Steve Bryant – Thoughts on Success, Music and Media

In the late 1970’s into the 1980’s I was Creative Director for Corporate Media Communication, a major advertising and marketing company in Atlanta, Georgia. I view it as the best job I ever had, working for a man I call my mentor, Harry Hallman. Most things I know about sales and marketing I learned from Harry.

In the early 1980’s, we had a booth at the Meeting Planners International Show in Washington, D.C. Most of our clients and many prospective clients were there, including the City of Reno. I was walking by their booth one day and was struck by their slogan, “Reno Dares You.” It kept running through my mind as I continued to walk through the trade show.

After a few minutes, I couldn’t stand it. I went back to my hotel room, grabbed my guitar (I always travel with one) and wrote the song “Reno Dares You.” It took about 10 minutes to write. I was so excited that I ran back to the Reno Booth with my instrument and told the folks there to listen to the song. I played it in the booth and attracted quite a crowd. When I finished, everyone, especially the executives with the Reno/Sparks Convention Center, gave me a loud round of applause.

The head of the organization asked me how much I wanted for the song. I explained that was above my pay grade and had Harry come over to negotiate. He made a great deal and suddenly, we had written the official song for Reno, Nevada. They even had me play the song live at the booth that day.

My creative instincts have served me well all my life. Many people wouldn’t have gone into the Reno booth to play them a new song. I always figure the worst people could do is say, “No thanks,” and send me on my way. The song was a nice piece of business for our company and served as our introduction to a new client. I even did the scoring for the song, something I hadn’t done since college. Thank the Lord for Henry Mancini’s book, “Sights and Scores.”

The song was written and produced in the early 1980’s and has a very 80’s sound. It stands as a testimonial to creativity and taking chances in life. I hope you get the chance to experience the kind of thrill I got when the Reno folks loved and bought a song that took me 10 minutes to write.

At age 70, my creative skills are greater than ever. Imagine what I could do for your company. Here’s the song: