When you’re preparing an audio visual budget for your event, there’s a lot more to think about than simply how much money to allocate for theming, lights, sound and vision. To ensure you’re getting the most value for money from your event’s AV design, a solid knowledge of the capabilities of both technology and your audio visual company are essential. Here we give you our top 8 audio visual tips for creating a successful event. 1. Look for creativity in your audio visual supplier When shopping for an audio visual provider, you traditionally seek service, price and reliability. All are good measures of a quality audio visual company, but to truly do justice to your event, creativity needs to be a central part of their product offering. Advances in projection and event lighting technology mean that the old business model of simply hiring out and operating gear for a client is no longer an adequate level of service. The main driver of this conceptual shift in the market has been technologies such as projection mapping. Projection mapping is the art of creating multimedia content for projection onto flat surfaces (2D projection mapping) or objects (3D projection mapping) and then using advanced computer and projector technology to bring that imagery to life. It has transformed major events, conferences and theatrical presentations the world over. While the technology is now common place, the creative talent to successfully use it is not. To really ensure peace of mind when selecting an audio visual provider, ask about their history in presenting similar events and their history at the chosen venue. Look at some examples of their work closest in scope to your event. If they have documentation of their work at your chosen venue, even better! 2. Set your event vision and share it Having a clear vision of the aesthetic feel and tone of the event is crucial at this stage of pre-production. Storyboard your event like a movie director, discuss themes and images with your key staff and audio visual team. Don’t get fixated on what you have seen done before or know to be possible; a good audio visual company should be able to take on board any creative idea you have and translate it into a practical suggestion. 3. Remember the importance of sound for your event The event sound system employed to deliver it should match the content. Important things to look for are adequate coverage of the room to ensure all attendees get crystal-clear speech as well as the full impact of any musical material. If you are employing high-energy music or cinematic sound effects ensure the system can replicate the full range of sound. A minimum of two subwoofers need to be in place to maximise the impact of any low-end effects or bass lines. Have a look at our blog post on how to get the best sound at your event for more in-depth understanding of the importance of sound. 4. Think digital Discuss with your Audio visual company about methods to digitally enhance your event. Can they digitally brand your conference with projections and then successfully transform the same space for a gala dinner? Entire ballrooms can be changed into another world, and the walls of an auditorium can ripple at the arrival of a new product. A custom built set design can be transformed into a living, breathing animal. Pretty much anything is possible, and an in-depth conversation with a design professional is invaluable to help direct your thinking in the planning stages. Understand what design and creative support the audio visual company offer and whether the in-house designers have the skills to shepherd you through the concept creation, implementation and delivery of just about anything your imagination can conjure. Creating a multimedia driven event from the ground-up can seem to be a longer process than the traditional method of simply stating a theme and letting the staging company deliver, but the results represent a much better return on investment. Elements of digital branding or presentation content can not only be used at one specific event, but also transported to similar events or venues at no further cost. The same media can also be repackaged as web content where appropriate 5. Get Mobile Almost everyone now carries a video displaying, networked computer a.k.a. ‘Smartphone’ in their pocket. This makes them capable of not only absorbing your content but also interacting with it. An audio visual company should have a lot of fresh ideas on how to make this work for your event, extending your theme and offering greater engagement with your audience. A key technology for presenters are apps to enable snap event polling of audience members and instantly display aggregated results on a main screen. For attendees, important information such as timetables, maps and key messages should be easily accessible from an app or network. 6. Ask your audio visual team the right questions Questions about the technical details are excellent for getting a sense of competence and good organisation. Is the PA suitable for speech reinforcement only or can it deliver loud, exciting music if you need it? What combination and numbers of lighting fixtures do they usually use – LED, moving lights, wash lights? Again, it’s not necessarily the specific information that you need, but the assurance of their confidence in answering. If you’re satisfied with that, then ask them what they recommend, or better yet, what they have always wanted to do given the opportunity. You’ll soon establish whether you’re in good hands. 7. Achieving cut through At Encore Event Technologies we realise that you have a unique opportunity to create an event specific to your audience. It’s worth your time to work together with a creative audio visual company to bring an original vision to life that makes a strong statement about your organisation. Your customers are already enjoying new types of audience engagement in both their professional and personal lives, either driven by large corporate organisations or the entertainment industry. The increase in quality of experience means all content providers have to compete to cut through. Watch this two minute video of an audio visual set up by the Encore Event Technologies team featuring Australia's first 360 degree projection screen, custom designed for the event and venue space to create something guests had never experienced before. 8. More than numbers Your audio visual budget now has the potential to deliver results way beyond the date of the event itself. All of your customers, employees and/or delegates are broadcasters, sharing their impressions, images and videos across their networks. Devoting time and creativity at the outset of your event planning can now pay off almost in perpetuity. Get to the heart of your message, envision the best possible shape it could take, and invest in bringing it to life in the most effective way. Written by Robert Meek, Event Project Manager With over 20 years’ experience in the meetings and events industry Rob has a wealth of corporate audio visual event experience that he brings to the delivery of the diverse range of corporate and association events he has managed. Related Blogs 5 top event tips for 2014 What benefit does vision fold back provide in your audio visual solution? Optimise your event communication with event design and technical production ... Read More

