2 min read
There’s a light that never goes out
"Take me out tonight where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive."
March 2020. Italy is under a strict lockdown. It’s 10pm on a Friday, and 500 colleagues get together virtually to share an evening of music and hope. Under the banner ‘Songs That Saved Your Life’, they travel back to the eighties in the UK to learn more about the cultural scene of the time, marked by the sound of iconic bands like the Smiths.
The guy behind the initiative is Andrea Laurenza. Andrea heads up Deloitte Digital for Italy and North and South Europe. He’s also passionate about pop music and culture. A year ago, he kicked off a slightly unusual initiative to help his team connect with each other – a social club all about music and the stories surrounding it.
When COVID-19 hit the country, the CEO asked him to run a session for the entire business in Italy. Everyone loved it. And so every week during lockdown, Andrea continued hosting his musical evenings on Zoom, using pictures, songs and stories to transport people to a different dimension – even if for a few hours.
"Thanks for giving us beauty, positivity, joy, humanity. I’m dancing! Thanks for such a precious gift."
Hundreds of colleagues joined from their living rooms. But the best part of it all was the extended audience – the husbands, wives, kids and grandparents listening in too. The feedback has been fantastic. And a few months later, Andrea’s sessions are still going strong.
Listen to Andrea's playlist here:
Further reading
Humanity runs on coffee
We brewed up something new during lockdown – our very own Coffee Club, matching colleagues in the UK and beyond at random for a virtual coffee catch-up.
Gimme some (virtual) lovin’
Loneliness was a big issue for older people during the outbreak of the pandemic. This team in Belgium set up an initiative to help them stay in touch with loved ones.
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