Emerson Exchange 365

 A longtime venue for original music, Austin’s renowned 6th Street was the scene of some truly unique performances Tuesday night when engineers and professionals in the process industries took a little time to blow off some steam at the third annual Emerson Exchange Music Jam. 

The event, which was held at the Palm Door on 6th Street, featured attendees of the Emerson Global Users Exchange Conference taking stage to perform an eclectic mix of rock ‘n roll numbers from a variety of bands, including AC/DC, The Clash, Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

Entirely created and organized by conference attendees, the annual networking jam session celebrates the musical talents of the Exchange community – everyone from end users and exhibitors to Emerson local business partners and personnel. 

In total, five bands performed into the early morning hours, proving that control systems engineers, chief strategy officers, sales directors and CEOs can all see eye-to-eye and sing in tune – as long as the music is loud enough. This year’s band lineup featured Emerson Exchange house band When Pigs Fly, and four Jam bands including DeeAnn & the DeltaVs, Marky Mark and the Fittings Bunch, No Silos, and Wireless Hartbeat. 

“While most conferences focus intently on technical topics,” said Deanna Johnson, Emerson’s Music Jam coordinator “this event flexes the creative and passionate right brain of hard-working, details-focused, people who attend the conference.” 

Now in its third official year, the music jam initially began as a late-night, “unofficial” jam session between two Emerson employees at Emerson Exchange. Since that time it has blossomed into a much-anticipated, one-of-a-kind networking event for conference attendees looking to play as hard as they work. 

Building on the momentum of those early, informal jam sessions, the event officially debuted as part of the Exchange agenda in 2014 in Orlando. That year more than 30 musicians came together for a unique night of blues and rock ‘n roll. The jam grew in 2015 in Denver at the Hard Rock Café, and this year, it got bigger and better, with almost 40 rockers entertaining their fellow Exchange attendees with some serious talent. 

For example, Mark Heimovitz of Lubrizol Corporation has 20 years of experience with multiple blues, reggae, jazz, punk and metal bands and considers guitar another limb of his body; Mark Kennedy of Swagelok opened for country music group Alabama during its first concert; and Chuck Micallef of FieldComm Group has played trumpet for the last 50 years and met the likes of Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. 

In fact, most of the night’s participating musicians brought to the stage a wealth of experience from across several musical styles and genres. 

In keeping with tradition, When Pigs Fly kicked off the night. Featuring two of the original musicians who started the jam, the house band each year not only entertains the masses but also helps coordinate musicians for the event so that the night is truly an unforgettable one. When Pigs Fly comprises band members from Spartan Controls, Emerson’s local business partner for Western Canada. More information about the band is available at http://whenpigsflymusic.ca/. 

The Emerson Global Users Exchange Conference facilitates a valuable exchange of information among process manufacturers, end-users and Emerson experts. The conference offers peers the ability to network, view and offer input about developing Emerson technologies and to gain new knowledge, ideas and techniques to help maximize assets and increase profitability. During the conference, several hundred workshops and short courses are presented, detailing practical results on pertinent issues such as reducing production costs and improving agility.