In our latest blog Senior Event Stylist, Georgia Strachan, shares her secrets to creating a 'Mad Hatters Tea Party' themed event and discusses how she brought the event alive with digital styling. In our latest blog Senior Event Stylist, Georgia Strachan, shares her secrets to creating a 'Mad Hatters Tea Party' themed event and discusses how she brought the event alive with digital styling. Georgia brings to her role 20 years of experience in design for film, television and creative theme park attractions. Her varied professional background provides a fresh take on conceiving unique event experiences for clients. Georgia injects a fresh and innovative flair for event concepts both locally, nationally and globally. In order to set the scene for my clients Mad Hatter themed dinner party I collaborated with our technical services team to bring together creative styling with audio, vision and lighting technology. Through digital styling we created exciting integrated visual content that transported guests “down the rabbit hole” from the minute they stepped inside the room through a rear projected entry portal. From there the guests enjoyed pre-dinner ‘teapot cocktails’ at the custom made Astroturf hedge bar and played highly contested games of croquet on a purpose built mini Astroturf croquet course. We also covered plinths and cubes with Astroturf to make quirky cocktail furniture and decorated this area with topiary trees and hundreds of red and white artificial roses in Victorian urns. The lighting was very bold and directional to add to the surreal, artificial nature of this concept. For the main dining experience we built a ‘room within a room’ using floor to ceiling rear projection screens to give our guests the impression that they were really in another world. With full control over the environment we had the ability to transform the entire space throughout the evening as each course arrived at the table. We also wanted to change the proportion and perspective of the room at various times making the guests feel small one minute and giant the next and we achieved this by altering the content. It was a very dramatic effect and kept the guests guessing all night. All of our 35 guests were seated at one huge table and I wanted each place setting to have its own sense of style and character so we used a selection of beautiful antique timber chairs, leather wing backed armchairs and upholstered love seats sourced from all over the venue. For the table decor I used piles of old books and stacked them with collections of clocks, feathers and flowers and table cloths were layered with colours and textures to suggest the Mad Hatters workshop. Chef created spectacular cupcakes which we placed on lovely tiered cake stands to become edible centre pieces and we used dozens of vintage porcelain teacups as votive holders to bathe the table with flickering light. Check out the pictures below and let me know what you're ideas are for the ultimate Mad Hatter's Tea Party! Author: Georgia Strachan, Senior Event Stylist, Staging Connections. Image Credits: Unless stated otherwise, all images are owned by us ... Read More

2017 was certainly a big year for Staging Connections - we launched new products and won 17 new venue partners, bringing our total to over 80. Our teams delivered a whopping 35,000 events for our valued clients, delivering conferences, gala dinners, incentives, sporting events, roadshows and everything in between! We continued our pursuit of the very latest event technologies and made improvements to some of your favourites like our free event app, social media platform, webcasting and more. Our creative teams also continued to shine, delivering on-trend styling, creative set designs and multimedia content that delivered an amazing brand experience for attendees. Whilst we can’t talk about every event delivered in 2017. We are proud to share with you some of the highlight corporate events our teams produced around our offices. Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust Venue: Brisbane City Hall Event Type: Gala Why: Our Southeast Queensland team delivered a truly multi-sensory experience, including their largest projection mapping activation to date. Over 460 attendees gathered at the impressive Brisbane City Hall to raise funds and awareness for the Lord Mayor’s grants programs, providing much-needed assistance to deserving charities across the city. As the onsite event services provider at Brisbane City Hall with EPICURE, Staging Connections created a glittering ‘There’s No Place Like Oz’ themed evening. Using a full suite of audio visual services, our teams immersed guests in a multi-sensory experience from the moment they clicked their heels and followed the yellow brick road into the City Hall. Every space within the venue was transformed to represent a different scene from the iconic movie, re-telling the story as a live event experience. The entrance was brought to live as Kansas complete with Dorothy’s House and the iconic ruby slippers, and dramatic hurricane. Inside the auditorium, the Emerald City story continued transforming it into four separate spaces– the Wicked Forest, Cornfield, Munchkinland, and Poppyfield. Staging Connections Southeast Queensland team executed its largest projection mapping activation to date, to great success: the projection mapping on the walls displayed iconic scenes from The Wizard of Oz movie, mesmerising guests for the entire evening. Further immersive technical theatrics rendered the space unrecognisable, including vivid balcony lighting, segmented silent auction spaces, and an animated projection of ‘The Wizard’ onto the City Hall’s grand organ, creating a virtual ‘MC’ who interacted with the live presenters. Honda Motorcycles India Venue: Sydney Showground Event Type: Incentive Why: Delivering this incredible large-scale incentive with only 2 weeks notice is a great reflection of our teams’ expertise, knowledge, perseverance and creativity. Staging Connections were engaged by Encompass to produce an exciting, dramatic extravaganza for over 1000 Honda India employees and dealers, including a cocktail function, business session and gala evening. Confirmation was received merely two weeks from show day, leaving Staging Connections to go into overdrive to see it delivered seamlessly. The theme of the incentive event needed to incorporate the company's values and theme of RAW 6.0 (Reach, Acquire & Win), with a key component to showcase the new range of motorcycles' ability to easily transition from city to outback. The end look of the event was developed taking a literal approach to the ‘Raw’ theme. The event was centered around a huge 48m x20m ‘V’ shaped stage which split the room into two distinct landscapes – city and outback – two key components of theme. Decorating the stage with bushland and a city skyline provided the perfect setting on which to display the the motorcycles. The stage was framed by a stunning illuminated backdrop spanning 55mx3m, casting a silhouette resembling the Australian outback and city. The end result was a turn-key event solution provided by Staging Connections, from AV and lighting through to entertainment and production with the aim of providing guests with a money can’t buy experience, proving Honda to be a world class company. “Thank you and your wonderful team for all the help and support at our Honda event. The production was great, the set looked amazing and the welcome arch was my personal favorite. A big shout to all the guys from your team who worked so hard to put up a fantastic show for us and for keeping up with all our last-minute requests. We look forward to collaborating again.” Randeep Singh, Encompass AFL Grand Final and Best & Fairest Week Venue: Palladium, Crown Melbourne Event Type: Awards Night, Gala Dinner Why: Our onsite teams used their expertise and creativity to develop a flexible AV and lighting package that could be customised for each client booking during the weeks to enable the events to reflect the branding and type of event. AFL Grand Final Week - Staging Connections developed an AV and lighting package specifically for the Palladium, Crown Melbourne, which could be customised for each client booking during the week whether it was a charity luncheon, club breakfast, or gala dinner. A number of the events held throughout the week are for charity, so value was important, as was a strong focus on the main stage with a large visual element crucial to the AV solution provided. The centrepiece was the 15m x 4m LED wall at the back of the