And so Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona comes to a close, 200 attending countries, tens of thousands of delegates over a 4 day period, 1,700 Exhibiting companies over 94,000 net sqm of exhibition space. The 40 strong team Read More
Technically directing the build of a two tier exhibition stand at the World’s largest Mobile phone congress is very interesting. Companies from all across Europe are constructing incredible structures from Steel and Glass. There are many English companies building stands. As a country we are still recognised as leaders in our field. However, on this project we are working with a local stand builder in Barcelona and we are enjoying the experience.
Ian and Alberto checking progress on the first floor of the latest build project at MWC in Barcelona
A saunter through the 8 Halls on the way back to the hotel at the end each day enables a keen eye to pick up tips for the future although photos are not allowed which is fair enough.
The venue here in Barcelona have embraced recycling of the natural waste associated with packaging items brought to the stands and there are Safety officers patrolling the halls to ensure contractors are adhering to ‘hot works’ (working with welding or grinding equipment) also enforcing working at height regulations. There are literally hundreds of contractors on site, in our hall it is a sea of hi viz and coloured hard hats.
Pre Production Coalface
This has been a full on month of pre event planning.
If only the end customer could see the effort that goes into the technical pre – production of any live event or exhibition stand build. A myriad of supplier and client expectations to juggle. Sometimes it can be as simple as choosing a carpet or wooden floor surface finish but there are more difficult elements to nail down such as local planning and building regulations when using steel supports or when building at height, even more so when constructing abroad.
A technical recce to Fira Gran Via Barcelona for a project next month – for 4 days next month this space will be filled with thousands of delegates at Mobile World Congress 2013.
Handy note …….when was the last time you backed up your computer files?
Merry Christmas to one and all, a busy end to the year and a full order book to look forward to for January, February and March with Retail, Financial and Telecoms projects. 2013 is going to be starting with a bang !
We took our annual break during December and managed to fit in a familiarisation trip by Helicopter to view the island venues of Antigua. What a tonic to see some sun and to feel the warm air half way through the English winter.
Antigua from the air
3D or not 3D
Interesting demonstration Read More
Fantastic, another event confirmed for 2013
‘’who is superstitious about next year?’’ Read More
Appreciation
Our time on the Olympics and Paralympics projects has come to a close.
As the Overlay started to Read More
Another Month another Transport Hub
Well into a 2 week build we are about to go live Read More
Overlay – ‘3 weeks ago this was once a green field’
Now there is nearly 3,000 sqm of temporary roadways, parking areas, pedestrian flooring and drop off points for accessible shuttles, buses and cars, on this event the spectator may not even know this type of work exists. Read More
Sections of the event industry we have been working in are Conference Production, Live Events, Exhibition and over the last few years Experiential. On large scale public events there is the event itself, be it Athletics, Football, State Occasions, Formula 1 or Horse racing as examples of the draw for thousands of spectators or delegates.
Behind the scenes there is a machine at work Producing the Overlay at these events, a specialist team of professionals drawn together to deliver a seamless experience for those attending.
Transport ingress and egress, temporary roadway solutions in areas to cope with traffic flows, Structures of welfare for shelter, food and toilets, cueing systems, pedestrian screen areas, security and hostile vehicle management due to terrorist threats. Health and Safety, Sustainability programs to ensure recycling and security for asset protection.
All of these elements are overlaid onto the host event or project. The Olympics project is a unique project for any host Country, it is also a fantastic opportunity to learn new ways of working and is pushing our industry forward through the experience.