Corporate Events Plus

We have been working in Amsterdam and Brussels this month.

Our project in Amsterdam involved breakout rooms, conference production and Exhibition build for the retail sector.

The location for this project was interesting though, a cruise ship passenger terminal. Not without limitations, due to large cruise ships still using the terminal we were not able to set up until 01.00am with 2 teams of crew working overnight to ensure all the technical equipment was installed in time for rehearsals.

The Passenger Terminal also has a lock down when ships arrive due to customs desks.

The space to use is great, we were able to use large-scale graphics to section off areas and had space for delegates to walk freely around the display tables.

The tiled floor surface meant we needed to use special pallet trucks with rubber tyres to move the equipment across the terminal. We used rubber cable ramps to avoid trip hazards for powering up the demonstration equipment.

Working in Barcelona on two different projects for Technology and Pharmaceutical sectors this month and on one event we came across a new voting method.

I must admit I was not in favour of the audience using their own mobile phone – but – set the ground rules and this is a successful method of involving the audience and being able to record your results in real time.

Poll Everywhere is a voting system, you register with the company, you gain access to a dedicated website, you prepare your own questions and invite the audience to join in with their responses via a text or by accessing the web page directly. Easy to use, worked first time for me from my phone via the website link.

www.polleverywhere.com

Ask a question

Use multiple choice questions to identify gaps in understanding, or kick off group discussions with a colorful word cloud.

Collect live responses

Invite the audience to respond simultaneously by visiting a website or texting a number on their phones.

See instant results

Responses appear in an animated graph or chart embedded in your presentation. Results update live for all to see.

You use a standard laptop and a switcher between the PowerPoint presentation machine and the laptop being used for the questions – the polling is being recorded live on screen and the audience can see in real time the results.

So, what are the ground rules?

Phones turned on but set to silent during the presentations

Text and access direct to the poll everywhere web link needed incase cell coverage is poor

A robust internet connection with available wifi connection in the conference room

Charging stations available at the side of the conference room to enable everyone to participate if their phone is low on battery

After 5 annual projects in Barcelona on Mobile World Congress Bodo our crew chief from our Berlin Supplier is hanging up his Hard Hat and off to pastures new to experience a new career. He will be so missed by our MWC family – Bodo has never failed to deliver his part of the project – keeping his team of men in line – big boots to fill for sure, but we have a year to plan. Good luck Bodo, although I can not help but smile at this photo – as Bodo looks on at Eamonn from Wonderworks dressing a space man prop next to a life size section of the ISS (International Space Station) we had on the booth this year , hahahahaha.

Maybe you were thinking – I have seen it all now !

Alberto and I will miss your input and steadying hand on this project Bodo, we wish you good luck in your next work life.

”the capacity to recover from difficulties”

Interesting conversations this week on site in Barcelona about resilience.

During a large scale build it is important key information is cascaded to all the contractors on site. Location of first aid points, muster point in the case of a building evacuation etc,

The conversation turned to resilience and what we had planned – not a specific line on a quotation in the build up to the project or infact a headline topic of conversation during our pre event production meetings.

However, what was clear was that we had built in resilience within our multitasking team and our own process of documentation during our usual pre event planning.

Maybe ‘resilience’ is another of those industry buzz words.

crew cups of tea – just like home

Sometimes a request is made onsite and the crew go over and above delivering a solution to please.

David from one of our suppliers responded to a request for an adaption of a radio headset to modify it from a two piece ear headset unit to a one piece headset by cutting and swapping plug ends with a hard wired comms system because the wireless system only came with 2 ear headsets, deft handiwork with the soldering iron and a modification from 5 wire to a 3 wire system meant the Producer was able to listen to the show comms and the live reaction of the audience wirelessly during the event.

I can not remember the last time we needed to get the soldering iron out on an event but we had one in the extensive tool kit we carry with us.

We also used some different narrower yellow jacket product to cover a necessary 32 amp 3 phase power cable supply on this wide screen event in Portugal.

