were as important as the state-of-the-art
elements that came later. “We wanted to hit the
audience with some really upbeat, energizing
meeting elements to get them fired up about this
new product, and we also wanted to play the
“New Attitude” against the “old way” in a manner
that was humorous—and memorable,” said
Media Matrix President Michael Olenski.
“We also found a means to use the old versus
new contrast to get the audience more involved.”
The event’s structure called for the site’s General
Manager to introduce one of HP’s top scientists,
who began a “presentation” using overheads
and dry, technical charts. After a few moments,
the General Manager came back onstage and
demanded that the old-fashioned AV equipment
be taken down, calling for a “New Attitude.”
As stagehands removed the equipment, the
General Manager addressed various people in
the audience, asking: “Do you have a New
Attitude?” One attendee, a professional singer
planted in the audience, then kicked off the real
HP 6850 product launch.
As the entertainer came up onstage to sing, a
pyrotechnic explosion went off and the dull gray
drapes dropped to reveal twin 9 x 12 foot
projection screens flanking the stage. Music
kicked in, sending the singer into a rendition of
the song “New Attitude” (with specially re-written
lyrics for Hewlett-Packard). Images of the product
and audience, taken before the event, appeared
Media Matrix is a Horsham, PA-based communications company involved in the
on the screen in a rapid montage while program-
production and staging of business meetings, webcasts and teleconferences;
mable lights played over the audience through the
interactive multi-media development; videotape production and print
smoke from the pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, a set
collateral design.
of eight new HP 6850 chromatographs, previously
hidden on a theatrical lift in front of the stage,
were elevated from the floor to a height of eight
feet, while Hewlett-Packard’s own product videos
were shown on-screen. The end result cleverly
conveyed the HP 6850 product’s strengths, and
met Hewlett-Packard’s need for an event which
motivated the audience through its unique
contrast between the old and the new.