Awards night and gala dinners aren't typically the types of events that need an event app. However, when you think about the purpose of an event app, helping you share information about your event with attendees instantly and conveniently, you can see how one could make your life and the event planning and management process much easier. That's why we've launched Event Briefcase - an easy-to-use, easy-to-navigate event app which puts all event information at your attendees’ fingertips such as the agenda, sponsorship information, location information and so much more. Our app is a must-have feature for any gala dinner or awards night and all of our AV service clients can use our app for their event at no charge when they use Staging Connections exclusively for their AV services. Here are 10 ways Event Briefcase will make your gala dinner or awards night experience even better. 1. Upload the seating charts and floor plans Feature: Download Documents With our free event app, you can upload the floor plan and seating chart for your gala dinner or awards night so that your guests know where they will be seated ahead of the event and who they will be seated with. As your guests arrive, you’ll be able to get them seated quickly and you’ll be able to get your event started on schedule. 2. Upload your gala dinner or awards night agenda Feature: Agenda Upload the agenda or schedule for your awards night or gala dinner so all your guests know the plan for the evening. For awards nights, this piece of information is helpful in making sure they don't miss the award presentations or speakers they're most looking forward to. Aside from communicating the schedule for the evening, it is also a great way of saving on printing costs, and it also gives you the luxury to update and change it if needed! If you do end up changing it, you can take advantage of the Bulletin feature and blast out a message to all attendees there has been a change to the schedule. 3. Save printing costs by uploading award categories, finalist lists, judging guidelines and more Feature: Downloads With every event, there are leaflets and other handouts that cost a lot of money to produce, are wasteful and hard on the environment and usually get lost or discarded by the attendees of your event. With our event planning app, you can share any important information that you’d usually share via hardcopy handout. For your gala dinner or awards night, you might think to include a list of nominees and finalists, information about each category of awards, how the winner of each award will be chosen, a list of silent auction items and anything else you might think pertinent to your event. 4. Include important information on your MC, presenters, and performers Feature: Speaker Information Using our event app is a good way to share with your attendees the key figures of your event. You can let your guests know who will be MC at your gala dinner or award show. You can also let your guests know who will be on hand to deliver speeches and present awards. This is a great way to share bios and introduce the key people of your event. 5. Showcase your sponsors and partnership information Feature: Sponsors Our event planning app offers a multidimensional way of highlighting your event sponsors and partners. You can share information about your sponsors and partners by creating a dedicated recognition area. Our app also allows you to share rich text content and include sponsorship messaging and internet hyperlinks that take you to your sponsor’s website or content. With Event Briefcase, there are many different sponsorship levels available for you to highlight your event sponsors and the partners of your gala dinner and awards night. 6. Links to silent auctions, brand information and other Useful Information Feature: Links With Event Briefcase, you can include external links to rich content that will be useful and interesting to your event’s attendees. If you have prizes or are running a silent auction, you can include external links to information about what products are up for grabs. You can also include links to promotional videos and the like. 7. Upload information on your charity, company or awards Feature: Links / Videos / Downloads Depending on the type of content you have there are several features in Event Briefcase which can let you distribute information about your brand, charity, awards and more. If your gala dinner is in support of a charity, our event planning app allows you to share links to the charity’s page as well as links to videos about the charity that your event is supporting. It also allows you to upload any relevant video content such as season highlight reels, company showreels, tributes or charity awareness videos. 8. Keep your audience engaged with live polling Feature: Links With Event Briefcase, you can engage your audience and add an additional element of fun to your gala dinner and awards night by including a link to Event Poll - Staging Connections exclusive live audience polling platform. For your awards night, you can ask your guests to predict who will be the evening’s big winners. For a gala dinner, you could include a poll on who is best dressed, or other fun questions to keep the guests entertained and engaged. Event Poll is an excellent chance to garner attendee engagement. 