Corporate Events Plus

A show case by DB Pixelhouse, Aztec and Gravit8 at Farnborough Exhibition Centre this week.

It is alway worth keeping up with technology and to see what other companies are using for display solutions.

Curved LED convex and concave solutions

A good idea was a Pod Cast studio built in B-matrix with acoustic audio panels internally – could this be an attraction on an exhibition booth for Vlogers & Podsters to share launch content live from the booth?

The latest LED panels have a smooth almost laminate surface which will reduce panel misalignment.

Another project completed in Barcelona, working with teams in the Fira on Mobile World Congress 2026

That is 14 years on the trot apart from the event I did not work on after Covid and many of the suppliers have been part of the success of the project over that time.

Our rigging and lighting team consisted of 5 lady riggers and the booth constructor headed up by another fine young women Anais.

It’s good to work with new people too, different ideas and different approaches to problem solving, a really enjoyable project to be involved with.

We are entering into a busy first quarter of work with the build of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona looming and a site visit in Copenhagen for an event in May at the Bella Centre.

Interesting venue and one where the natural daylight will be a key factor in choosing the type of projection or LED display technology due to the glass nature of the building.

‘’A holiday or form of recreation that involves doing the same thing that one does at work; the term is recorded from the late 19th century, when excursions by bus were a popular form of holiday.’’

Our work has included many exhibitions since the pandemic and in past years the event of Retromobile at The Porte De Versailles in Paris has clashed with the pre event planning and on site work of Mobile World Congress.

This year however I have been able to squeeze in time off for good behaviour so they say and get to go over to Paris to see how the French produce exhibitions.

It is a perfect opportunity to experience the visit as a delegate  –  from what I hear the exhibition is substantial so it will be a good fact finding mission to see if there are future work opportunities.

This week we have been in Barcelona with suppliers, testing demo build equipment and light fittings for high lighting messaging.

In 2 weeks time we are off to Copenhagen to look at work in another exhibition Centre The Bella Centre so we are having a true dose of a European experience to kick off 2026.

Where have the Creative Conference Producers gone, are there many left?

Chatting with suppliers about past work – reminiscing of days gone by and events toiled over brought up an interesting point for discussion.

Events I am seeing now are just not as creative in terms of event environment and stageset build and the way the presentation content is expressed.

Budgets being reduced does not help – the client driving the project with limited experience or event producers who have not experienced the heady days of audio visual and business theatre with roll plays, actors or ‘Son et Lumière’ (French phase meaning sound and light)

‘You only know what you know’

In this day of ‘digital media’ the information is given – but is the event memorable?

Does the delegate leave the event having a memorable experience?

Some ‘big news’ messages are spun out via the internet / intranet whereas in the past the importance of the information would have been done face to face. Are the management who are giving the information now hiding behind the screen?

So many live event projects now feature a large LED surface and once the image has been shown – it is gone but is it remembered? I must admit I am looking back with fond memories of projects past, actors working with scriptwriters, producers creating environments with set designers and the guest presenters we have worked alongside, dramatic scenery builds and large scale projected images that stunned an audience in a theatre style environment. Is my own creativity waning with the acceptance of the focus being a digital image?

It is bothering me this digital phase of presentation and events. Maybe the new year will bring new presentation styles and engaging projects. Fingers crossed.

This month saw the culmination of afew months preparation for an event in London for 1,000 delegates. It was good to do some conferencing again and listen to guest speakers. I don’t think I have seen so many doughnuts on one serving tray and the mirror girl dancers were something different too.

A project in November has seen the usual pre production calls, teams meetings, google chat etc but you just can not beat face to face meetings with suppliers.

The conversations develop when lighting and staging share a surface – how will the Digital flex LED fit to the graphic on the stageset? what additional construction is required behind the scenes to enable a seamless line?

There are different solutions but if the solution is agreed before arriving on site time on the build is not loss with discussions around which way is best to achieve the same result.

Build time on site is at a premium, there are rehearsals to bare in mind – presenters need to polish up their delivery or presentations ahead of their moment to deliver that important message.

Another meeting to check on audio visual requirements at Pixl I was lucky to see some new curved LED product by Absen on demo in the warehouse, their Saturn-C flexible LED. The corner joints minimal on their edge to edge joining too.

Being competitive is different from buying work.

Buying your work is not sustainable – some would say if you compete in that race it is a race to the bottom.

We have seen this before – the end client awarding business on cost not quality of delivery of the project. But 5 events recently have been lost by 3 London agency’s we work with and by ourselves by not being cheep enough even though we have been delivering successful past events.

This month has seen us meeting at venues for future work and getting our ducks in a row for projects in November, February and March next year. Next month we will be back in Barcelona having supplier meetings for projects next year, really looking forward to that I can almost taste the Paella.

So valuable to be able to meet face to face as we did at a meeting in London recently, even if the meeting was in a public area – having been struggling to get a decision on budget confirmation for a particular design we were able to have a quick and frank conversation about build lead times and booking crew in advance whilst sat around a table. It is much easier to collaborate to come to a confirmation face to face.

I was at Gardeners World Autumn Fair event today – the overlay was well managed, the parking, the signage and the trackway way was constructed of a plastic – it seemed to be plenty robust enough for the traffic using it.

Every 3 years we update our learning for Emergency First aid at work. With so many crew on site on projects it is important we are able to help in an emergency.

Each time we attend the course there are updates to the ‘rules’ that have been set in the past and to keep abreast of the changes is key to being not only compliant but being useful.

This time you are alowed to have Asprin in the First Aid kit, luke warm water is best to use on scolds not cold water. And it was good to be reminded of Toxic Shock for example a rigger who might fall in his harness and be caught dangling for a while – how important it is to still go to A&E to get checked out.

In this heat wave we could all think of a different place to be than a classroom but if it helps save a life I am all for the short term discomfort.

This year the EpiPen has been added to the course instruction as well as the defibrillator, It’s not just a case of stabbing a patient in the leg, it is important to make a fist around the pen before administering incase you have the pen upside down – you don’t get an unwanted needle through your thumb! and you need to hold the pen in place for 10 seconds while the adrenalin is finding it’s way into the blood stream.

The live assessment’s of bandages for bleeds and the CPR continuous for 2 minutes with 30 chest compressions and 2 breaths had us all warmed up ! how to deal with choking another valuable learning.