20th Anniversary Feature article by Andrew Begnoche`

I recently sat down with owners Harvey Edelman & Neil Fishman to discuss their 20th anniversary and the journey that brought them from the Great White Way to their ownership of an innovative audio marketing business.

Act 1
Although they both grew up in New Jersey, only a couple of towns and years apart, Neil Fishman & Harvey Edelman would have to wait until they were out of college before their paths would cross. “It was a mutual friend that brought us together to write an original theatrical musical in the mid 70’s,” Edelman recalls. “Little did we know at that time where it would all lead.”

After that musical was produced locally to promising reviews, their creative chemistry kept them working together as a songwriting team. Edelman worked the pen, while Fishman provided the melody. Before long the two were making beautiful music together, literally. They continued to collaborate on other projects including an off Broadway run of “On The Air”, a musical comedy based on the Golden Age of Radio. Continued success found them sipping champagne one night at Sardi’s as they celebrated what was going to be their biggest break, bringing Sidney Kingsley’s “Dead End” to Broadway. The title of that project became an ironic metaphor for a new road the project ultimately went down, when the rights to the original play (a prerequisite to open on Broadway) were retracted.

While writing and producing scripts and scores for musical theatre, the team began writing and producing marketing programs for a variety of clients including the national Head Start program, Parents Magazine, BMW, General Electric, Colgate Palmolive and Grey Advertising, to name a few.

“It was a very exciting time,” recalls Fishman. We were young, working in the city and we were part of this new digital music technology that was just starting to emerge in the early 80’s. We made a huge investment in a Synclavier, the first computer music instrument of its kind. We were one of a handful of people using this cutting edge technology, including the likes of Sting, Paul Simon, and Ashford & Simpson.”

As the years ticked away and the bright lights of Broadway seemed to be fading in the distance, a time came when a change of direction was in order. “It was right after my first child was born and my first mortgage payment was due that my mantra became, ‘We need a steady income,’" remembers Fishman.

Act 2
While working from a temporary sublet in a business office, they hit upon the idea of providing businesses with customized phone messages that would promote products and services to customers waiting on hold. The idea came to them when a friend walked into their office one day and mentioned he had just heard something new: a pre-recorded voice talking to him while he was waiting on hold on the phone.

“When we first started, we figured we’d write an original song for every client, to put a real branding stamp on everything,” Edelman recollects. “I can’t imagine if we were still doing that today with over 12,000 clients”. Fishman continues, “We quickly realized original music wasn’t necessary, and to market this service to as many businesses as possible, it had to be affordable. After all these years, it still yields a high impact for a small investment.”

They started the company as Promotions On Hold, but in March of 1988 they incorporated as On Hold Productions (later changed to Creative Audio Enterprises, Inc. doing business as HOLDCOM). After signing up their friends and family members, the two set their sights on new business. While still a fledgling operation, Fishman recalls being on hold in "dead silence" with New Jersey Transit for what seemed like an eternity. “I started thinking about how many other NJT callers were waiting on hold, and then started wondering about all the other companies that had customers waiting on hold. I knew this was going to be something that businesses AND callers were going to welcome. It was that frustrating "on hold" experience with NJT that set them in my sights as one of my primary prospect targets. And they are still using our services today!”

With Neil recording and mixing the programs, Harvey focused on the scripting. They both handled sales. “When we first started we didn’t have fax machines and email," remembers Edelman. "I would type a script, put it in an envelope, and mail it to the customer and wait for them to call several days later with their changes or approval. Technology has been very kind to us. We can now receive an order from another country, send the script to one of our voice talents completely on the other side of the world, have it recorded in a foreign language, and send it back to the customer...within the same day!”

Act 3
When asked what’s next for the team and if they miss their musical theater days, they share similar views. “I love music and composing," states Fishman, "but I’m really excited about the business that we’ve created. We have over 20 employees and thousands of clients and we provide a product and service that we all believe in. I couldn’t still be doing this if I didn’t enjoy and believe in it.” “Neil’s right," agrees Edelman. "After all this time we still come to work excited. We continue to find new and innovative ways to apply audio marketing, fulfill our customers' needs, and grow our business.”

Recently the pair worked on a new musical called “Nightlights” – based on the true story of a Montana town whose residents unite to fight ethnic and racial hatred. “It’s a very special story and I love the music we wrote for it,” comments Fishman. Thwarted again, however, due to creative differences with a third collaborator on the project, Edelman jokes, “I guess somebody up there just wants us to be in the Audio Marketing business.”

Epilogue: One of Holdcom's newest Message-On-Hold accounts is The Rogers & Hammerstein Organization! Go figure!

Have you ever wondered how the word “blog” originated? According to Wikipedia, the word “blog” is derived from two words… "web log”. After some creative letter spacing, the phrase “we blog” was created and then finally, the “blog” was born. Blogs are short write-ups on a particular subject and are a great way to reach a broader audience, by sharing information over the internet. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, political underdog, or neighborhood soccer mom, the blog is an effective tool in communicating thoughts and ideas and invites readers into an interactive forum. Recently, HOLDCOM created its own blog and we’ve enlisted the creative talents of our own team to fill the virtual volumes. With topics ranging from telecommuting, music, Message-On-Hold, and motherhood, the HOLDCOM blog has been active since May 2007.

In an effort to get our team involved, a truly unique incentive program was put into play. When a HOLDCOM team member submits a blog, they are invited to lunch or “blunch” as it was appropriately renamed. In addition to the “blunch”, our writers are entered into a raffle for special prizes. Oh and yes, we renamed the raffle as “blaffle”.

We invite all our newsletter readers to become blog readers. Grow your business and your mind. Benefit from our years of experience, wit, and wisdom.

Visit the HOLDCOM blog at holdcom.com/blog.