9. Get your audience posting on social media Feature: Links Awards nights and gala dinners are gold mine for social media buzz. Staging Connections offers a specialised event social media platform - Event Feed - that captures all social posts containing the event's hashtag and displays them live on screens around the venue for all guests to see. Event Feed is a great way to encourage your guests to get posting, and your brand or event can capitalise on the added exposure the social channels bring. If your awards night or gala dinner is private, Event Feed also offers a private feed. You can include the link to your private Event Feed in the Links feature so only posts and content uploaded to that feed will display, rather than the guests posting to their own social channels. The benefit of a private feed is you can still encourage audience engagement whilst containing the content to within the venue walls. 10. Promote venue deals and offers Feature: Links / Downloads With Event Briefcase you are able to highlight any venue promotions that go along with your gala dinner or awards night, such as an accommodation discount for your next stay and so on. It's also a great way to strengthen your relationship with the venue by providing them with promotional opportunities with your audience. Watch this short video on Event Briefcase to find out more about our free corporate event app Event Briefcase by Staging Connections - a free corporate event app. Our free event app, Event Briefcase, is just one of the ways that Staging Connections can help you plan and flawlessly execute a truly spectacular gala dinner or awards night. With over 30 years experience planning events, we've got everything covered from the latest audio vision, lighting effects, stage set designs and multimedia right down to audience engagement with social media services and live polling. In addition to our AV Services we can provide you with a professional event production team that will help you plan and execute a gala dinner and awards night that will leave your guests breathless. To find out how Event Briefcase can enhance your event, speak with one of our Staging Connections representatives today by calling 1800 209 099 or by sending an online enquiry. -- ... Read More

Working collaboratively with cievents, a valued long-term client of Staging Connections, the team delivered the visual and creative design for the dazzling Welcome Event for the 2016 Australian Tourism Exchange at the Gold Coast Event Centre on Monday 16 May 2016. As Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event, ATE brought together Australian tourism businesses in a forum to promote their products directly to tourism wholesalers and retailers from around the world. Using AV, multimedia and styling to bring to life the Australiana event theme To create the memorable Welcome Event theme, which brought to life Australia’s aquatic and coastal experiences, the focus of the latest global campaign by Tourism Australia, Staging Connections provided audio visual, multimedia content and styling. Creative lighting was used throughout the venue, in conjunction with fleur panelling on the ceiling, to further transform the space with a wave design that immersed guests in the underwater theme. A vibrant beach atmosphere was designed featuring lots of sand as well as a DJ hut, LED screen and beach furniture, in collaboration with other service providers such as Coastal Productions who custom built the food stations and ELS. Guests were greeted by Tourism Australia chief executive, John O’Sullivan and the Minister for Trade and Investment The Hon. Steven Ciobo as well as the main ambassador, much to the delight of attendees, Chris Hemsworth. Short speeches were followed by live music as well as time for networking and for guests to enjoy delicious Queensland cuisine. Staging Connections’ Technical Director worked with cievents producers to coordinate the event and manage the camera direction for mobile cameramen, including live interviews with celebrity chef Luke Mangan. The interview vision and nautical backdrop vision of sea and sun was distributed throughout the evening to 12 LCD monitors across the venue, as well as LED entry screens, the beach area LED truck and the main stage 40m x 10m blend screen which was powered by two 18k projectors. Significant rigging was required to create two rectangular truss grids of 20m x 10m for lighting and to support the creative fleur panels for the wave design. Additional trussing was rigged throughout the ceiling to support 80 lighting fixtures and a combination of FX, LED floods and statics. The immersive theme showcased Australia’s aquatic and coastal experiences in the creative design, multimedia and styling of the event. Innovative audio visual and quality sound ensured the key objective of enabling all guests to network was achieved, and the event was deemed a memorable success. South East Queensland Sales Manager for Staging Connections, Susan Hamilton, was proud to have helped deliver such a high-profile industry event. “This was a great opportunity for our team to showcase our range of world-class event services. After months of preparation, we were thrilled with how it all came together on the night, a truly fantastic result for the team and for the Australian Tourism Exchange." Partner with the leading AV team for your next corporate event Our South East Queensland team is proudly led by Karsten Richert and comprises some of the most talented design and styling professionals in the industry, offering event production and management services across 13 key venues. If you're looking to host your next corporate event in Brisbane, the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast, then we're the experienced events team you can rely on. We proudly offer Australia's largest range of event services across audio, lighting, staging, vision and extending to styling, multimedia and digital event solutions like webcasting, live polling and event social media. Get in touch with us today or call 1800 209 099 to speak with one of our event experts. ... Read More

