Ever dreamed of being a rock star? Suiting up backstage in tight and shiny clothes, sporting a ridiculous hairdo, and walking on stage to play in front of a crazy crowd of groupies with your band mates? I know I have, and after the recent Icebreaker US Operations Party: “Unplugged” I now realize I work with many fellow rock star daydreamers.
Recently, the Icebreaker Portland office was given the opportunity to live this dream; everyone logged off their computers, temporarily quit their day jobs (not really, we love Icebreaker!), and proceeded to do what every rational person wants to do, become a rock star! Led by none other than our fellow operations team (A.K.A. – “Band Managers”), we split into four groups “bands” and flocked the streets of Portland in preparation for our first gig.
We quickly learned the first lesson of being in a band: getting gigs is not easy business. A lot of quality band practice (drinking, eating, and socializing) must happen before a band is worthy of trying their hand on stage. After creating new lyrics to the famous tune “Stand By Me”, our bands headed out on an adventure where we were given a bag of costumes, professional hairdos, and even a photo shoot at our very own recording studio! By the time we ended at Breken Kitchen for the show, our bands were ready to give the anxious groupies a concert they would never forget.
Our very own Matt Putnam, U.S. Demand Planner, accompanied the four bands with his guitar and well tuned voice as we all belted out our versions of “Stand by Me”. If only you could hear the creative, somewhat vulgar, yet always smooth, verses our bands came up with, then you would be first in line for our next big show (Location: TBA).
After amateur hour, the real musicians got on stage and showed us a thing or two about stage performance. Matt Putnam put aside his demand planner demeanor and got on stage to play a set of impressive songs for the crew of mismatched Icebreaker rock stars. The closing act, Kurt Foster, Sr Merchandising Manager, and Jeremy Dietz completed the night in style with their Americana/country music that had everyone clapping for an encore!
Group Consensus: Maybe we cannot give up our day jobs just yet; however, there is no reason we cannot all be rock stars at heart, especially at Icebreaker!! ROCK ON!!
- Robby Ringer, Icebreaker US Customer Services Representative
