2017 was certainly a big year for Encore Event Technologies (formerly 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.
Highlight events of 2017
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!
Comments