For the latest in styling and theming of events, one can’t go past the use of clever lighting and design to create a sophisticated and engaging environment, perfect for celebrating the VIPs of a brand. Staging Connections teamed up with Rush Events to create a glamorous and immersive event for the Mercedes Benz Dealer of the Year Awards (2015). Held at the gorgeous Palladium at Crown, the spectacular event had everything; from acrobats, to an 18 piece big band, to a car reveal that was shown through a smoky haze and to top it all off, an incredible wave wall made by joining individual panels. The wave wall featured projections by powered by a 6 projector blend, giving the audience a huge wall of vision of the brand’s logo, its colours and large background images of a glistening city skyline. It was a real talking point for attendees and showcased how smart multimedia content and clever projections can enrich events. The city skyline was seamlessly projected across the wave wall onto the LED stage backdrop, positioned behind the big band. For a gala dinner to truly celebrate the attendees – who are the real stars of the event, the room was designed to fully immersive the guests in the brand, which was all achieved through effectively implementing exciting lighting sequences. The Staging Connections styling team brought in all the furniture to fit with the theme of a ‘city skyline’, and decorated the tables with smart, shimmery features to complement the clients’ own centrepieces. The lighting team then went to work using LEDs, spotlights and room hazers to create an exciting atmosphere that layered the brand’s colours of silver, black, white and blue over the entire event space. The custom designed bar with hanging crystal chandeliers was a focal point for the evening. The 700 guests were taken on a journey from the moment they entered, starting in a pre-dinner drinks area where they were greeted by a live trio, two aerialists and podium dancers around a custom-made bar. They were then escorted to the main room for the awards ceremony via a butterfly drape which dramatically revealed the main room, accompanied by a theatrical music segment. This welcome sequence built hype and excitement for the main event, whilst allowing the brand to showcase new vehicles in the pre-dinner area. AV elements used to showcase and reveal Mercedes Benz vehicles. Bottom Right: Clean and sophisticated styling elements were used for the table centerpieces. Bringing together a beautiful event like this was no small feat - Staging Connections played an integral role, from pre-production planning right through to the night, for which they ‘called the show’ as well as providing the lighting and audio control and management. Creation of all on screen multimedia content and backgrounds, along with furniture selection and styling were done by the Staging Connections team, completing the full service that was provided. This event showcased how clever lighting and design can create a smart and engaging environment, perfect for celebrating individuals and teams at gala awards. Get all the event services for your awards night Staging Connections has been the name behind some of the largest and most technically demanding live events to hit Australian soil. Having been in the events business for over 30 years, our experienced team of technicians and event directors understand what it takes to deliver unforgettable awards nights and gala dinners. We only use brands we trust; we take a tailored approach to every brief using everything from the latest in AV, lighting and staging through to event styling and engaging digital media; and we work with you every step of the way so there’s no surprises. If you’re interested in finding out what Staging Connections can do for your event, get in touch with us today by calling 1800 209 099 or by completing our event quote form. ... Read More

Staging Connections Perth were engaged by long time client of 17 years, Australian Hotels Association - WA (AHA WA), to deliver their annual NAB WA Hospitality Suppliers Awards and Toxfree gala Dinner for 350 guests. As with every year, the AHA WA look to design a memorable awards night and opted for "an elegant starry night" theme for this year's event. Stage design using Digital Banners and custom multimedia To bring this vision to life, Staging Connections used an array of audio visual, staging and styling solutions including a custom stage stage made from our range of Digital Banners with a circular cut-out in between. This unique design created the perfect stage set, which we projected custom designed awards categories and winner announcement videos onto. Whilst clean and simple in design, constructing the stage set in this way created real impact and became a talking point of the night. Designing the stage set using Digital Banners also gave Staging Connections' in-house multimedia team the chance to custom design a spectacular opening sequence which really set the tone for the event. Below is the video which was projection mapped across the array of Digital Banners. The Staging Connections styling team answered the brief with our range of elegant Eclipse centerpieces, on a black table cloth and paired with black chair covers. Styling the tables in this way complemented the room design and centered the focus to the unique stage design where the winners were being presented. “The AHA has worked with Staging Connections on countless events over the last 17 years. At every event we are blown away by their professionalism, dedication and creativity. The rooms always look spectacular and work synonymous with the audio visual aspect. