Experiential week for the sponsors
During the jazz festival there is hectic activity around the city. Small and large sponsors run various events for their customers, employees and partners. The web editor has spoken to sponsors and gained a little insight into what is going on and how they think about their involvement in the festival.
Wednesday was the big day for the Kongsberg group. Then they gathered 300 guests for a party at Kapteinhaugen. There were customers, suppliers and other important partners from the board and care who enjoyed themselves in the sun while listening to Hilde Louise Asbjørnsen. Afterwards, the guests were invited to Kirketorget to experience Silje Nergaard and DeLillos. Kongsberg Maritime had a similar event at Smeltehytta with 500 guests.
Old classics
At General Sponsor FMC Technologies' home ground, Midgard, a crazy group in black t-shirts explodes when Chris Thompson starts "Dave is on the road again". Manfred Man's Earthband is well known to some, and even the younger ones have heard enough of the song to enthusiastically sing along. The collaboration between FMC Technologies and Kongsberg Jazzfestival has a history dating back to 1997. - FMC uses the Jazzfestival as the setting for the biggest employee event we have throughout the year, says communications manager Kjersti Løken. - The collaboration with Kongsberg Jazz Festival has given us the opportunity to develop our own events with artists from the festival programme. The jazz festival has become the major annual joint event for around 2.500 employees.
At Kongsberg, we have employees from more than 60 nationalities, and the jazz festival has established itself as the big "happening" of the year. FMC is the festival's general sponsor and also hosts another major event for customers and suppliers. The turnout for this customer event has always been good, and for many customers this has become an annual and popular experience as a start to the summer holidays. Both events are first held in Midgard, before everyone is bussed into the city and participates in festivities and concerts during the festival. This is a framework that is suitable for everyone, regardless of nationality and cultural background. - FMC's involvement is of course also about contributing to a local community where we as an employer are a major player, concludes Kjersti Løken.
Interaction
Johnny Løcka, executive director of KOG, says that for them the collaboration with the jazz festival is important on several levels. They use the festival actively to look after customers and employees, but also as an arena for maintaining good contact with authorities, both locally and nationally. Prime Minister Erna Solberg herself was among those invited on Wednesday, and she seemed to enjoy the festival to the fullest.
This year, KOG has increased its involvement by becoming one of the main sponsors. - In addition to the fact that the collaboration with jazz gives us good PR value, the festival helps to create a vibrant city that is an attractive place to live, continues Løcka. - We get to help promote music at a high level but also a whole undergrowth of local cultural activities, which is why we see the commitment as an important activity that benefits Kongsberg all year round.
The package deal
The Business Day that Kongsberg Næringsforum and KJF organized on Wednesday was an offer to those sponsors who wanted a package solution - a sponsor event with the festival as a backdrop. You could bring customers and employees there and have an inspiring and motivating day with a subsequent dinner and jazz concert. The theme this year was "Boundless". Read more about Business Day.
Long story
DNB is also the main sponsor and has been an important partner ever since the beginning of the Jazz Festival. Neither sponsor nor DNB was called 51 years ago, but they cooperated just as much. What was then called Den Norske Creditbank helped the festival both practically and financially, and the initiative then came from the local bank. Today, it is DNB central sponsoring the jazz festival via an active local bank that has a hand in most things. DNB together with Sparebankstiftelsen are the ones who gave the festival the Tubaloon stage in 2006. Every year they award the prestigious The DNB award and on Friday and Saturday invite a total of 340 customers to a pleasant party in Bergseminaret's back garden with a double concert on Kirketorget afterwards. - In contrast to many of the other large sponsors, we have ordinary consumers as our target group, says Tom Arne Akerhaug in DNB. - That is why it is important for us to be highly visible at the festival. With the help of the festival, we help to give the bank a good image among the public. We would like to appear as a contemporary and pleasant bank. Marit Norendal, who is responsible for the private market at DNB, says that the bank's main focus is on children and young people. That is why they have given us the Barnival scene and contribute with many popular activities at Barnivalen. To manage all the activities, they have brought in help from sports teams they are sponsors for. KIF Snowboard, Veggli and Rollag Sports Club and Kongsberg Miners step in and work a little extra on the events.
Text: Astrid Berdal / Photo: Irene Lislien and Ron Jansen