stage, with a 16:9 projector screen on either side, creating a visually immersive experience for every guest around the room to enjoy. The industry-leading technology could be tailored to display logos and branding or to engage the audience with dynamic, blank canvas, enabling each client to add their own personal styling and multimedia touches with brand colours and décor. AFL Best & Fairest Week - Celebrations continued long after the siren sounded at the AFL Grand Final, with the annual Best & Fairest Week – where AFL clubs gathered alongside sponsors, associates and fans to recognise their stars of the season. Crown Melbourne required a flexible lighting and AV package that could be easily customised to suit each of the different client’s requirements throughout the eight days of celebrations. Taking pride of place in the centre of the ballroom this year, the Staging Connections team featured an impressive new element – a 7m diameter curved LED screen suspended from the ceiling. A large LED wall set the backdrop for the main stage, in front of which the team set two wide screens with additional display screens relayed around the room. The dazzling effect allowed each client to showcase multimedia, video, presentations and corporate branding from every angle in the room. Adding depth and texture to the visual landscape, Staging Connections featured Harlequin 3D Scenic Panels frame the stage and added 2D Ribbon Scenic Panels to create small ‘wings’ on stage. Adelaide Crows Gala Dinner Venue: Adelaide Entertainment Centre Event: Gala Dinner Why: The annual Crows Gala dinner gives our Adelaide team the opportunity to flex their creativity and theming muscles. Last year’s dinner was truly memorable, leaving a Scrumdiddlyumptious taste in everyone’s mouth. In our 12th year as the Adelaide Crows’ official audio visual partner, we wanted to deliver something special that pushed the envelope on 2016's visually spectacular Right Royal Gala event. We brought to life a Willy Wonka inspired “Scrumdiddlyumptious” themed event, using a complete event production solution including audio, vision, lighting, staging, multimedia creation, styling and production management. The vast space was transformed into a delightful, magical setting using theatrical intelligent lighting, themed styling and an enchanting stage look. All eyes were drawn to the giant custom stage set, created using our new 3D Scenic Panels in the Harlequin pattern flanked with multiple screens framing the Toyota car ad– the grand prize of the evening! Large inflatable red and white candy trees were placed around the room and stage for colour and a quirky touch. The 32 m wide x 9 m high Scenic Panel stage backdrop became the central projection surface for the night, featuring custom Crows themed multimedia content for the Welcoming and Closing presentations and for each individual auction item. All content was created in house by our multimedia design team. As a clever touch to add theatre and excitement, every guest was given a Golden Ticket on arrival with the lucky Golden Ticket winner taking home the brand new Toyota. Canberra Business Chamber Awards Gala 2017 Venue: National Convention Centre Canberra Event: Awards Night Why: Guests were treated to a stunning display of projection mapping and visual effects to enhance the “theatrically-themed” awards night. Guests were treated to a dazzling ‘theatrically-themed’ evening at this year’s Canberra Business Chamber (CBC) annual Gala Dinner. Held at the National Convention Centre, Staging Connections was tasked with delivering the extravaganza for the ninth year running. The guests were immersed in a captivating setting using animated projection mapping, lighting effects and elegant styling amongst other design elements. Adding to the visual delights, guests were also entertained with an exquisite performance by the Woden Youth choir and an acrobatic aerialist, who dazzled on silk elevated above the main stage, surrounded by 18 white lycra columns. Staging Connections designed the audio-visual and styling elements using a mix of screens, projectors, a CBC-branded gobo light, spotlighting, and projection mapping. As the evening progressed, the Staging Connections team continued to inject life and atmosphere into the room by tailoring the animated projections and lighting during the evening’s performances and presentations. Asian Paints Incentive 2017 Venue: Various NSW/QLD Event: Incentive Why: Last year’s Asian Paints Incentive was our largest event delivered in 2017. The scale of the event production, interstate coordination and collaboration within teams and inclusion of innovative technology like gesture-control makes this a stand-out event. 1000 guests in 3 waves across 12 events equals 1 massive incentive road show. Leading Indian event company Encompass Events, approached Staging Connections produce and deliver the Asian Paints Privilege Club Incentive Event Series. The event series was held in various venues in Sydney and the Gold Coast with the aim of strengthening personal ties within the Privilege Club and reward the Asian Paints staff for their hard work and commitment. The theme was ‘Ultimates’ and Staging Connections were tasked with bringing this to life throughout each of the 12 events including the Welcome function, team building and social events, the grand conference and closing Gala dinner. The incentive gave our Sydney and Gold Coast teams the opportunity to collaborate and produce a truly unforgettable experience through a complete event staging solution. It was a masterful celebration of everything we love; from design to delivery, including production and stage management, logistics, audio visual, styling, design and even interactive technologies. Barfoot & Thompson Annual Conference 2017 Venue: Vodafone Event Centre, Manukau Event: Conference Why: A cleverly themed conference, which allowed our Auckland team to design a bespoke experience using our full breadth of AV solutions to enhance the theme and conference message. For the sixth consecutive year Staging Connections powered an inspirational event at Barfoot & Thompson’s Annual Convention with 2,500 commercial, residential and property management attendees from all over Auckland. The theme for this world-class event was “Opportunity Knocks” tied in brilliantly with the calibre of guest speakers on the day who came together to celebrate the companies’ highest sales achievers and Garth Barfoot’s retirement. Staging Connections were engaged to deliver all AV aspects of the event, from stunning lighting to audio and impactful visual content. Central to the proceedings was the main stage, where an impressive 12 m x 4.2 m LED screen was hung via a truss above four ground level 1.2 m x 2.4 m LED panels on either side of the stage, that at times projected doors to cleverly incorporate the event theme. This was the first time Staging Connections has delivered such a large event in New Zealand with LED screens only. The opening sequence started off slowly as the doors opened dramatically to allow each guest to enter, including CEO Wendy Alexander performing Adele’s hit, “Hello, how are you?”, thrilling and delighting the audience. Retiring Director, Garth Barfoot, completed a victory lap of the arena to commemorate his last Annual Convention, which was captured and projected onscreen so that all members of the audience could share in the touching moment. ACTON Real Estate Awards 2017 Venue: Crown Perth Event: Awards Night Why: Straying from the familiar to create a new experience is always a challenge for both the client and event production team. The creativity, expertise and professionalism demonstrated by our Perth team in delivering a new event design for this year’s ACTON Real Estate Awards, makes this event a highlight for the year. Just another example of our teams’ commitment to creating truly extraordinary experiences year after year. The prestigious awards evening for ACTON Real