After completing her apprenticeship at Sennheiser, Theresa Vondran was immediately thrown in at the deep end. Several times. “One day I was sitting my final oral exam and the next I was off to America, where I presented the launch event of the new evolution wireless D1. Things couldn’t have got off to a more exciting start,” she laughs. I had to complete an even larger project two months later—Sennheiser’s exhibition stand at the prolight+sound trade fair. “The design for our stand was outdated and a new design had not yet been created. That automatically gave us greater freedom, but it turned out that we wanted to do everything differently.”
Absolutely everything. The key attraction at the evolution wireless D1 launch was a song contest in which fans worldwide could compete to win studio time and a professionally produced music video. Therefore, a stage had to be set up for artists who wanted to take part in the contest live. According to Theresa, everything should be “live.” “We didn’t want to present anything that you couldn’t try out for yourself.” She wanted to give the new generation of musicians the chance to learn from the professionals. “We came up with the indulgent idea of an Ask Our Nerds corner with sofas and Persian carpets where our technicians answered questions. We built a large bar and a virtual explorer table. At that time, there was a trend for furniture made from Euro pallets. We adopted this theme and built lighting elements into our microphone heads to make lamps out of them. We produced a design that showcased what Sennheiser meant to us down to the tiniest detail. Next, we wanted to introduce the brand to new target groups.”
The booth was jam-packed from the very start and everyone was in good spirits. Perhaps a little too good? Theresa smiles. “Well, there was one slightly uncomfortable moment. Our management gave a speech at the evening press event but it was far too loud because everyone was having so much fun. Nobody was really listening.” But nobody could be angry with her: As her bosses were traveling back from the trade fair on the train, news and videos suddenly began popping up on their cell phones: “Take a look!” it said. “Your team is amazing!” The videos showed Theresa on the stage at the exhibition stand next to Yaelle Cinky, winner of The Voice in France, performing a duet to P!NK’s Try. Along with many others, Yaelle had followed the sounds in the crowded exhibition halls and had sneaked into the party taking place at the Sennheiser exhibition stand. In the steadily growing audience, other famous faces could be spotted heading for the dance floor to join Theresa’s Sennheiser colleagues enjoying her and Yaelle’s spontaneous gig. “We just gave ourselves over to the magic of the moment. You simply can’t plan these things,” says Theresa. That’s true. But you could always ask Theresa to plan them.