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the team at Staging Connections for all of their consistent hard work over the years.” Bradley Woods, CEO of AHA WA. Partner with Staging Connections for your event Staging Connections have been delivering spectacular awards nights and gala dinners for local and international companies for since 1986. When it comes to delivering an unforgettable event, we are the events team you can count on. With Asia Pacific's largest range of event services, we have the tools, ideas and people to turn ordinary events into extraordinary experiences. This means we are your one-stop-shop for all event production services from the audio visual, staging and lighting through to styling, multimedia and digital engagement tools. Our work speaks for itself so please view our Recent Events Portfolio to see what amazing experiences we're curating every day around the country. If you're interested in speaking with a Staging Connections representative about your event, give us a call on 1800 209 099 or by sending an online enquiry. ... Read More

Staging Connections delivered the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for Scentre Group in early May 2016, as Mr Frank Lowy (AC) performed his final duties as Chairman of the company that he began 57 years ago, in front of 250 attendees at Centennial Hall, Sydney Town Hall. Mr Lowy’s farewell received a standing ovation from the audience, as the Staging Connections lighting team doused the enormous event space in the Scentre Group’s brand colours. Media, shareholders and Scentre Group staff attended the formal AGM which featured audio visual and lighting services to professionally highlight and support the communication from board members on stage to the audience. A themed board table with individual visual displays for each of the 11 board members and a mega screen set above the stage ensured clear communication throughout proceedings. Communicating widely with shareholders across the world, the entire event was live webcast by Staging Connections and will be available for Scentre Group shareholders on demand for many months. Chris Lewis, Event Director, Staging Connections commented on the professionalism and technical expertise required by AGMs and other events of this magnitude. “It was an absolute pleasure to deliver this engaging production. AGMs require absolute technical know-how and there is no room for error, this is where Staging Connections’ experience in delivering these sorts of events comes into play. Our team delivered this AGM, highlighting a true hero of the corporate world in style and with the utmost professionalism. We are proud that this was another successful AGM delivered for the Scentre Group, and look forward to delivering many more,” said Mr Lewis. Partner with Staging Connections for your Annual General Meeting Staging Connections has been the name behind some of the largest Annual General Meetings held in Australia and New Zealand for over 30 years. With Australia's largest range of audio visual equipment and event services, you can trust Staging Connections to deliver a truly engaging event experience for your shareholders. Speak to a Staging Connections representative today to discuss your AGM needs by calling 1800 209 099 or by sending an online enquiry. Recommended: Visit our Event Insights page to download the latest whitepaper and discover 4 key elements every event planner should consider adopting if they want to maximise attendance at the Annual General Meeting, year after year. Join the AGM Revolution ... Read More

The use of webcasts has increased dramatically due to their cost-effectiveness and time-efficiency. However, event professionals need to consider tools to ensure they’re maximising the success of the webcast by keeping their online audience just as engaged as those in-room. Here are some tips on how to create webcasts that will keep attendees focused on learning, not on checking their e-mail. Because webcasts are relatively easy to produce, inexpensive to host, and bring geographically far-flung participants together with the click of a mouse, they have become ubiquitous in the world of corporate events. But when poorly designed and executed, they run the risk of failing at the very thing they are designed to achieve—increasing reach and audience size. A disembodied voice accompanying a deluge of uninteresting slides becomes an open invitation for participants to check e-mail, complete charts, read their Twitter feed, or surf the Web, while remaining somewhat tuned in to the content. To overcome the passivity that is inherent in a webcast format, it’s critical to design and plan for interactivity so that participants engage directly with the content you want them to absorb. Here are some best practices for keeping your webcast audience engaged.