Estate brought together 500 employees, sponsors and partners to celebrate the year’s achievements and recognise ACTON’s brightest stars. Staging Connections delivered an impressive ‘art deco’ styled evening; complete with red carpet, diamond-shaped dance floor and glamorous crystal centrepieces. The Staging Connections team configured a completely new set design for this year’s awards night - opting for a single multi-purpose stage flanked by two large dual-projection, wide screens and Scenic Panels dramatically used to pull the set together and complement the art deco style. Combining the presentation and entertainment stages into the one set added a sense of intimacy to the space, and heightened dramatic impact. Top Secret Lunch Venue: National Convention Centre Canberra Event: Famil Gala Why: The creative use of audio visual techniques to create an immersive experience showcasing the National Convention Centre and Canberra as an ideal destination for business events. As the in-house AV and event services provider to Canberra's iconic National Convention Centre, Staging Connections were tasked with showcasing the venue as part of the Canberra Convention Bureau's business tourism event - aimed at encouraging more business events to the Canberra region. The team used creative AV with a focus on projection mapping to highlight the venue's capabilities and showcase Canberra's selling points as an event destination. Deciding to opt for a more novel approach other than traditional event screens and event productions, and inspired by the hot air balloons that have become synonymous with Canberra’s Enlighten Festival, Staging Connections utilised a 3m inflatable sphere to create a mid-air floating screen. Beautiful imagery and multimedia was projection mapped onto the sphere turning the lifeless object into a stunning 3D artwork. Coloured LED wash lights cast beautiful shades of Autumn’s orange, amber and gold around the lunch room, which perfectly complemented the lunch menu. Further captivating guests and adding a unique touch to the dining experience was the high definition projection mapping and multimedia on the table, curved walls, archways and beams, all themed to highlight the light, colour and movement of the Enlighten Festival held annually in Canberra. Tables came alive with colourful animations which changed with each meal, perfecting and highlighting the theme accompanying the menu. Individual dinner plates were also circled with white projection spots highlighting the food while guests’ names were projected onto their seats, offering a unique personal touch and making networking easy. EB Games Venue: Gold Coast Exhibitions & Convention Centre Event: Conference and Gala Dinner Why: A huge 5-day conference that ended with a spectacular, action-packed Gala Dinner celebration befitting of the company’s 20th Anniversary. After a seven-year partnership, Staging Connections were the principal choice to manage the production of EB Games’ annual Conference in October 2017. EB Games’ staff from across Australia gathered to celebrate 20 Years of EB Games. Held over five days, the conference concluded with the much-anticipated EB Expo over the weekend – a sold-out public event featuring big-name tech brands, product launches, live demos and cosplay. The October Conference was made up of several social and business events, including the annual Gala Dinner and a glamorous 20 Year Rock Party. Start planning your 2018 events with the event experts With 2018 events already well underway, now is perfect time to get in touch with us to start discussing your requirements for your upcoming events. Whether you're looking to plan your company's Annual General Meeting, a fundraising Gala Dinner, celebratory Awards Night or a sell-out Conference, we have the ideas, skills and equipment to make them your best events yet. If you haven't chosen your venue yet, we can also assist with this crucial decision. Encore Event Technologies (formerly Staging Connections) are the chosen in-house AV and event services provider to over 80 of the regions top hotels and venues. This means we have the flexibility to deliver your event in one of our venue partners or at another location of your choice. Planning a successful event takes time, so don't waste another minute. Simply send us your event requirements or speak to us in person and let's get to work! ... Read More

Live streaming is a powerful way to connect with thought leaders and present your brand which must not be overlooked. More and more event planners are turning to live streaming their events as they want to amplify the reach of their event to maximize ROI. However, beyond this obvious reach benefit it provides, the vast majority of event planners are missing out on the many other benefits that come from live streaming events. And we don’t want you to miss these valuable opportunities any longer! To start things off, a lot of event planners miss a big opportunity by not streaming the event via their social media channels. This is a great way to engage your followers, attract new ones and importantly, a tactic for marketing and driving ticket sales for your next event. Branding your live stream by incorporating your logo and company services into the footage will make a brand more recognisable. You’ll also be able to better understand the audience through live streams using analytics to capture data that will let you know the exact number of your virtual viewers and their location. Here are 6 things you should know about live streaming so you aren't missing out on valuable event ROI. Live streaming has a high return on investment Did you know that Facebook Live videos are more watched three times longer than pre-recorded content? This is most likely because today’s online audience craves authenticity and human connection, further explaining why video enhances brand recognition by 139% is so important to your event marketing and brand. Professional conference organisers look to live streaming to broadcast events held in intimate settings. The live stream can integrate a larger audience without additional seating, making it easier for your best leads (often found in your social media following) to be converted into customers and loyal brand advocates just by watching your broadcast. Your approach to live streaming doesn’t have to be complex because content that is offered from a live stream doesn’t need to be scripted. It can be streamed across the a live streaming channel, its own webpage, or across your social channels. It just needs to be real to show the audience that your brand is genuine. With the technological capabilities of mobile phones and affordable cameras, we know that using live streaming for events doesn’t always require a major budget. Regardless of budget, small and large scale businesses see major returns on their investment when live streaming for events, with up to 35% of a live stream audience physically attending the same event the following year. You can get creative with live streaming Build brand awareness and give exposure to fellow event participants through your live stream. This fosters a sense of community while showing off your dashing personality. Remember that the more people like you, the more they will respect your business. Some of the best ideas for live streaming are as follows: Invite an influencer to speak at your event. Share their actionable knowledge on your live feed. Conduct an interview with an expert. Research the concerns of your followers to compose interview questions. Follow this with a live stream that provides answers in an engaging way from a trusted source. Offer a personal perspective. Live stream from a collaborative event where your company is in attendance. Engage other attendees as you stream to create a more personal feel. Corporate event live streaming requires specialised knowledge It takes a great deal of pre-planning and professional assistance to broadcast a