Hallelujah Takes Flight In Welland, Ontario’s Seaway Mall – When Viral Came to Town

By Vickie Fagan

My company recently produced a video for Alphabet Photography. It was a flash mob video featuring 100 choir members from Chorus Niagara belting out the Halleluiah chorus in the middle of a food court in Welland, Ontario.  You may have heard of it- it has gone viral.

How does a video go viral? Well, Alphabet Photography had a great concept, they hired a fabulous local choir to execute it, made sure it was properly produced to capture the sound and visuals in a way to engage the viewer and chose an unassuming mall in one of Canada’s underdog towns. When the economy went south, Welland was in the front seat of the bus.  Up until now, Welland has been most recognized as a town with a burgeoning unemployment rate and a canal.

When Fagan Media Group was contacted to produce this video, I’ll admit, I was a little concerned. This would need at least 5 cameras and an audio technician. The kicker being none of the cameras could be in view until the event unfolded. Being a live event, there was no way to guarantee that this would work.
 
We gathered at the mall at 6am on a Saturday morning in November for our one and only run through with the choir.  As I huddled with my camera crew and plotted strategies, I was stopped in my tracks by the first note of the Halleluiah Chorus. The choir was warming up their pipes and I tell you, even at 7:24 am, it was beautiful. This isn’t going to be half bad, I thought as we strapped a camera to a forklift for an overhead shot.
 
We began scoping out our spots around 11:20, exchanging ever so subtle eye contact with co-conspirators in a Get Smart kind of way. The camera crew had their detail lined out. I was to film the second soloist and then hustle my butt into the crowd to get reaction shots. Once the whole thing began and the gig was up, the cameras were free to roam openly but it was the crucial first minute that had me tied up in knots. I started pre-selecting interesting looking bystanders while praying they wouldn’t finish their New York Fries before noon.

The actual event was a blur. My ears told me something spectacular was in motion, but I was so engrossed in the immediate details that I really didn’t have a sense of the big picture. Afterwards we sat in a van in the parking lot looking like a b-movie sting operation and transferred the footage and audio from the various sources onto one computer, packed our gear and headed off. The pressure was now on to get this little baby edited and posted before 100 other amateur videos hit you tube.
 
Less than 24 hours later, as suspected, there was an amateur version on you tube.  The pressure was on and we worked like mad to wade through 5 camera angles to have it posted within a few days. The amateur video had caught some attention but nothing overwhelming, it was vastly different than the finished product with good audio and a range of camera shots that gave the essence of the feeling in the food court.  The client posted the video and we all sat back and waited.

I was gob-smacked when the video hit 11,000, thinking “Well, shut my mouth, this actually worked!”

As it steadily climbed, the whole thing started to feel surreal.  At 500,000, I started to giggle as I wandered the aisles of the Superstore. When it hit the one million mark, I took some bubbly into the client to congratulate them on a great job. The little flash mob from Seaway Mall had gone viral. The people of Welland seemed to brim over with civic pride that in turn spilled through the rest of the Niagara region. Canada AM did a live show from Seaway Mall, coining it “The Most Famous Mall in the World.”

Chorus Niagara became an overnight sensation. The world had fallen in love with the little choir from Niagara and their first show since the viral explosion was not only sold out but had people bursting at the seams with seating added in the foyer.

Quickly the numbers were jumping by a million a day and Alphabet Photography and Chorus Niagara were on a media tour that would make Madonna beg for mercy including hits on CNN, The View and Good Morning America to name a few.
 
I drank my coffee in the morning knowing I was viral. I paid my parking ticket safe in the knowledge that I was viral. My friends knew I was viral and were virally sharing it with others. 18 million people have watched this video and I still leave my house with no idea who they are.  I find myself staring at strangers and wondering if they know. Do I look different? Is there a viral glow?

The thing about viral is you can’t buy it. You can wish for it, you can plan for it; you can throw it out there but viral marches to its own tune.  Viral ebbs and flows thorough computers around the globe, sometimes stopping in Albany and other times packing for a world tour.
As the New Year approaches, I know that viral will slip through my hands and attach itself to its next obsession.  I’m no fool.

Viral is here for a good time, not a long time.  Like a holiday romance, it has left an afterglow but I know the rules.  Will it change my financial profile?  Who knows- so far the phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook but don’t think this won’t be my lead story in every meeting I have for the next 15 years.

Viral came to town, swept up a community, twirled it around, kissed it on the head and gently put it back where it belongs.  Halleluiah!

Vickie Fagan is a resident of St.Catharines. She is the founder of Fagan Media Group which you can learn more about at  www.faganmediagroup.com

 (Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)