Corporate Events Plus

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.

We really have not stopped all year. Finishing off our project in London in the first week of July we spent a couple of weeks catching up with ourselves after delivering so many projects in succession. Just as we are getting used to a routine at home we are now into a couple of weeks of pre production before heading out to Germany to build a business centre for XBOX.

Always a pleasure to work in Cologne although this year – new suppliers – not so familiar faces – not quite re-inventing the wheel but not a project that will be as familiar as past years. Let’s hope the new suppliers on the project exceed our expectations :)

A photo from the derig on the Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee project earlier this month with Paul Hutton the project lead at ExCel London.

Amazing,

18,000 worshipers for the Diamond Jubilee visit of the Aga Khan in London.

We were engaged to Technically Direct the project co-ordinating Venue, Audio Visual suppliers, and exhibition contractors. A busy month of production planning meetings to aligning Design, Lighting, Staging, Video, Audio and logistics departments followed by delivering what we said we would do when we said we would do it.

We are very proud to have delivered another successful event on this scale.

These type of projects we thrive on.

Some images of the scale of the event

Conference / Awards / Exhibition / Roadshow

This month we have been involved with four different aspects of live events.

Varied work too, a technology exhibition in Paris with a Space Station Prop to enhance a technology project.

And during the same week a project in Dublin for Conference presentations with double 12metre wide LED screens that included a guest presentation by the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Followed by 7 breakout meetings and an awards Gala dinner including a ‘Riverdance’ cast for the entertainment of 1200 people

Also a small technology Roadshow in Milan and then Portugal continuing on from last months roadshow dates.

Interesting work, the bank holiday will be our break and then we are into some heavy pre production for an Event in London at the end of June – A project for an audience of 18,000 – really looking forward to getting our teeth into this one on the horizon.

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