June 20th, 2004

Scotts Valley, CA - Long-time customer, Magma Design Automation looking for a presentation to play center-stage in their Design Automation Conference Booth called Tam Communications to come through in a pinch. Susan O’Connor Fraser answered the call and put together the team that included artist Aaron Dingman and Flash Integrator Tracy Geisler. The concept was already in place—a spoof of an awards show complete with impersonators of Billy Crystal and Joan Rivers.

O’Connor Fraser took the first draft of the client script and researched Joan Rivers’ humor to add to the fun. The big challenge was to weave in Magma messaging through a presentation that could also involve audience interaction and give the actors the opportunity to improvise whenever possible. While O’Connor Fraser refined the script, Dingman modeled in 3D what was to be the Chippie Award. Meanwhile Associate Producer Steve Enzer scoured stock footage sources for audience reaction shots and Geisler built the shell for the presentation. As elements were completed—the 3D trophy, video sequences, 3D titles and nominees, Geisler added each element into the shell.

The day before the trade show opened, O’Connor Fraser and Director Tam Fraser were on-site in San Diego, working with the actors and ensuring that not only was the presentation running as expected but also that all the equipment was working together. With everything working like clockwork, the show was still running longer than desired, prompting cuts to both the presentation and the script. O’Connor Fraser called on Geisler to make the changes to the flash programming and send a new executable file that could then be uploaded to the show computer.

The final result led to lots of laughs from the packed audience at each presentation...leading to a record number of leads for Magma and a successful show.

Tam Communications is a leading digital media company, servicing corporate and entertainment clients by combining technical, creative, and communications expertise in the realms of video, interactive multimedia, and web. The company's expanding spectrum of original entertainment programming—developed for broadcast, cable, syndication, and other venues—airs worldwide. Tam Communications is a privately held company located in Scotts Valley, CA. Please visit our web site at www.tamcom.com.