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| I walked over to shake hands with Hugh Jackman after the last Walmart meeting. LI was right behind me and did the same, saying a few words to the actor/singer. |
We made a point to be early to the Walmart Saturday Morning meeting for December. We already knew that Hugh Jackman (Les Miz, Wolverine) would be in the area stores and very likely at the meeting. He was the best host ever at the annual stockholders meeting last year.
We went to the Fitness Center, where a large room was set up for the meeting. Usually the meetins are divided among the Sam's Club and headquarters meeting rooms. The Walmart choir sang popular music and Christmas carols.
We were quite close to the stage, positioned stage left. Hugh Jackman was relaxed, friendly, charming. A four year-old girl walked up with her drawing and Hugh was delighted. His father was converted to Christianity at a Billy Graham rally and raised his children in the faith. Jackman told some family stories about his father's pride in his work as a performer.
Jackman made a point of his Christian faith when he introduced the solo he sang from the movie. Best of all, he invited the Walmart choir to join him in singing Gloria in Excelsis Deo, with the audience singing the words on the screen, at the close of the meeting.
We were very impressed with everything Jackman did, but the end of the meeting was special. Jackman (unlike any other celebrity in four years) stayed after the meeting was completely over. He walked over to the mother of the little girl and talked to her. He shook hands with the Walmart executives. I saw my chance and took it.
I power-walked to the center, not far away, and reached out to join the few who realized what was happening. Jackman graciously shook hands with me and then with Martin (LI for Little Ichabod).
That was our favorite - of all the meetings we have attended together in the last four years.
Sometimes I am a little jealous of my cohorts' glamorous travels. Then I realize, "In Northwest Arkansas, the entire world comes to us."
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| Walmart featured Duck Dynasty's star, Phil Robertson, at their meeting not long ago. He is the Duck Commander. |
I started writing up Walmart Saturday Morning Meetings when the toxic blogger from Fox Valley referred to this area as Podunk-Land.
Sandra Bullock came to the meeting a few days after winning the Academy Award. Almost every celebrity expresses shock that a company can get an energetic crowd together for a 7:30 AM meeting on Saturday.
Contrary to the A and E channel's myth-makers, they did not make Duck Dynasty famous. But lately they have made the star even more famous, the star of every news show all day long.
Long ago, Phil Robertson began marketing his duck calls to Walmart by driving from store to store, on his own. That was off-spec for corporate marketing, so they had to write an official letter making him a vendor to Walmart.
Phil gave up a contract in professional football to keep on duck hunting, but he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. As they say around here, "He ain't no dummy."
As everyone knows by now, Phil is very popular for expressing old fashioned American values in the midst of public media besotted with pro-abortion gay activism and anti-Christian rants.
The Walmart audience is drawn from all over. They are the executives who run marketing, legal, computers, personnel, real estate, and store management. They loved Robertson several months ago, without any special news story.
I read today that Walmart sold out of every bit of Duck Dynasty goods. That happens with hurricanes and tornadoes, but not with news stories.