> 1. Present with your webcast audience in mind The long established way of delivering content at corporate events involves a speaker presenting on stage accompanied by slides. Event planners need to refresh this format to ensure both online and in-room audiences are catered for. Here are a few tips to update your presenting style: Address your webcast attendees throughout the event. It’s best practice for the MC to include the webcast audience when welcoming the event attendees. If there is an event hashtag to be communicated, ensure the webcast attendees are encouraged to join in as well. Lastly, throughout the event, ensure you continue to acknowledge your online audience. Eye contact is still important. Let your presenters know where the cameras are prior to the event and ask them to look into the cameras every now and then to mask the effect of eye-contact with online audiences. Keep your webcast audience on track Make sure your webcast attendees have access to the same documents as your in-room audience. Staging Connections’ webcast platform allows you to upload a variety of downloadable documents to ensure your webcast experience mirrors the in-room one for your event attendees. If you plan on referring to these documents throughout your presentation, give your webcast attendees ample notice so they have time to download and can use them when referred to. Similarly, if you reference information from a document, remind your presenter to clearly instruct the webcast attendees what document you’re referring to so everyone’s on the same page. 2. Get your audience talking Almost every conference, exhibition, awards night or gala dinner you attend these days are encouraging the use of social media. If event attendees are posting on social media regardless, your brand may as well jump on board and reap the benefits of the amplified exposure and user-generated content. As a web based channel, it is also the one element of your event in which both in-room and webcast audiences will have the same experience with. Hence, encourage social conversation so your webcast audience can feel just as involved and contribute to the event. Staging Connections’ webcast platform allows event professionals to embed a live social media window into their webcast skin, displaying a constant feed of social posts surrounding the event’s hashtag. Typically, social events such as gala dinners, charity nights or awards night which are webcast live have a better uptake of the social media feature. This also holds true for the Chat feature. If social media isn’t the right dialogue for your event demographic, the alternate solution is a Chat feature which can be also be embedded into the Staging Connections webcast skin with the added benefit of moderation. Naturally, the chat feature is only available to your live webcast audience, but it’s a useful tool for encouraging discussion, whilst also providing them with an exclusive experience. A novel way to engage your webcast attendees is to use the Chat feature for competitions and quizzes with the first correct answer as the winner. 3. Interactivity via live audience polling A clever tactic for keeping your audience engaged throughout your event is by asking them questions. Polling your audience has a myriad of uses and benefits rendering it a universal audience engagement tactic no matter the style of your event. The questions can be used as ice-breakers, for knowledge testing at the end of a session or even for voting on Best Dressed at gala dinners. Event Poll is a live audience polling platform exclusively offered by Staging Connections which can be embedded into your presentation slides as well as Staging Connections’ webcast platform. It allows both your in-room and webcast audience to respond to questions in real-time using their mobile device or desktop with the answers displayed instantly on screen. We’ve previously explained 25 reasons why event professionals love Event Poll so to ensure you’re also getting the most out it, here’s some helpful tips: Introduce Event Poll at the beginning of your event and be sure to include your webcast audience and explain how it works and how they access it. An effective way to check all attendees, both in-room and webcast, can use Event Poll is to ask a simple ice-breaker question such as ‘Where have you come from today?’. Ensure you alternate taking questions between the physical and webcast audience. Do not ignore the online audience! Doing so will alienate them. This is where using the embedded live audience polling platform, Event Poll, comes in handy as all questions are displayed in the one location, regardless of the askers location. Allow time to discuss the results of each poll and any follow up questions that may result, time permitting of course. 4. Best Practices for Slides for webcasting Event professionals should consider the design of their presentation slides to ensure it caters for webcast audiences. Staging Connections’ webcast platform gives you the option of housing only the live recording within the webcast skin, or both the live recording and synchronised presentation slides side-by-side. If you have opted for the former, than the below points provide a helpful guide for designing slides that work for webcasting. Review slides for readability - Regardless of whether you prefer to use PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, or Prezi, you’ll want to make sure that your presentation slides are easily readable. For maximum readability, contrast is the key. We recommend sticking to either to black text on a light background. Use images that illustrate your point in a dramatic, memorable way (graphs, pictures, drawings, etc.) Don't rely on too much text, and whatever you do, don’t read slides aloud word for word. Use a maximum of three or four bullet points per slide. Use your pointer to highlight key points on the slide. Why event professionals choose Staging Connections for webcasting By planning ahead and implementing a variety of engagement tactics tailored for webcast audiences, you’ll maximise the effectiveness of your event. Staging Connections offers Australia’s most customisable webcasting platform that can be custom designed to look like an extension of your brand. On top of its flexible design, many event professionals choose Staging Connections for webcasting due to the variety of embedded features available which have been included purely for the purpose of enhancing the experience for webcast attendees. When webcasting your next event, ensure you consider incorporating downloadable documents, social media, online chat and live audience polling into your presentation to maximise engagement. Interested in webcasting your next event or taking your event webcast to the next level? Our team of event experts have the ideas to take your event where it needs to go. Speak to a Staging Connections representative today by calling 1800 209 099 or send an online enquiry. This article was written by General Manager of Digital, Tim Chapman. ... Read More

