The Beats make the Difference – Using the Sony XG300
written by Vicente Lochschmidt,
co-creator of Elevate Networking.
Have you ever watched a movie without the sound? Without the rousing heroic theme leading the hero’s charge into the fortress or the pulse-pounding beats behind your favorite action hero’s punches and kicks, things seem decidedly more muted (pun intended). You might even be shocked to find that all those tears you’ve shed over the two lovebirds finally getting together at the end has much more to do with the piano score than it does with their acting chops.
It’s the same with any party, business event or, in our case at Elevate, a mixture of the two. Music is one of those things you don’t consciously think about but it transforms a space into an environment. For all of our events we make the conscious decision of turning on our playlist well before any guests arrive, to already give the room that special buzz: where things are vibrant and happening.
You might think we’ve been using an elaborate sound system but we’ve actually been using just one very handy piece of tech, the Sony XG300, a powerful bluetooth speaker which has been a staple in our kit since the beginning.
The first one to start and the last one to leave at every Elevate event
Some highlights:
- 25 hours battery life
- 2 High tone and 2 Woofer units
- IP67 water and dust-proof
- Retractable grip
- Two ring LED lights
- Controllable via the Fiestable and Sony Music Apps
- Weight: 3kg
Preparing a networking session for dozens of participants can be quite a heady experience with all of the elements we have to think of, including refreshments, decorations, making sure our slides are ready to go, not to mention all of the pre-planning with online promotion and social media. For how integral sound and music is for our events, it’s comparatively extremely simple. Even if we forget to charge the speaker it has up to 25 hours of battery life.
Our music and sound is playing for at least 75% of the evening and there’s a reason for that. Music has a very unique ability of adding a feeling of unity to any space and occasion, and quite literally nullifies any awkward silences. This sense of unity is a running theme throughout our nights.
Some highlights:
- 25 hours battery life
- 2 High tone and 2 Woofer units
- IP67 water and dust-proof
- Retractable grip
- Two ring LED lights
- Controllable via the Fiestable and Sony Music Apps
- Weight: 3kg
Preparing a networking session for dozens of participants can be quite a heady experience with all of the elements we have to think of, including refreshments, decorations, making sure our slides are ready to go, not to mention all of the pre-planning with online promotion and social media. For how integral sound and music is for our events, it’s comparatively extremely simple. Even if we forget to charge the speaker it has up to 25 hours of battery life.
Our music and sound is playing for at least 75% of the evening and there’s a reason for that. Music has a very unique ability of adding a feeling of unity to any space and occasion, and quite literally nullifies any awkward silences. This sense of unity is a running theme throughout our nights.
Our Elevate Networking sessions are typically split into 4 sections:
- Reception: Opening the doors and receiving the guests
- Spotlight: Where a pro guest speaker shares their insight on the latest marketing and industry trends
- Ice-Breaker: Fun games to loosen everyone up and connect
- Networking: The main portion of the evening
With the exception of the Spotlight, music and sound are fully integral to all of the other parts of the evening.
For the reception, having music playing as guests enter puts them in a different state of mind. It helps them to separate the outside world and their whole week from the wonderful evening we’ve prepared for them. After all, at Elevate we promise to start your Friday nights off in the best possible way! For the Ice-Breaker games, we do like to go well outside the box of what typical networking events offer and this can involve a trivia game show with accompanying game show tunes. Our games are designed to fully shed any awkwardness and to coax out even the shyest guest by playing some game show tunes. After the games, our guests are truly loosened up and we want to keep that energy going throughout the rest of the evening for the networking and the music does just that, acting as a social lubricant if you will.
In all of these cases the presence of the XG300’s sound is there, and easily envelops the whole room. Much like with a movie soundtrack you might not be consciously noticing it but once you realize it, it’s an absolutely integral part of the ambience.
With its easy portability, very lengthy battery life and even water-proof design, the XG300 easily covers our music needs wherever we go. With spring officially in Vienna we’re looking forward to bringing it to some outdoor editions of Elevate as well (can you smell the burgers?). We checked what IP67 testing stands for and it means the gadget can withstand at least 30 minutes 1 meter underwater! Actually very impressive and puts us at ease for any future picnics and barbecues.
IPX67 means that no speakers were able to be harmed in this image
To refresh our memories we also tried taking someone else’s phone and connecting the speaker with the Fiestable app. It takes literally just 2 minutes and the app gives you full audio control of the speaker, as well as its fully customizable LED rings on the sides which help give that party edge.
The customizable lights can be set to different dynamic “vibes” as well
Ready to move and boogie with the collapsable grip
We’ve been using the XG300 nonstop and we’re not looking to stop anytime soon! With its punchy and rich sound it easily fits our needs and helps set the tone throughout our events. Additionally, the portability and sturdy build makes us feel safe in knowing we won’t need to ever worry about our audio setup and that we’ll always bring our guests the best vibes and networking events.