Corporate Events Plus

Barcelona, First Aid and a fond farewell

This month has been and gone in a flash

Starting off with a project in Barcelona for a technology company we helped to create multiple breakout rooms with displays and life scene settings, I was glad to hand back the keys to all the breakout rooms, we have been so used to using electronic swipe cards in more modern venues it seemed odd using so many actual keys like a jailer at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya.

Back in the UK I met up with Chris Howard from CH Drawings, Chris has been creating our CAD drawings since the start of Corporate Events Plus some 20 years ago, before then I worked with Chris at previous companies, over 25 years we have been working together.

Initially the plans were drawn up on tracing paper ‘skins’ and then if I wanted copies of the plans to take to site I had to go to a dieline copy house, the smell of ammonia from the paper was never a pleasant experience.

Chris was quick with the pencil and the corrections and moved onto CAD (Computer Aided drawing) when it first came out creating icons and templates as the technology evolved, he has now retired from the industry and has handed his business over to a protégé Richard who we look forward to working with.

Fishing, music, gardening and grandchildren will keep Chris on the go so I am not sure he is going to be idle, I may even miss his moaning on the phone – ‘’ you want it when?’ , ‘no I have not drawn up that venue before’ , ‘who took these dimensions?’ etc etc – , good luck Chris we will miss you for sure.

FIRST AID AT WORK with St John’s Ambulance.

I have passed the Emergency First Aid at work course, very important, worthwhile and now updated. Each time we learn something else as techniques are adjusted for First Aid care. Make the time to go and do the course you could save someone else’s life if not your own !

One learning was about your mobile phone, if you press the home screen you see in the bottom left corner you see the word ‘Emergency’

Press on the word emergency and it will take you through to another screen, you can make an emergency call on the phone even if the phone is locked.

In the bottom left hand corner there is another word in red – Medical ID –

press on this word and if the owner of the phone has filled in their medical details the emergency services can see important information such as blood group and any allergy’s listed.

May has also not been all work but some play

Luckily one of our suppliers JMT Furniture have the contracts for supplying furniture for the Formula 1 and the Moto GP, they invited us to view their furniture during the Barcelona Formula 1 Grand Prix, brilliant. It was great to see Lewis Hamilton in action and his car on the track, particularly as only a couple of months ago we were displaying his show car on an exhibition stand.

2 projects this month in De Hague, the first a software conference for 1,800 in The World Forum with webcasting, live cameras and multiple LED flown and ground supported video screens using the Watchout system followed by a day of multiple breakout sessions.

And an evening gala dinner at The Van Nelle UNESCO World Heritage site in Rotterdam for 1,600 people including live entertainment with multiple video relay screens for camera and slide content.

We stayed in an IBIS hotel in the centre of De Hague, I would recommend staying here if you needed accommodation in the town, the rooms were comfortable and the bar area and staff welcoming, great to be able to share a beer after a day at the coalface.

Flying a formula 1 car !

This months challenging high light was flying Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 show car onto a vertical wall.

The Formula 1 car used as an attractor to increase footfall on an exhibition booth at Mobile World Congress 2019.

Mounting on site metal spigots that were designed in Berlin onto a fixed metal base plate pre installed on the car in England and then slotting the spigots into precision recessed metal brackets onto a Spanish steel supporting wall structure – finishing with the car on an angle having turned the car through 90 degrees in the process.

A true team effort for the rig and the derig ensured there was no damage to the valuable display item.

In fact this was not the only lifting on this project, a container was lifted off a truck and then when loaded a larger crane was used to lift the heavy container of equipment onto another lorry for returning to Las Vagus for another project.

A different approach this year and some new members on the team, what to do to try and bring everyone together on site.

This year I had some branded Tea mugs printed for the Heads of Departments on a project in Barcelona, with crew from Berlin, Barcelona, London and Majorca apart from our collective will to deliver an event together to help bond our team on site there is nothing quite like sharing a cup of tea or coffee.

Only improved if biscuits are supplied too.

The project is going well – with a 2 week build we are half way through now.

Personal Tea mugs on site

Banksman being used while there is working at height.

Truss flown to final position ready for safety’s to be attached by the riggers.

AED (Automated External Defibrillator)

Good link for how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) from St John Ambulance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFvL7wTFzl0

In England we are seeing AED units being placed in public places, by village stores or in redundant public telephone boxes.

Working in 2 different venues in Spain recently I came across 1 unit in a hotel reception and another unit in the loading area at the back of an Auditorium.