We delivered an exciting fire and ice theme to the delight of 700 guests at the Greencross Limited Annual Awards Dinner at the National Convention Centre, Canberra in late 2015. The Exhibition Hall was radically transformed from a breakfast/lunch space into the impressive fire and ice theme for guests of Australasia’s largest integrated pet care company, to network with company VIPs, connect with suppliers and celebrate the outstanding achievements of the company. Theresa Chiller, Projects Coordinator, The Pet Foundation Administrator at Greencross Limited was thrilled with the technically superior result that Staging Connections produced. “Our guests had a fabulous time. We wanted to create an atmosphere fit for the occasion and Staging Connections combination of set design, lighting, audio and special effects certainly came together to give an ultimate wow factor for our audience. “As two different conferences were merged into this one event, our guests had extra high expectations of what this gala event would deliver. When the doors opened we were already convinced that we’d exceeded expectations – guests stood at the doors, too busy taking photos of the amazing visual feast within, to even walk inside!” said Ms Chiller. Felicity Webb, Event Stylist, Staging Connections created the dramatic fire and ice theme using a combination of styling, design and audio visual elements to truly transform the Exhibition Hall. “Our aim was to design an environment that immersed the guests in a true experience, engaging all their senses and giving them the opportunity to celebrate in a memorable atmosphere. “We designed a large digital backdrop using our modular panels that created a 9.5m x 5.5m screen which we mapped using a high performance Christie 18k projector, on to which we projected vibrant animated content of fire and ice. This really brought the Exhibition Hall to life and created a central focus for all other styling elements to be crafted around. “Over 30 assorted moving head lights and 40 extremely bright quad coloured LEDs were used to achieve the dramatic distinction between the opposing forces of fire and ice. In true celebratory style, projections of colourful fireworks played as award winners were announced and then when it was time to party, projections of disco balls inspired everyone to get out on the dance floor,” said Ms Webb. Three different centrepieces were used to enhance the visually stunning theme including tall white willow branches surrounded by acrylic ice; mirrored mosaic vessels clustered at different levels with accompanying ice, snowflakes and tea lights; and beaten nickel bowls glowed from the interior orange LED pillar candles placed inside. With the objective of delivering a big celebration, dramatic audio was paramount to the events resounding success. Twelve Meyer line array elements were complimented by four 700HP subwoofers all controlled by the Meyer Galileo processing and Yamaha M7 mixing desk. White table linens created a clean canvas for the dramatic lighting effects and visuals around the hall and a custom Perspex lectern was internally lit to draw the crowd’s attention. We offer Australia's largest range of event services across audio vision, lighting, staging, styling and digital services. When you partner with Staging Connections you're partnering with the best AV technicians and event professionals in the market. Send us an enquiry or call 1800 209 099 to speak to an event specialist. ... Read More

Staging Connections was engaged by Auto & General to create a gala dinner that was a work of art, celebrating and honouring its 1,200 guests. Transporting guests into a fantasy world of crystals and Vanity Fair inspired parties that surprised and delighted them. Utilising the symbol for a 15 year partnership, crystals were selected as the basis of the event creative concept. Venue: Brisbane Exhibition & Convention Centre Event: 15th Anniversary Gala Dinner Guests: 1,200 Client: Auto & General AV: Staging Connections Styling: Staging Connections The grand entrance was created using red carpet flanked by bollards and rope and a custom branded media backdrop for photo opportunities. Once guests entered the main room, they were greeted with a stunning 'Vanity Fair' style Event Backdrop covered entirely in lush greenery and featuring white 3D lettering of ’15 years’. Several custom Event Backdrops were designed for this event to incorporate the insurance brands under the Auto & General umbrella - ComparetheMarket.com and Budget Direct. The provided guests with the perfect opportunity to pose for a photo against these iconic brand personalities. The hero room feature was the giant mirror ball surrounded by 6m long crystal beaded chandeliers, and when lit cast thousands of moving sparkles around the room. As a special treat for the guests, they were treated to a flash mob performance by several Auto & General employees and finished with Captain Risky. Our unique concept included a lovely 12m wide x 6m high beaded ‘crystal’ curtain used as the backdrop for the in house stage. This allowed a grand entrance for the star performer at the end of the night; Guy Sebastian. Event Feed was used to increase engagement throughout the night and give guests the chance to feature on the big screen. All Instagram and Tweets with the hashtag #myAG15 were displayed on screen, sharing their messages and moments with the entire room. It was a great way to spark conversation between guests and provide entertainment all night long. What did the client day? “Every staff member I dealt with was amazing. They handled everything so professionally and allowed me to step back and enjoy the night rather than run around and stress over if things were going to plan or not." Jodie Taylor, People & Culture Consultant, Auto & General Holdings Back to blog More events from QLD Get in touch ... Read More

