Not just any old token

NORFOLK

After Dave Chappelle performed at Chrysler Hall in the summer of 2006, staff from the venue presented the comedian with a token - a skateboard personalized by the Sole Brother skate shop in Norfolk. It read, "Dave Chappelle - Sold Out."

Chappelle, a bit of a hermit offstage, was thrilled.

"He had so much fun," says Ma'rie Hodges, public relations specialist for Seven Venues, which runs Chrysler. "He was skating all through the plaza, the garage. He was like a kid."

According to custom, staff at a venue usually presents its celebrity performers with a trinket after a show. At most places, this is a plaque, a paperweight or, since many performing venues also double as the home for a sports team, a jersey.

Norfolk's Chrysler Hall and Scope, however, take gift-giving to the next level. By poring through magazine articles and making furtive phone calls to artists' handlers, the marketing staff surprises a performer with a quirky, unique gift that's in line with a star's personality and interests.

"When Dave Chappelle got that skateboard, he went nuts," says Scott Warren, the event and booking manager at Chrysler Hall, who has been selecting gifts and playing Santa year-round since he came there two years ago.

"He said he would hang it in his barn in Ohio. You don't get that kind of response when you give a fruit basket."

Before Babyface performed at Chrysler Hall in December, Warren found out that the shy, soft-spoken singer-songwriter loves bowling. He had Jonathan Wooten of the Air Dynamics shop in Newport News adorn a bowling ball with one of Norfolk's mermaids.

"He was blown away," says Babyface's tour manager, Jimmy Johnson. "He'd never recieved anything like that from a show. He was very surprised and happy - it was a cool gift."

The staff also had Norfolk's mermaid, which is used whenever possible, airbrushed onto drum cymbals for Josh Groban. When the staff heard that country singer Sarah Evans was looking to do more songwriting, she received a leather bound journal. Rod Stewart liked his autographed poster of the 1967 Celtic Football Club so much that he didn't even want it shipped home - he demanded it stay with him on his tour bus.

Not only do the gifts jazz up jaded and jet-lagged artists, they're good for Norfolk, too.

"They are more likely to hold on to something personalized than they would a jersey," Hodges said, "and it makes the artist excited about coming back to Norfolk."

Music trade magazines such as Pollstar and Billboard regularly feature photos of artists posing with the swag they get from venues after a show. (A photo of someone receiving a personalized, airbrushed bowling ball would be more noticeable than a photo of someone receiving a paperweight.) "A picture of an artist with something like that can put Norfolk on the map in terms of touring," Hodges says.

The gifts usually cost less than $200, which proves it really is the thought that counts - even for famous people.

Now, Warren and his elves are sneaking peeks at the wish lists of artists who'll perform at Chrysler or Scope soon, including Jill Scott, Reba McEntire and Matchbox Twenty. Of course, what they'll give remains very hush-hush, but Warren is gathering clues.

"I know Reba has a house in Aspen, and there's this one restaurant that has these strawberries she likes."

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662, malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com