corporate event without any hiccups. High quality and functional sound and visuals will position your team for a successful event and keep your viewers focused. Live streaming during a corporate event can make or break your brand’s image, especially if you are working with sponsors (who always expect top-notch quality). You want to avoid poor quality filming resolution or shaking, poor audio or picking up coughs, comments or other sounds made by your attendees not intended to be part of the presentation. Nor do you want the speakers and attendees to deal with malfunctioning equipment during a presentation. To avoid the embarrassment and stress that comes with amateur mistakes, use professional audio visual services that will test your equipment before live streaming, and have a backup plan to quickly put into action if any issues arise. “Live streaming is not a fad.” – Event Manager Blog Live streaming boosts social interaction It’s your responsibility to make sure your virtual audiences feel connected and acknowledged during your live stream. Our Event Feed platform offers a comprehensive solution to help event planners monitor and moderate social media activity while engaging their viewers. Enable a chat option to address questions from viewers during Q and A sessions, or use Event Poll. Event Poll is Staging Connections' live audience polling platform that lets you connect in real time to form a better understanding of online viewers through your questions and their responses. Live streaming is more profitable with ads and sponsorship opportunities Your viewers want to trust your brand. Monetising your content through ads can further build your credibility if you show advertisements that will be valuable to your market. Promote short, engaging ads on behalf of products and services you believe can truly benefit others. With options for pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll advertisements, flexible choices are available to suit your preferences. Here at Staging Connections, we’ve done our research, and here’s some information we want you to know: Pre-roll and post-roll ads are known to be most effective. Viewers complete pre-roll adverts 78% of the time, but mid-roll advertisements have a completion rate of 90%. By avoiding live streaming, you're losing out on brand amplification When you don’t use live streaming, you lose the ability to extract genuine pieces of footage and repurpose it for social media marketing. Your live broadcast also serves as an outlet for strategic networking to align your brands with influencers by promoting their involvement with your event. Here is a quick tip: Always add social media tags. Beforehand, do keyword research to discover the terms your target audience searches and uses most frequently. The more you know about your viewer’s interests, the more relevant your content will be over time. Content that offers solutions lives on. Wrapping your event doesn’t mean your live stream is no longer valuable. Research has shown that 78% of people online are watching videos, and 75% of executives are watching videos related to their business every week. We're here to help you go live - live streaming experts you can trust At Encore (formerly Staging Connections), we know that live streaming video can change the way brands engage with audiences. Whether you’re looking to show behind the scenes footage or host competitions, we offer event streaming and recording services to bring all of your live streaming ideas to life with quality and professionalism. Get in touch today to find out more about our event streaming services and plan your event with a live stream that will impress audiences and maximise social engagement. -- Photo Credit: Valoso ... Read More

It’s been a very busy quarter for Staging Connections right across the business. From delivering the AFL’s week long Best & Fairest and Grand Final Week celebrations to helping EB Games celebrate 20 years, our teams have work tirelessly to produce innovative event experiences. We’ve seen the successful launch of our fun new product, SpeakUp, ...

Our most versatile styling solution has just landed! General Marketing Manager, Adele Symonds, discusses why everyone is talking about Scenic Panels and how they are making an impact for events of all shapes and sizes. How to add that something special to your next event by Adele Symonds, General Marketing Manager - Encore Event Technologies -- People often ask me: what makes a great event? Is it the topic, the speaker, or could it be the stage setting that can really make an event shine? So far in 2017, we have seen some really fantastic examples of event design and uses of event technology, from projection mapping to elaborate stage sets and clever use of lighting. Event planning has become equally focused on how well you can put on a show in order to really exceed your guests expectations. Encore is constantly striving to make events not only fresh and exciting, all the while keeping the brief and budgets in mind. Our discovery team ‘PluggedIn’ are always looking for new products and technology and recently turned their focus to discover what clients want from their event styling. They found there was high demand for a versatile product which has the ability to transform any space, suit any theme and most appealing of all that can be delivered at a fraction of the cost of some of the advanced technologies used for big budget clients. Listening closely to our client’s needs, we developed a new product range of laser cut Scenic Panels which would add a touch of finesse and style to any event. The demand for a versatile product was delivered by the almost infinite number of ways and formations the panels can be used. Scenic Panels provide the perfect room divider and can help you go from conference to gala dinner. Available in 2D and 3D the intricate laser cut panels in a range of on-trend designs, are a flexible, affordable way to add a special touch to your event. Combine with up-lighting, washes and colourful displays to bring movement and ‘wow’ factor to any venue. Scenic Panels can be used to replace traditional draping in decorating venue walls. Want to hide that stage fascia, wall, or add an elegant textual feature? No problem, these specialised panels are the perfect solution. Want to create a memorable entrance feature, networking area, or distinct focal point for your event? They can do that. Scenic Panels used to create a simple yet elegant stage backdrop for an intimate VIP event. Need an architectural element for theatrical lighting to impress and delight your audience? Scenic panels are perfect. You can event create dramatic ceiling sculptures which when lit create a truly dramatic look. Scenic Panels can even be rigged to the roof to create spectacular ceiling installations. Scenic Panels are now available in every Encore base location, as well as all venues where we are in-house across Australia and New Zealand. Head to our product page to find out more about Scenic Panels today. Love to find out more about how Scenic Panels could be used for your event? Simply send us an enquiry or give us a call on 1800 209 099 ... Read More

