last week, a flash mob showed up at the national sales meeting of a hotel company.

Wikipedia defines a flash mob as "a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails."

In other words, anyone can organize a flash mob. Just email or tweet everyone you now and invite them to show up, do a dance, and then go away.

But companies like Dance Mob Nation, Flash Mob America, and Bay Area Flash Mob are making things a little more organized by gathering a crowd for you. And they are signing corporate customers in increasing numbers, they say.

Dance Mob Nation has arranged for flash mobs to interrupt keynote speakers or come disguised as guests or event staff who suddenly burst into life.

"Flash mobs add a unique aspect to corporate events," Dance Mob Nation owner Paula Broussard, a former dancer, told TravelMole.

Her company does about three corporate events a month. It sent a flash mob to an Amy’s Kitchen booth at a trade show in March, and has done national sales meetings and annual conventions for Adobe, Sony Pictures, and Herbalife.

At the national ReMax sales conference, a Dance Mob Nation flash mob interrupted the CEO’s speech. "It was early in the morning, and we did a flash mob to wake the crowd up," Broussard said. "These meetings often start at 8 or 9 a.m., and they want something lively to make it fun."

At an event for Paramount Studios, the flash mob came disguised as servers who broke into dance.

Dance Mob Nation recruits the dancers, using either paid professionals or just inviting a flash mob to show up by offering a small stipend to each dancer, depending on the meeting budget.

Flash mobs run $2,000 to about $10,000, depending on the size, scale, and choreography involved, Broussard said.

FMA’s web site currently is asking for volunteers to show up at a Denver Conference July 8.

By Cheryl Rosen

Related News Stories: