Las Vegas Sands

It seemed like any other Saturday afternoon at The Venetian Macao. Crowds milled around the lagoon, lots of souvenir photos being snapped. Among other things, the resort has become a romantic backdrop for newly married couples taking their wedding photos. But on November 26 something quite special happened.

To the sound of Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock, one “groom” started jiving and soon the whole area outside the main lobby was a mass of energetic dancers – this was a FlashMob, a secretly co-ordinated and pre-arranged mass dance in a public space.

Organised by The Venetian Macao’s Resort Marketing team and involving 328 Team Members and volunteers, the FlashMob took visitors, including genuine wedding parties, completely by surprise.

The FlashMob involved meticulous planning, choreography and timing, with strong support from the Entertainment and Visual Media departments among others. Dozens of rehearsals were organised over three weeks before the event to fit with Team Members’ free time. A core of 21 professional dancers led the way joined by staff from all three Sands China properties, The Plaza Macao, Sands Macao and The Venetian Macao. The brainchild of Portuguese Team Member Adriana Lucas, the event was supported by every department with managers going out of their way to alter rosters and shifts to let enthusiastic staff participate. Streetmosphere entertainers rubbed shoulders with housekeeping staff and F&B personnel, and a host of outside volunteers from students to the local Glee Club.

Lasting just four and a half minutes, the FlashMob created new friendships and connections between Team Members. This was no mean feat given that Sands China has approximately 15,000 staff, the biggest employer in town after the government.

“We brought together people from across all age groups, all properties and all departments. People are already asking when the next one will be!” says Adriana.

The FlashMob appeared on local news broadcasts and seems to have caused a spike in people joining our Facebook page, which featured the clip. In just three days on YouTube, more than 8,000 people viewed it. Our Visual Media team is already working on another film chronicling the weeks of behind-the-scenes preparation. Look out for it here soon.