I was also asked by a client if the venue had an AED – that is the first time I have been asked if I knew if the venue had an available unit. It makes sense to know, particularly with larger audiences, I guess the risk of someone becoming ill increases.

Another mental note to make for future events

Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs)

Recently on a recce in Madrid I came across 2 items of access equipment supplied by the venue. What a stroke of luck to have these items ready to be used on site. No need to hire them in and they are free to use within the venue hire as long as the operator is qualified. This made me think it may be of general interest for the blog – not everyone understands when you should be using mobile elevated platforms or ladders or scaffolding. So before work starts on the task to be performed there are some additional questions to bare in mind.

If you are thinking of using a MEWP, consider the following questions:

• Height – How high is the job from the ground?
• Application – Do you have the appropriate MEWP for the job? (If you’re not sure, check with the hirer or manufacturer)
• Conditions – What are the ground conditions like? Is there a risk of the MEWP becoming unstable or overturning?
• Operators – Are the people using the MEWP trained, competent and fit to do so?
• Obstructions – Could the MEWP be caught on any protruding features or overhead hazards, eg steelwork, tree branches or power lines?
• Traffic – Is there passing traffic and, if so, what do you need to do to prevent collisions?
• Restraint – Do you need to use either work restraint (to prevent people climbing out of the MEWP) or a fall arrest system (which will stop a person hitting the ground if they fall out)? Allowing people to climb out of the basket is not normally recommended – do you need to do this as part of the job?
• Checks – Has the MEWP been examined, inspected and maintained as required by the manufacturer’s instructions and have daily checks been carried out?

Images of platforms we have been using this year during builds.

Time spent levelling a false floor on an exhibition booth will pay dividends later.

Why?

If the floor is not level you will struggle to align panels, signage, audio visual screens, infact you would spend more time trying to make something look straight if you are not working from a true base.

We use a laser to project a beam across the booth floor surface and by using a measuring pole we can see if the floor has any high spots by reading off the scale on the side of the pole. We then use a tool to adjust the feet beneath the false floor surface, it sounds simple but depending on the venue floor this can take a little while. But it is still worth doing, after all if you do not put in the ground work at any point of a project you may have problems later on.

Here we are measuring the floor of one of the booths we recently completed in Barcelona. With the laser you can work right across the whole floor from one datum point.

What will Brexit bring?

I have already seen some resentment from the boarder guards in France and in Holland on recent recces for work in the European Union next year when asking if they will stamp my passport – ‘’maybe after the Brexit’’ the common reply.

It is only natural I think when someone wants to leave a group for the group to feel let down.

There is so much uncertainty for the whole country, how will it affect us when Britain leaves the EU?

Will we appear more expensive to our existing and potential customers? Will we be discounted from being invited to tender for business due to our VAT charges?

Will we be subject at boarder crossings to lengthy bureaucratic red tape?

All uncertainty.

The last ten years of business have been tough, the high streets are suffering too with recent main retailers reducing the number of stores in major towns, household names like M&S and Debenhams.

The clocks have changed – darker early evenings.

However – you can be negative but the antidote is to be positive.

We have 2 projects in Barcelona in November and we have projects in Madrid, De Hague and another 2 projects in Barcelona next year to look forward to.

One way or another we are on a journey – being positive and open to new opportunities is the best policy to continue our success.

2 more projects in Barcelona before the end of the year and 5 projects confirmed for next year in Madrid, Barcelona, Cologne, De Hague and Sandown Park. Mainly European work, I wonder what the Brexit outcome will bring for us in the future. So much of our work is abroad in Europe, 95% of our projects infact.

This month we have been to one of the venues we are using next year, It is a Tobacco factory near Rotterdam. Built decades ago but to copy an American car factory that had many windows so workers had a view of daylight to help increase productivity. Once a Tobacco factory this event space is certainly different for a Gala dinner for nearly 2,000 delegates. It still has an aroma of tobacco about it too. I do like working abroad and had the opportunity to visit De Hague where the Conference element of this project will be held, nice atmosphere in the town.

New suppliers and a new build – there is always some anticipation working with new teams especially on a time sensitive project. Adjusting the build sequence on site to keep teams working and not hold up others is a juggling act we thrive on. Great to see Ingmar again from one of our local lighting suppliers, who is clearly pleased with the effect of the architectural lounge lamps we have chosen to make the lounge more intimate. Heinz our resident Security guard a pleasure to work with as usual.

Our booth builders this year were from many countries, France, Germany, Poland, Belize, Czech Republic, America and Slovenia, a real mixed bunch of guys and gals.