2016 was certainly an exciting year for Encore (formerly Staging Connections). We delivered a whopping 32,900 events across the Asia Pacific for our clients - from conferences, gala dinners and incentives to sporting events, roadshows and everything in between! We continued our pursuit of the very latest event technologies, like holograms, custom projection mapping, new digital signage products and touch-screen technology, as well as being the first event company in Australia to offer free event apps to our clients! Our creative teams also continued to shine, delivering on-trend styling, creative set designs and multimedia content that delivered an amazing brand experience for attendees. Whilst we can’t talk about every event in 2016 – there’s just too many! – We are proud to share with you some of the highlight corporate events we delivered in 2016. Event: Dom Pérignon VIP gala dinner NSW Client: Dom Pérignon Venue: The Ivy, Merivale Our team amazed 100 VIP guests with an imaginative and artistic lighting and projection show, at a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience for the Dom Pérignon Lumiére Dinner. Throughout the evening, creative and custom animations were projection mapped onto the tables using twelve 16k projectors to perfectly align the animation to each place setting. Among the animations were beautiful champagne inspired designs, personalised name cards, and even projections introducing each course, which was of course paired with different vintage Dom Pérignon champagnes! Dom Pérignon Lumiere Dinner 2016 at ivy Sydney . Why we love it It was fantastic to partner with a world-renowned, luxury brand on such an exciting event. We pushed the boundaries to produce something truly innovative using beautiful lighting effects and projection mapping. The style of the event articulated the elegance of the Dom Pérignon brand, and we delivered a seamless and unforgettable event experience. Event: LNG18 Conference WA Client: Exhibitions and Trade Fairs Venue: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre In April 2016, the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre hosted the world’s largest global liquefied natural gas (LNG) conference, LNG18. The four day event was attended by over 6,000 leaders of the LNG industry, amongst them were CEOs from Chevron, Shell and Woodside as well as the Australian Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other Heads of State. We were proud to be appointed as the official audio visual provider for the conference. Delivering LNG18. Why we love it The modernistic set design for the plenary sessions used the latest in projection mapping; with its custom design inspired by an industrial look and isometric shapes. The event featured stunning scenery of Australia’s landscape and integrated vision of current and future LNG projects. LNG18 also gave us the opportunity to debut our latest digital offering, Inteli-Touch - which is our answer to “what comes next after PowerPoint and Keynote?” – an interactive touch-screen presentation software. Exhibitions & Trade Fairs, organisers of the conference, used Inteli-Touch on their stand to display exhibition floor plans on an interactive screen so delegates could make bookings or send an enquiry to exhibit at the next World Gas Conference in Washington. Event: Crows Match Day Experience Client: Adelaide Crows Venue: Adelaide Oval Encore was challenged to engage Adelaide Crows fans in new ways. The solution was an amazing activation projecting imagery onto buildings around the CBD, the roof of the stadium and surrounding grounds. As part of our solution, our team lit up the Adelaide night sky with custom lighting projections of the Adelaide Football Club’s brand during the first half of the 2016 Toyota AFL Premiership season. Iconic buildings on the riverbank, including the Adelaide Festival Centre and InterContinental Adelaide, were lit with the brilliant projections accompanying those on the grandstand, footpaths, skyscrapers and trees and inside the stadium itself. Why we love it Inspired by the 'bat signal', we designed a powerful call-to-arms for Adelaide Football Club fans, emphasise the club’s tagline “We Fly As One” and logo. Beaming the Adelaide Crows colours and branding onto the skyline and the surrounding grounds was the perfect answer to this brief. For the 2016 Toyota AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round, Encore helped the Crows honour their current and past Indigenous players with spectacular custom projections of the players on the stadium’s ceiling. In a first for the Adelaide Oval, we worked with TLA Worldwide to give fans a unforgettable match day experience with the stadium itself becoming a branded canvas and mural of the players. Event: 2016 Australian Tourism Exchange Client: cievents Venue: Gold Coast Event Centre Working collaboratively with cievents, a valued long-term client of Encore, our team delivered the creative design for the Welcome Event of the 2016 Australian Tourism Exchange. The theme of the Welcome Event was to pay tribute to the beautiful aquatic and coastal experiences Australia provides, which was a focus of the latest global campaign by Tourism Australia. Our teams brought the idea to life by using a combination of audio visual, multimedia content and styling. Creative lighting was used throughout the venue, in conjunction with fleur paneling on the ceiling, to completely transform the space with a wave design that immersed guests in an underwater feel. Why we love it As a major tourism event with Chris Hemsworth in attendance, expectations were high to bring the Australiana theme to life. Creating a major wow-factor, we rigged two huge rectangular truss grids to the ceiling to produce the technical lighting requirements and support the magnificent ceiling installation of fleur panels that created a wave effect. Additionally, we created a vibrant beach atmosphere outdoors, featuring lots of sand, a DJ hut, wide LED screen and beach furniture, which was made in collaboration with other service providers such as Coastal Productions and ELS. The overall effect of the AV, lighting design, multimedia content and styling worked in harmony to truly immerse the audience into the coastal Australiana theme. Event: Amway Taiwan Incentive Client: Amway Taiwan Venue: The Cutaway, Barangaroo The Amway Taiwan 2016 Incentive was one of the biggest events of the year for Sydney with over 1150 VIPs in attendance. For the concluding gala dinner, Encore's Sydney team designed and delivered an elaborate event production at The Cutaway, Barangaroo on Sydney’s Harbour foreshore. It was a sensory overload with non-stop entertainment from the moment the guests arrived. The AV technical teams, designers and stylists worked together to transform a rugged venue into a glamorous gala dinner. Stunning Australian scenery was seamlessly projected along the venues walls, a stunning lighting display beamed colours and shapes around the room, whilst the tables were decorated with elegant, native centrepieces on sparkling golden linen. Amway Taiwan Incentive Event 2016. Why we love it Event managers dream of an event like this. From the iconic location and incredible programme of entertainment, to the technically demanding yet visually striking AV, lighting design and stunning styling. The Amway Taiwan incentive was a truly decadent affair, not to mention the vintage Mustang cars bringing the VIP guests on stage! To top it off, the gala dinner concluded with a magnificent 15 minute firework display from numerous barges and giant AMWAY fire letters in the Harbour, to deliver a truly breathtaking finale. Event: ACORN Conference Client: ICMS Australia Venue: Hobart’s Grand Chancellor Hotel and Macquarie’s Wharf No.2 In 2016, our Hobart team delivered their largest event in Tasmania for ICMS Australia. The four day conference welcomed 1200 of the nation’s Operating Room Nurses at Hobart’s Grand Chancellor Hotel, which concluded with a beautifully styled gala dinner at Macquarie’s Wharf No 2. Why we love it The gala dinner was a real highlight; we delivered a vast projection surface that set the scene for the theme of a ‘winter wonderland, the place to have a devil of a time’. The high definition images and custom created multimedia ensured a spectacular back drop to the evening’s entertainment. Twenty glass chandeliers, a 20m snaking truss with customised devil’s tail, a large ice sculpture and a wintery tunnel, complete with a snow machine, brought the theme to life and established an impressive and immersive atmosphere. Event: Westfield Annual General Meeting (AGM) Client: Scentre Group Venue: Centennial Hall, Sydney Town Hall This was a momentous event for the Scentre Group as Mr Frank Lowy (AC) performed his final duties as Chairman of the company that he began 57 years ago. The event was attended by 250 shareholders, stakeholders and numerous media at Centennial Hall in the Sydney Town Hall. Why we love it Our team are experts in delivering a seamless audio visual production for Annual General Meetings and this event for one of Australia’s largest corporate companies was a great example. We provided beautiful branded lighting, live and on-demand webcasts and custom-built staging. We provided a webcast of the entire event live to shareholders around the world, whilst ensuring accurate sound and vision was never interrupted. