Corporate Events Plus

In over 25 years we have had such a great relationship with our clients and not only been rewarded with great work ,we have been paid for our work.

But when you are spending month after month chasing some finance department in a company in another country to pay for work agreed you can see why people spend alot of time on arranging contracts before turning a wheel. In live events there is a deadline – things need to happen and often quickly.

A note to self, do not take requests at face value have faith in your experience and look at the warning signs. Leave projects when your gut tells you to, do not stay engaged with a project just because it is a big brand name and those in charge are spinning a hopeful yarn.

On a positive note, there are discussions in the pipeline for another project we successfully completed and were paid for at Mobile World Congress. We are looking forward to seeing the new design for Barcelona 2025.

What a start to the year January into February the completion of the F1 Exhibition into Vienna and then straight onto Mobile World Congress in Barcelona working for HPE from February into March. So great to work with familiar faces again and back in Europe. Time for a good rest and a recharge of the batteries before heading onto the next adventure

We have just completed the Technical build of the F1 Exhibition in Vienna – on site for the whole of January and into February good communication on site with 4pm Heads of departments meetings part of the success. Sometimes there is no substitute for many hands to make light work when large scenery plinths need to be positioned.

1st day of the month and we are on our way to Austria

I am really looking forward to the next 5 weeks on site delivering the Exhibition build for F1 Exhibition Vienna. This is the second country the Exhibition is visiting until the summer when it moves onto the next location

Winter clothing packed – gloves, hats and a smile

Great to step off the work hamster wheel for the festive break – some quiet time to focus on the forthcoming projects abroad without the distraction of zoom, Google chat, slack huddles and the like.

Interesting, I have been to 2 meetings with clients and suppliers recently where we have been physically drawing alterations on a plan when we have been gathered around a table face to face.

In this busy world of back to back conference calls to be able to meet in person occasionally brings a slight relief to the toil of Zoom, Teams, Skype and Google Meet meetings.

Next month we start a build in Vienna – I had better pack a proper coat – it is forecast to be minus 6 in Austria, that will set the teeth chattering!

It has been a grumpy start to Autumn, I caught a nasty cold from a trip to Barcelona recently, I blame the budget airlines wedging people into small spaces in corridors waiting to load onto planes where passengers have barely left and a lack of cleanliness on the plane between flights.

Lockets the cough sweets have been my friend this October

Apart from helping crew on site with cut fingers / blisters / or fainting I have been lucky not to have to use my St John’s Ambulance first aid at work training until this month while travelling back from a site visit in Vienna airport.

Strolling through the terminal a young lady fell heavily in front of me and started to have a seizure, I was surprised that there were so many bystanders looking on but not actually helping.

I recognised the signals of the seizure, arching back, unresponsive, body shaking, I protected her head from the ground with my hand and made sure her airway was clear, for what seemed like an age but only a minute or so until she started to relax.

Luckily an airport staff worker called medical help while I placed the casualty into the recovery position and more airport workers brought a screen to give the young lady some privacy. A young man arrived who knew the lady and as she started to come to he took control and I left.

I am glad I was able to help, it would have been better if more people knew what to do – a day of your time to learn about some basic first aid can make a real difference to someone in need.

Seizure triggers

For many people with epilepsy, seizures seem to happen randomly.

But sometimes they can have a trigger, such as:

• stress
• a lack of sleep
• waking up
• drinking alcohol
• some medicines and illegal drugs
• in women, monthly

8 Months, where did that time go? – 7 weeks of initial build to technically deliver an Exhibition in Madrid earlier this year saw us return this month to derig – stillage and move the exhibition onto the next country.

Crew safely accessing cabling and audiovisual equipment from the truss using mobile work platforms.

There is always a great satisfaction in handing back a venue as good if not better than you found it. Mission accomplished.

The importance of team building throughout a project, this could be a meal together after meetings, a well deserved pint in a pub or a team activity linked to the subject you are working on or just something for fun. We went team building last week at a Formula 1 experience where we split into teams and raced cars on different tracks against each other on simulators that moved and vibrated. Although some drivers were just out of control, there were ‘dark horses’ who found an inner competitive streak. Always something to learn new about who you are working with or trying to build a working relationship with when you make the effort to attend and take part. For me, I really enjoyed being part of the overall team, we work hard together on the project so why not have some fun together, team building gets my vote.