Business bands play at work

Corporate America is getting a chance to let its hair down, whip out a guitar, scream into a microphone and bodysurf at a rock concert.

Well, maybe not the bodysurfing.

Fortune magazine’s Battle of the Corporate Bands regional competition this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, pits six corporate bands — including two local groups: Nextel’s Direct Connectors and Juniper Networks Inc.’s High Bandwidth — against each other for a ticket to jam at the finals at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland in October.

“We want to blow away the competition; we want to make them cry and go home,” joked Robin Boniface, lead singer of Direct Connectors and vice president of sales and operations at Nextel, a Reston wireless communication provider.

In addition to the competitive aspect, the event allows frazzled employees to relax with music and encourages traits valued in the workplace: creativity, teamwork and positive attitudes, according to Kip Meyer, director of integrated programs at Fortune.

It also helps dispel the image of workaholic, corporate wonks who decades ago wouldn’t be caught dead in the audience of a concert, let alone on stage.

Nextel’s band, Direct Connectors, has 11 members, nine of whom are employees. Its moniker was inspired by the company’s instant wireless communication tool.

Shane McLaughlin, Direct Connectors’ keyboardist and senior writer at Nextel, calls the band “the ambassadors of the new culture” of Nextel, one that appreciates creativity, risk taking and stepping up to lead … even if it’s on stage.

Like Direct Connectors, Juniper Networks’ band, High Bandwidth, mostly is made up of former musicians who returned to the stage for fun.

Members of the bands come from various departments, levels and musical backgrounds.

They are planning an eclectic mix of cover songs from their members’ heydays, a range as wide as their ages — about late 20s to the early 50s — from the 1960s’ Ides of March and the Beatles to more contemporary Ben Folds Five and Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Lead singer Phil Zalewski, director of business development at Juniper Networks, a Herndon provider of secure Internet networks, said High Bandwidth’s early days, when some members were trying to relearn instruments that had been collecting dust in the attic, has benefits in the workplace.

“You let your guard down, you have to,” he said. “Back into the work environment, you know your colleagues really, really well. It makes business interactions more expedient.”

When Direct Connectors took the stage at one of its latest venues, the company cafeteria, the music provided a change of pace for co-workers, Mr. McLaughlin said.

“It brings an entertainment value where you’re not supposed to be entertained. In the end, that’s good. … When people are happy at work, they’re better at their jobs,” he said.

Both Nextel and Juniper officials recognize the value of good tunes and happy employees. Juniper put together posters and T-shirts for the contest. Nextel covered the band’s costs and provided practice space.

Direct Connectors has been practicing weekly for six months. High Bandwidth’s travel schedules allow them to practice a few times per month. Both have been practicing more often as the competition nears.

The Battle of the Corporate Bands, which raises funds for music education, was inspired by a Fortune article. The first competition hosted 10 bands in 2001, Mr. Meyer said.

The contest has grown to 40. Eighteen made the cut — judged by a three-song demo tape — to perform at three regional competitions. The top seven — two at each regional and a wild card — will go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and compete with an eighth band from a similar competition in Australia.

“More and more research shows the value of music and relieving stress,” said Mr. Meyer of the growing popularity of corporate bands.

But he joked that the musicians shouldn’t quit their day jobs.

“They’re not making careers out of this and not signing record deals.”