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this momentous occasion. Event: New Zealander of the Year Awards 2016 Client: New Zealander of the Year Venue: The Langham Auckland Paying homage to the intricate Maori flax weave, our New Zealand events team designed a stunning gala dinner for the annual New Zealander of the Year Awards. Encore delivered a professional audio, vision, lighting, stage design and event production management solution. The stage design was constructed using 13 vertical digital banners configured in a zig-zag arrangement to provide a canvas for the content to be projected onto. On either side of the center stage were two 16ft wide screens displaying the videos, awards categories and a live camera feed. Our role as the audio visual provider was to provide the perfect event environment to support the awards ceremony, live performances and room arrangement for 690 guests. Why we love it Encore has proudly sponsored the event, which recognises New Zealander's who make their country a better place, for two years with our venue partner, The Langham Auckland. It allowed our venues team at The Langham Auckland to design a stunning stage backdrop for the awards night, using our Digital Banners in a new way. Event: Mercedes Benz Dealer of the Year Awards Client: Mercedes Benz Venue: Palladium at Crown We teamed up with Rush Events to create a super-glamorous event for the Mercedes Benz Dealer of the Year Awards. Held at the gorgeous Palladium at Crown, the spectacular event had everything; acrobats, an 18 piece big band, a car reveal through a smoky haze and to top it all off, an incredible ‘wave wall’ produced by a 6 projector blend. It was a huge talking point for attendees and showcased how smart multimedia content and clever projections can enrich events. Why we love it Bringing together a beautiful event like this was no small feat – it pooled together our team’s expertise in pre-production planning, creative design, multimedia production, technical direction and stage management all using the latest AV products and technology. Creation of all on screen multimedia content and backgrounds, along with furniture selection and styling were also done by our team. This event really showcased how our combined expertise can captivate audiences and create an unforgettable event. Event: QHA Awards for Excellence Client: The Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) Venue: Great Hall, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) For another year, Encore was delighted to be the preferred supplier for this high profile awards night. Our brief was to raise the bar of previous years and create a celebratory atmosphere, with engaging multimedia content. Our vision was to create a Red Carpet feel, and working alongside the BCEC audio visual team, we delivered a total event production solution – from designing the event look, to on-screen multimedia content, set design, show-calling, media wall for photographs and everything in between! Why we love it This year we showcased our new fleur panels and incorporated them into the stunning set design and media wall. Our teams made clever use of AV elements, the giant curved screen and floating circular truss, to integrate all the elements and make the venue space feel intimate. This meant no matter where you sat in the room, you had clear visibility of the stage and felt part of the action. This was an event we could have a bit of fun with, and a lot of style and glamour to – a challenge we always love! Event: The Million Dollar Lunch Client: Children’s Cancer Foundation Venue: Palladium at Crown Melbourne The 12th annual The Million Dollar Lunch was a major success with the Palladium at Crown Melbourne transformed into a themed extravaganza. Our team delivered an immersive 'Vintage Superhero' themed gala using audio, vision, lighting, content, styling and set design services. The event included 20 custom designed printed comic book panels hanging around an ‘X’ shaped stage, 16 superhero projections, four giant screens jutting out from the stage with custom multimedia content, superhero lightbox table centrepieces and super-hero costume coloured chairs; with the room encased by dark draping to create a mysterious atmosphere. The Million Dollar Lunch attracted more than 550 of Australia’s most influential leaders including Chief Executive of the AFL Gillon McLachlan and Patron of the Foundation, Chairman Jeremy Smith, Treasurer Tim Pallas MP, Shadow Treasurer Michael O’Brien MP, business leaders including Heloise Pratt AM, Leigh Clifford AO and other VIPs including Ricky Ponting AO, Jane Kennedy and George Calombaris. Why we love it We’ve had the pleasure of working on The Million Dollar Lunch with the Children’s Cancer Foundation for nine events, providing the technical, audio visual, styling and design services for this prestigious fundraising gala lunch. Our team really let their imagination run wild to make the vintage superheroes theme come to life, embracing iconic heroes and integrating the event’s tag line ‘Meanwhile in Melbourne...’. The best result was that the event raised more than $1.7 million for the Children’s Cancer Foundation. How your event can make the list for 2017 Encore has been delivering unforgettable event experiences since 1986. With the largest range of event services offered across Asia Pacific, we are the trusted event partner who will make your next event the best it can be. We specialise in delivering corporate events - from conferences, Annual General Meetings, and product launches through to awards nights, gala dinners and everything in between. Get in touch with us today and let's see how we can make your next event the best one yet! ... Read More

Elegant design takes centre stage - the Encore Event Technologies Perth events team provided all the audio visual and creative event services for Polytechnic West to deliver their annual fashion show – the Nucleo Collective! The Perth event revealed fashion students’ stunning array of garments at their 45th show. However, this was to be no ordinary fashion show. This year, Polytechnic West wanted to take the event to the next level, incorporating futuristic multimedia in platinum shades, on a 37 metre screen as a backdrop to the students’ latest creations. The aim was to wow the 1200 guests who came to witness the future talent to hit the Australian fashion scene. Pulsating audio and lighting added a vibrant mood as the circuit board themed multimedia was projected onto the giant screen. The dynamic opening set the tone for the following eight themes which all reflected the inspiration for the designers’ creations. Each student was asked to provide images of their original inspiration for their collections. From this our multimedia designer interpreted their inspiration to deliver a tailored animation to compliment the garments. Our in house multimedia and motion graphic designers took time with each student to understand the influences behind their collections to expressly reflect their creations. We created a short introduction video to accompany each student's presentation. The individual animations were played as a prelude to each collection, creating custom-designed cinematic experience for each designer. The stage production for the fashion show was complex