What magic lies in the make-up of a spy theme that makes it so popular with event planners and attendees? How is it that one character, has managed to captivate audiences for so many years? Perhaps we all secretly yearn to be a suave secret agent or the girl who catches his eye. Whichever one you are, find out how we took this popular event theme to a whole new level. To live up to the heightened expectations that come with a spy themed gala event, Crown Melbourne’s brief included four key objectives to create an immersive experience to delight guests at their two Palladium VIP Events: To create a spectacular and innovative visual, lighting and multimedia production To create connection between performances and multimedia To creatively utilise over 520 LED panels throughout the production To develop animated content for over 520 LED panels As the in-house AV team at Crown Melbourne, Staging Connections has produced this event annually since 1996 and in 2015 was set to exceed the client’s expectations like never before! Producing an immersive Spy themed VIP gala dinner Staging Connections produced two exhilarating events using world-leading audio visual, lighting and multimedia production to bring the thrill of a spy themed movie to Melbourne. . As the doors to the The Palladium opened, the 650+ VIP guests were immersed in a James Bond adventure. A grand entrance to the event was designed using 64 LED panels suspended from the roof, arranged to form four arches which together, created a tunnel effect. The LED archway was brought to life using motion graphic content of iconic James Bond opening sequences. Guests were invited to walk beneath the canopy and into the main area for the gala dinner. This made for a dramatic start to the evening and set the tone for what was to come! Once guests were seated, James Bond himself descended from the roof via a pre-installed foot loop to surprise guests, while Ninja’s abseiled down from the ceiling at different points around the room. At the conclusion of the opening performance, Kate Cebrano appeared from behind a 15 metre Kabuki drop reveal that doubled as the scenic backdrop for James Bond’s opening number. Behind Kate Cebrano on the main stage, stood a magnificent 15 meter LED - one of the newest products to Staging Connections' vision portfolio. Our talented Melbourne event stylists chose to use sophisticated yet minimal event styling so the sweeping stage design, LED archway and AV remained the hero elements of the night. They created beautiful table centrepieces with crystal beaded chandeliers and beaded wired cylindrical votives as the hero features. The beaded chandeliers and votives beautifully reflected light around the room and added to the drama and grandeur of the 'Spy' theme. Using the latest AV and motion graphics to enhance the Spy event theme Performances of iconic James Bond theme songs by Kate Cebrano and Sally Cooper, were enhanced with bespoke animated content, lighting routines and wind machines for additional effect. A total of 75 moving head and 55 static light fixtures accentuated the mood of each performance with dramatic colour changes. Throughout the evening, beautiful scenic vistas from various Bond movies were showcased across 180 LED panels that combined to create a 14 metre panoramic screen across the stage. This was further enhanced by two additional 30 metre x 10 metre drop screens with 18k Christie projectors. Accentuating the theme, 340 LED panels were artistically used across the venue with LED totems on stage, 4 metre LED strips at the front of the room and four LED arches that welcomed guests at the door. Staging Connection’s digital media team created all themed content for the evening, including six custom animations and over 30 scenic stills that used the Ken Burns effect to create running movement. Overall, the content stretched over 12,000 pixels wide, well beyond the normal capacity of 1920 pixels. Staging Connections responded to the client brief bringing world class technology to life for maximum effect. Crown Melbourne was delighted to treat their VIP guests to two spectacular events that left a lasting impact on all attendees. Staging Connections Melbourne Events Team Our Melbourne team is proudly led by Haig Walker and comprises some of the most talented design and styling professionals in the industry, offering event excellence across 7 key venues. If you're looking to host your next corporate event in Melbourne, than we're the experienced events team you can rely on. We proudly offer Australia's largest range of event services across audio, lighting, staging, vision and extending to styling, multimedia and digital event solutionslike webcasting, live polling and event social media. Get in touch with us today or call 1800 209 099 to speak with one of our event experts. ... Read More