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A FREE BMW? THANKS, BUT I'D PREFER A YAMAHA PIANO —Prizewinner Opts for C2 Grand Over Z3 Roadster— BUENA PARK, CA. (March 22, 2001)—When e-business consulting firm Javelin Solutions' project manager Doug Rohde discovered he'd won the company's first employee recruitment drawing for a BMW Z3, he was naturally ecstatic, but not because he'd be driving a hot new car. Rohde promptly traded in his car keys for 88 keys—on a Yamaha C2 Conservatory Grand Piano.
"I already had my heart set on the piano," says Rohde. "It's something I've always wanted." Javelin Solutions' innovative recruitment tool was created by the Minneapolis company's human resources department. The names of the first ten Javelin employees to attract a candidate who then became a billable employee were entered into the drawing for the BMW Z3 or the monetary equivalent of its two-year lease. After selecting the money option and purchasing the Yamaha C2, Rohde decided to share the wealth, and made a donation to the inner city Church of St. Stephen. "I believe that when something this extraordinary happens to you, you should be generous with it," he explains. Chad Johnson, vice president of business development for Javelin says, "Last year, our growth was so rapid that employees were hard to come by. We decided to 'up the ante' and draw attention to giving referrals to friends. This couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Doug had his love of music long before he enjoyed cars." In fact, Rohde started playing piano at age 10 and had been shopping for a new grand piano at the time of the October 2000 drawing. "The people at Metropolitan Piano Gallery in Edina, MN, especially Murray Lipsman and Jim Chenoweth, were great to deal with," he reports. "They put me at ease and I felt really comfortable, no pressure. I'd been looking at several pianos, but the C2 was perfect. I really liked its sound, and since I had just bought a house and was about to get married, the price was right, too." "There are Yamaha pianos all over town, and they have a good reputation with all the jazz players," says Rohde, who fronts his own jazz ensemble. He's played the Yamaha C7 at the famed Dakota Bar & Grill (autographed by such luminaries as McCoy Tyner and Kenny Barron), and the Yamaha C3 at Matt Zimmerman's Wild Sound recording studio. "Yamaha is a jazz lovers' piano," he concludes. "Many of the folks at Metropolitan are jazz piano players themselves, so I had an inherent trust in dealing with them. The dealership had a lot to do with my decision to get the C2."
© 2001 Yamaha
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