Speaking
fluent Spanish - no problem! - For a standing-room
only crowd of young, influential Colombianos, CHOPS
delivered his lines with ease - in perfect Spanish,
thanks to the performing skills of Juan Pablo Neira.
 Neira was
also the event producer, hired by the upcoming South
American ISP StarMedia to produce its product launch
party in Bogota,Colombia, in the upscale Portobello
Building. The Portobello Building itself was a challenge
for the professionals of Neira's company, VIP Eventos,
who also represents Live Marketing in Colombia. The
building is actually a five-story shopping center with
art and furniture galleries and a fancy restaurant
under a dome on the top floor.
 In preparing
for the night's event, the production crew set up two
places for "Starman" to appear, a 50" big-screen
TV at the mall's entrance and a rear-projection screen
on a small deck on the center's second floor. Guest
were then greeted by "Starman," who was actually
Juan Pablo, as they entered the party.
Onlookers
crowded the entire center for several hours, filling
every inch of available space, including the circular
stairs inside the atrium-style chamber. VIP Eventos
also planned and installed six Internet-connected kiosks,
and 12 banners for the party.
Viva Mexico
Con Energia - Just a couple of days after the
StarMedia party, the VIP Eventos production team
and Gary Jesch of Live Animation flew into Cancun,
Mexico for their second event in two weeks, a company
meeting for fuel distributors of Esso Colombia.
 The three
day meeting and party, held at the Melia Cancun, was
also produced in its entirety by Neira and his staff.
It consisted of an opening night party with food, entertainment
and drinks under the stars in the form of a Mexican
night, a general conference the next morning where
the character "Surti" first appeared, an
awards night also hosted by "Surti," that
night in the convention center, followed by a magic
show, and finally, breakout sessions in the morning
of the last day.
Using the
Digital Puppeteer, Jesch brought the Surti character
to life, with Neira wearing the Face Tracker and speaking
in Spanish while Jesch animated the body, head and
eyes with a virtual glove tool and the trackball. First
at the morning session, the attendees were amazed and
filled with wonder as Surti interacted with the Esso
marketing director, commenting on the material and
making jokes, just like a real person.
 The
following year, Surti again helped ExxonMobile (Esso)
with its meetings, held in Cartagena, Colombia, on
a special stage constructed to take advantage of the
character's ability to interact.
The overall
impression of the two characters and their appearances
south of the U.S. border was successful
and powerful for everyone. All the distributors who
attended the
Cancun meeting were asking, "Who is Surti, who
is Surti?" It was not easy to keep the secret
until the last night of show,
when Juan Pablo received a well-deserved round of applause
for his skill at performing Surti and giving the Esso
organization a meeting it would never forget.
 At
Esso's third annual meeting where they used a virtual
character, they benefited by having Virtual
Vinnie modified to be on stage
with the executives and South American employees who
were
gathered in Cancun. By
this time, the audience was very relaxed and welcoming
to the character. They had seen the technology twice
before and it didn't take them long to warm up to the
casual presentation style with fun and good humor. The
executives also seemed to relax a little more.
 Super
Sean was also used in South America, for a large grocery
chain and telecommunications
company called "Colsubsido." The
company meeting was held in Bogota, directed
by Juan Pablo Neira of Grupo Live.
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