The Show Must Go On: our all-weather B-Day (sun, hurricane, and… hail the size of cherries)!

All righty. I told you about the preparations and rehearsals for our birthday blowout. Today let me tell you about the blowout itself – and I don’t use that term for a party without reason…

So, the roof of the main stage had been repaired (put back), and the day promised to be a warm and sunny one; however… ->

Yes – that huge mass of cloud was heading right our way. And despite our crossed fingers, it didn’t pass us by…

Still – at least nobody would be getting sunstroke this year. Not that that was much consolation – for who likes running indoors to shelter from torrential downpours with an attendant gale blowing? Turns out: no one. Who knew?!

The nearest shelter to me was a large marquee tent with buffets and (drinks) bars around the edges. Inside it was pretty packed with K-folks – many of them drenched already:

But many didn’t seem to care whatsoever. Heavy rain, later even… hailstones! It all seemed to add to the fun! It sure looked that way anyway…

I was expecting the rains to pass. This was the Moscow region after all – not, say, Costa Rica in the rain season. But no: the size of the hailstones just kept increasing – as did the speeds of the wind. I thought the marquee we were in might even take flight (imagine that scene!), but mercifully it stayed put. Then it started to thunder-and-lightning…

So there we were – packed into a marquee, waiting for the storm to pass. Still, at least there was plenty of food and drink to hand…

Eventually the storm front passed. Time to head outside to gauge the damage…

The first thing I notice – the stage roof’s intact! Hurray! ->

Oops. Fortunately, no one was inside ->

Meanwhile, folks started to emerge out of the shelters to spread out across the substantial territory of the hotel complex ->

Others, it seemed, never bothered getting out of the rain; well that’s one way to keep cool (it was a rather hot day) ->

Suddenly – everyone was out and about. Hurray – the celebrations (and fun outdoor activities) could carry on (including the silent rave)!…

K-folks here, K-folks there – with the mood hardly dampened ->

Photographers here, photographers there – and taking photos of each other:

Assorted watersports begin here at the far end of the grounds:

Soaked beanbags drying out before the evening’s concert:

The chairs for the jury later – also wet. I think I’ll go change into my trunks…

The above pics are mine. What follow are those of colleagues and the pro-photographers . Not that I took any more photos come evening – too busy with jury duty, and the light drizzle for most of the evening put me off reaching for my cherished Sony anyway…

Btw – in case your new here, the traditional schedule for our b-day bashes goes something like this: from noon-ish till evening there are various fun outdoor activities, classes, sessions, games, tournaments, etc., etc. In parallel, K-bands (style: rock) take to the stage one after the other, and K-DJs take turns on the small stage on the beach – with go-go dancers setting the pace (alas – not this year: rained/hailed off). Then, come evening, there are the variety-style performances and then the headiner. Into the night – disco!

Folks getting stuck into the various activities as per their whims and wishes; to the right – the traditional totem pole with the flags of all our American offices: where they meet up for their own brand of fun ->

This rodeo was popular – and fairly mad; I didn’t risk a go.

No comment! ->

Folks had fun in various ways. Whom-how ) ->

Others are less active – more sit-and-chill-and-chat. Whom-how (aka – each to their own; main thing – with a smile:) ->

One of the above-mentioned go-go dancers – accompanying the DJs’ sets before the DJ-booth was… flooded! ->

A Zaporozhets ZAZ-968M! The first car I ever owned was one just like it (around 1992-1994) ->

The food and drink was nice and varied ->

Faces were painted; hair was colored ->

Some soccer-themed trolling was partaken in: I was walking around in (at different times), either a Brazil or Argentina shirt: when the inevitable photos with our Brazilian guests were being taken – I put the Argentina shirt on; when with our Argentinian guests – like the lady (in a winter coat?!) in the following pic – on went the Brazil shirt! ->

Curiously, once the photos were taken, I was still in the Argentina shirt: the Brazilians insisted I change back into the yellow one!!