Over the last 6 weeks we have been to venues where we are working in 2018. Portugal, Holland, Spain, and Ireland with visits to Antwerp in Belgium and Berlin in Germany for technical meetings with suppliers for those events. Not only do we go to the preferred venue but sometimes visit other potential venues for evening events to be held by our customers or check out venues that could give an interesting dynamic for a future event.

I was really impressed recently with the restoration work completed at the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, the courtyard ceiling structure with it’s integral LED lighting was stunning.

Attending production meetings in Soho in London I get to walk through town and the Christmas lights in Carnaby street are fun this year

Moiré effect is a visual perception that occurs when viewing a set of lines or dots that is superimposed on another set of lines or dots, where the sets differ in relative size, angle, or spacing.

It is a bit like a shimmering effect.

This is one of those ‘marmite’ moments where the customer might like the effect created by having a double sided cemi see through treatment to a room division or could in fact prefer a crisper single see though option.

The benefit of course in trying this out in advance is that the recordings of images and video can help sign off design aspects of the project without the worry of having to adapt once on site.

During builds on site time is money especially when you are looking at potential runs of 10’s of meters of material, we simply do not have the time on site to ‘play’ with the look and feel.

Putting the effort in now – 4 months in advance of the project build we are gladly planning ahead.

We also found that with our chosen material for the preferred density of see through properties that once lit creases in the printed material were very prominent where the material had been rolled back up for transportation. We tested a steam iron which removed the creases. The scale we will be using the product with in February next year is vast so we will need to ensure we have some industrial sized steamers to deliver the finished surface we want on site.

At the end of a project a sigh of relief for some but for others this is a very important part of their role on site. Drivers are responsible for safe loading sometimes with the use of fork lift trucks and the careful securing of assets particularly if they are to be used again.

We have also been using our own transport at Sandown Park

Phew – sat in the office tidying up the post event paperwork for the last few back to back events. Work in Cologne Germany, Barcelona Spain and Esher in Surrey has seen us on site at the Coalface for the last 2 months. Delivering Exhibition booth builds and live event management for Envy Create, Ivory Worldwide and Unum. Meetings for future work in the diary for confined projects next year – This afternoons task is to get the 2018 Wall planner up to date, work already booked in for 7 months next year and a project for 2019 already – this is quite unusual at this time of the year but does mean we are able to invest and plan our time more effectively I am not complaining.

This month we have been working on our outdoor event work, offering the ability to prepare the overlay of outdoor events with the purchase of some new equipment for preparing event car parking & access to out door events.

ENTRY/EXIT – CAR PARKS/VEHICLES

Arrange separate vehicle and pedestrian entrances/exits to the site.

Arrange entrance queues so they do not obstruct vehicle access or road junctions.

Make sure the entrance/exits are suitable for prams, pushchairs and wheelchairs.

Ensure the entrance/exits are appropriately signed.

Make sure the entrance is well stewarded and an accurate form of counting used to prevent over crowding.

Outdoors, provide at least two pedestrian exits from the site.

Exits should be not less than 1.2m in clear width, spaced well apart around the site and clearly signposted. The exits must be kept free from obstructions and well lit if the event is likely to last after dusk.

Keep car parking well away from the pedestrian areas of the site. The parking area should be clearly signposted and do not permit vehicles to park anywhere else.

Provide stewards (with torches if necessary) for the car parking areas.

If the area to be used for car parking is a field or similar, ensure the grass/hay/straw is cut and removed the day before the event.

Except for emergency purposes, ensure no vehicle movement in the public areas of the site during the event or as the public are leaving.

Parking areas (As advised by the Health and Safety Executive)

• be clearly signposted;
• be firm;
• be level;
• be well drained;
• not be slippery;
• be well lit (if possible); and
• be as close as possible to where people need to go when they leave their vehicles (for example, refreshment facilities for visiting drivers).

Over the course of a year alot can happen,

Items put into storage can be miss placed, broken without being informed or damaged by accident – on checking the inventory list for a repeat project I found the Welcome desk that left site carefully wrapped last year to be looking decidedly second hand!

The first touch point for the customer is so important when arriving at an event

We have 2 weeks to make a new one – much better to find out now than in 2 weeks time – it is all too easy to trust to luck but always worth crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s to maintain the standards we work to.