as the event was held in a basketball stadium with tiered stadium seating that moved when guests walked on it. The challenge was to seat the audience with enough distance to view the projection, yet close enough to see the fashion collections up-close. With there being no in-house rigging within the venue, our experienced AV technicians improvised with the event lighting solution and built a 9m wide by 7m high ground support in which we rigged over 30 1K Pacific Profiles to provide the stage wash. We complemented the stage wash with various intelligent lighting solutions including Martin Mac350’s suspended from a truss arch at the back of the room in addition to 8 Martic Mac 700s and 8 GLP Volkslight on the floor across the front of the stage. Andrew Symons, a senior AV technician at Encore Event Technologies who lead the entire event production from start to finish, did an amazing job orchestrating the teams to work together and overcome some difficult challenges working within the venue to deliver an event that exceeded the clients' expectations. The event was a stunning celebration of the students’ collections, with Encore Event Technologies pulling out all the stops to deliver a spectacular runway and a visual fiesta for this Perth fashion event. Encore Event Technologies Perth Events Team The Perth Audio Visual Encore team is backed by the resources and innovation of the international company, giving you the best of small business personal service plus leading support. The local Perth events team is based across two key venues and is headed up by Brien Keys. If you're looking to host your next corporate event in Perth, 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 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 18th consecutive year, Encore Event Technologies (formerly Staging Connections) provided audio and visual services for the Santos Tour Down Under; an action-packed nine day outdoor event featuring world-class cycling; and combined with styled gala dinners and street parties. Casts of thousands make the pilgrimage every year to revel in the atmosphere the Adelaide event brings. It's a fantastic Australian event to be part of and Encore are proud to provide all the audio visual equipment for yet another successful year. Client: Events South Australia Event: Santos Tour Down Under 2016 Venue: Adelaide and surrounds Event Date: 16 - 24th January Event Attendees: Approx. 780, 000 Event Brief Encore's Adelaide events team were briefed to provide and operate crystal-clear sound and vision equipment for all start and finish lines. This included prodding all the AV for the public address systems, commentary locations, and presentation stages. In addition, our AV technicians were charged with providing localised vision mixing for sponsorship recognition sent directly to multiple LED screens and TVs in the corporate areas lining the various circuits and routes. As part of the social events running alongside the main cycling race, audio and vision support was required for the team presentations, tour parade cars, as well as the opening night music concert by Jessica Mauboy and week long Tour Village in Victoria Square. As this is one of the biggest sporting events on the Australian calendar it receives huge media attention. It was our job to ensure the media conference rooms at the Hilton Adelaide had all the audio and vision equipment necessary to broadcast. Plus, Encore were called on to supply multiple outdoor LED screens to bring spectators all the action live from the race. Tailored Audio Visual Solution Experts in perfecting the audio and vision for this exciting outdoor event, the Adelaide events team supplied both large and small audio systems to accommodate basic commentary, music reinforcement, concert production, public address systems and information systems. Plus vision systems included TV commercials playback, sponsor recognition, image reinforcement, broadcast of highlights and live footage of the race all locally mixed with dedicated cameras for local interviews with the commentators. With a host of world-class technology at their fingertips, Encore installed a vast amount of audio, lighting, and vision equipment to ensure all aspects of the racing festival was captured. This included lighting for the opening night concert featuring popstar Jessica Mauboy as well as numerous LED screens - both small standalone screens and truck mounted screens - strategically positioned around the outdoor event to provide the live broadcast of the race, highlights, event sponsor recognition, a Twitter wall in the Village, television commercials and also as a stunning backdrop for the presentation stages at each race finish. To enhance the Adelaide event’s branding, the Encore events team designed a variety of animated holding slides and sponsor reels to support the official broadcast. Going the extra mile as part of our audio visual solution As a long term supplier and sponsor, Encore believes in the power of this event to draw thousands of tourists and business event delegates to Adelaide every year. In 2016, Encore supported Wednesday’s Stage 2 race as the naming sponsor for the leg from Unley to Stirling. The event ties into the beliefs of the Encore team, promoting cycling and professional athletes performing at their best whilst showcasing the sights, food and produce of South Australia. For Stage 2, the finish line at Stirling reached 35 degrees with 60% humidity, so the creative Encore team sourced over 3,000 Zooper Doopers and distributed them to the sweltering crowds! A custom made trophy was designed using a Horn Speaker from previous year’s events that was plated in aluminium and covered in custom decals and a naming plaque – its creativity and striking uniqueness certainly stood out at the presentation! For the Subaru Tour Parade, Encore revved up the crowd lining the race route 30 minutes prior to the peloton. They played the Tour Down Under theme song and various cycling sound effects building excitement with the energetic crowds that eagerly awaited the racing action. At each finish point, the team worked with the Presentation Event Manager, Big Fish Events to mix and broadcast “Breakaway TV” to the fans via large LED screens and street-lined PA system. The system pulled live footage from the host broadcaster and from custom television commercials for sponsors, as well as highlights and expert commentary from two dedicated commentators at each finish line. This ensured that the fans were well informed with live race updates as well as extensive sponsor recognition. What did the client say about the event and AV production services? "As a long term supplier of the Santos Tour Down Under we were thrilled to have Encore (then Staging Connections) solidify this relationship in 2016 by becoming the Stage 2 naming rights sponsor. "The 2016 event was one of the best yet and a highlight of this year was the opening concert featuring Jessica Mauboy. The stage set and graphics really set this event apart and what was most impressive was the change of the stage from a presentation to concert in under 5 minutes to ensure the crowd remains and is engaged. The concert is a great example of the service provided by Encore {sik Staging Connections} and why we are excited to continue to work with them both as a supplier and sponsor in coming years." Sally Heading, Event Manager, Events South Australia Encore's Adelaide Events Team Our local events team is based across eight key venues and is headed up by General Manager, Brien Keys. The team are 100% Adelaide-proud and their passion for the outdoors makes them key suppliers to some of the city’s main summer events, including the Adelaide Christmas Pageant, Clipsal 500 and year on year sponsorship and AV for the Adelaide Crows. If you're looking to host your next corporate event in Adelaide, 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 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