Night falling, the last preparations were being made on the main stage for the traditional music-dance show:

Our hosts for the evening are already on stage – that means we’re about ready…

Then, suddenly – thunder, lightning, and gale-force winds. But I’ve already told you about that (in the packed tent that I feared would be blown away).

Oh my grad (grad (град) means hail in Russian) ->

Oh my grad indeed. But really we were very lucky: it could have been so much worse. Not all the constructions were blown over/away; not all the equipment was flooded (though our artists had to make do with just six microphones, which for such an event feels like not having any at all); and kit was somehow fixed. A huge thank-you to the heroes of the previous night and this day – to those who organized the event, to those who didn’t sleep all night to help make sure that… the Show Must Go On! Thanks to Octopusagency, and personally to Alexey Trebukhin who oversaw everything.

Meanwhile, the wind died down, the thunder stopped, and the skies cleared: let the show begin! ->

Alas, as already touched upon, a light drizzle persisted to fall throughout the evening – darn it (still, at least is was a warm drizzle). All the same some folks had had enough of the wetness – drizzly or warm or no – and headed back to the office on the shuttle buses and then on home. Most however stayed, and continued to have fun and act daft – even late into the night (disco!) and into the morning of the Saturday (assorted organic after-parties)! – despite the goddamn apocalyptic unfriendly climatic conditions :)! ->

And so, like I say, the show must go on!…

And it did go on…

Music, show, satire, trolling, fun, games, sports, burgers, booze, smiles: the Kompany letting its hair down…

“Whirlwind joy”.

Soccer-heads watching the Euros – no comment!

The soccer-heads even had their own corner of the complex to themselves with a big screen we’d put up:

Meanwhile on the main stage our show was still going on – the variety-show bit, when K-folks get to joke and satirize (and air gossip) about life in the company they all love:

And all that good fun in spite of the constant drizzle; kinda like the company in general: carrying on, despite everything!

A full house:

In-between performances (these days there are several – and they even compete among each other to win the best-show award) there’s now a “guess the employee behind the mask” quiz. Out comes an employee onto the stage in a mask who’s well-known in the company, and as more and more facts about him/her are shared, the jury made up of senior management has to guess who it is. Like! ->

It’s a tricky one though; I have to be honest and admit I was hopeless at the guessing game – recognizing a full zero masked K-folks!

Two thumbs-up from me ->

Who’s that behind the mask?…

It’s Anton Ivanov – our CTO!

More performances ->

After yet more performances, the one and only Leonid Agutin. If you’ve not heard of him – he’s a hugely successful and popular household-name of a singer-songwriter in Russia.

I think this was the first time we watched the whole of the evening’s entertainment in the rain. But we did it – we pulled it off. And it just goes to show: we’re the coolest, and nothing can stop us – not even rain. And that’s a toast. Cin cin!

The next morning after breakfast it was farewell to Zavidovo – see you next year (rain or no:)…

Yesterday the stage roof dismantled itself; today we’d have to help it out!…

In closing – a few stats…

• Attendees: 3300 guests (employees and best friends)
• Employee-artists taking part in the evening performances: 95
• Rock groups due to play in the afternoon: 4
• Rock group that played before the storm: 1
• DJs due to play on the beach: 3
• DJ that played on the beach before the storm: 1
• Fun activities/games/sports: just under 50

Eatens, drunks

• Food eaten: 8.5 tons
• Cans of beer drunk: 9500
• Liters of wine drunk: 4000
• Liters of water drunk: 6600

Misc.

• Days setting everything up: 4
• Hurricanes with hail: 2
• Stage roofs blown off in hurricane: 1 (12 hours before the start)

Flooded gear

• 60 stage lights
• 3 sound mixing desks
• 16 loudspeakers
• 1 video-server
• 1 lighting mixer

Kit overall

• 10 truckloads of stage gear
• 12 LED big screens (with a hundred square meters of screen space overall)
• Nearly 300 pieces of lighting kit
• 96+ kilowatt sound
• 5 megawatts of power generation
• 5 kilometers of power cabling

PS: Disco – 500 ravers at its peak

What can I say? Impressive Heroic! Thank you everyone!

And now… back to work!