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Why you should use digital banners at your event

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research

A theatrical set is a combination of engineering, practicality and imagination that, at its best, becomes part of a show’s narrative as it helps tell it. The ubiquity of digital video technology means that your event can benefit from the same attention-grabbing visual techniques that wow Broadway audiences. With the right content, your brand, message and story can fill screens, dance across walls and create long-lasting impressions in your audience’s memories. Even better, your content can be transported to new venues, re-used in electronic communication, broadcast on web and re-purposed as a promotional tool after your event is over.
What is a digital set?
‘Digital Set’ is a catch-all term for a combination of techniques, equipment and strategies that all use digitally created graphic content to enhance a live event. A Digital Set can be any combination of static, animated or video content displayed on screens, projected on surfaces or animated across LED lighting fixtures. The options with projection alone are almost limitless! With one projector you can present an animation on a central screen all the while projection static branding on two peripheral screens.
Set the scene of your event
The first thing you need to consider when using digital sets is the venue you intend to deploy them in and the projection space that allows. Small function spaces – will be well served by projection to a modest central screen, augmented by strategically placed flat-panel displays. Larger theatre-style presentation spaces – can support multiple projection screens and projection onto walls. Extremely large ballroom or gala centres – allow you to stretch your imagination. They can house multiple sized custom screens, curved screens and projection mapped immersive visuals, all on a grand scale. Designing to your message The aim of your event is to convey your message, a digital set is intended to enhance it not outshine it. The development of your content and its technical implementation should go hand in hand. The best AV companies now have graphic designers, computer animator and video content creators in-house, which is the ideal team for enhancing your message. Take your speaker’s PowerPoint or Keynote presentations as a starting point and work through them with the content creators. They will pick out themes, selected static or animated visuals, highlight the most important sections and help structure the presentation with visual markers.
Making use of the natural breaks
You obviously don’t want to subvert attention during your speakers presentations but there are several natural breaks in the proceedings; introductions, walk- ups speaker changes that allow you to use the whole Digital Set to entertain the crowd. For example, introducing a speaker allows you to use all visual displays in unison to immerse the whole venue in a single visual sequence. An image can traverse the room making heads spin, light and fire can rise from every corner in your event. All these transitions should be made with tight, precise timings before bringing the focus right back to the speaker.
Making an experience for your guests
Envisage this:
Video operators ensure that all presentations are queued up on a central computer and can be edited at a moments notice if necessary. All of your creative content will be deployed across projectors and screens via media servers run through powerful video mapping software. Lights go down, animation and video come up and your first speaker will take to the stage, right in the middle of the digital set you have created.
Your presenter speaks. Slow video loops of your logo and slideshows of images pertinent to your theme run unobtrusively on secondary displays, quietly setting the scene in your audiences peripheral vision. At the moment when the major new product/direction/award is unveiled all displays leap to life in concert with the key image and text. As the details are explained, different points and illustrations make their way to different parts of the room, adjusting and focusing the audience’s attention as necessary. As the presentation ends, the room becomes one image, surrounding the crowd in the environment of the idea.
Take your digital set with you
Marketing memory
After the applause has died down and the audience has left, your Digital Set is ready to keep working for you. You should follow-up your attendees via email, framed in the same style and content as the event and send out a link to video highlights. Make sure you tie their experience into your emailed content. You have created a memory that is branded with your visuals in each attendee’s mind, and every time you communicate with them make sure to use these same images. If your content and message were compelling, they will recall the event even more fervently.
Portable set
If your event is travelling its easy to take your digital set with you and adapt it as needed to the new venue. Projections can be scaled up and down according to room size and available surfaces. Similarly, images that were split across multiple devces can be amalgamated to one or vice-versa. Digital Sets are incredibly malleable and coherent content with a clear message with translate well no matter what media is carrying it. Your digital content is now a business asset that cost a fraction of its physical counterpart with the ability to be scaled down to an iPad or up to an arena.
Digital set event packages Staging Connections offer Digital Sets in their Event Create packages. In-house content creators work with you with options for either static or animated imagery. Standard display options include projecting from one projector onto multiple screens or from multiple projectors onto ultra wide screens, if your venue can physically accommodate them. In all cases and all combinations, Staging Connections work with you to bring out the heart of your message, and enhance your event with the right combination lighting, sound and decoration to fit with your theme. Unique boxes
The standard package does not limit your ability to create something truly unique. Staging Connections’ creative team and event planners love to extend themselves by creating totally individual events that create an environment for the organisation’s message. Whether it is bringing a character to life, creating a new display concept for a revolutionary product or finding a way to communicate a radical idea with absolute clarity, the Digital team love a challenge. That’s the great thing about the digital visions tools of modern AV – it’s never been easier to bring the hardest-to-image concepts to life and it’s never been more affordable to create a theatrical experience for your audience that’s every bit as entertaining as a night on Broadway. Want to stay up to date with industry trends? Browse our range of downloadable Event Insights papers … Read More

Recent Posts

What it takes to pull off a Business Chicks event with Jamie Oliver in 2 weeks!

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
We’ve been working with Business Chicks for seven years now, so when we get the green light to go ahead and put on an event for Jamie Oliver with just two weeks to prepare, we kick straight into action. This week's Event Spotlight is brought to you by Lizzi Lovegrove (pictured right), Key Account Manager for Business Chicks. I work closely with Sara Jenkins, Event Manager and her team at Business Chicks in the lead up to the event. From the briefing period, right through to the bump-in of the event (usually the day prior) and on event day itself, we are in constant communication ensuring everything is on track. The team at Business Chicks find some of the highest profile speakers, and all round super-cool people to entertain audiences across the country. They are continuously researching and in conversation with a range of diverse speakers to ensure they get the best for their members. This certainly keeps our job interesting, as dealing with high profile speakers like Jamie, often only gives us a very short period of time in which to get everything ready. So once a speaker is confirmed, the team kicks into gear. The Business Chicks Event Coordinators drive the crucial task of perfecting the event run sheets – from the stage styling to the menu, to the very detailed AV requirements, everything is included. In the world of events, our lives rely on the accuracy of the run sheet! We supplied and managed all the AV and production for Jamie’s event and getting these elements together so that no microphone fails, no lights flicker and nothing is out of sync at the event takes a team of pros and some tried and tested processes. When we knew what was required, I coordinated with our onsite Event Staging Manager at The Westin Sydney, who pulled together the production requirements, resources and logistics. Our production department were notified of the event and a Technical Director was allocated to oversee the floor plan, schematics, site inspection, risk assessment and show call/cue sheet. Our operations department at The Westin reviewed equipment availability and brought in any bits and pieces that weren’t already on site. Our crew department appointed the most suitable Technicians to set up, rehearse, operate and pack down the show. Photo credit: Merrin Boyer Photography We always love turning up to the event and seeing what the Business Chicks have put in the goodie bags. They work with some incredible brands to pull together the gift bags, making sure the contents are relevant to the speaker. In Jamie Oliver’s gift bags they were very conscious of only including healthy, natural products. Once every element has been considered and prepared, we step into event-action-mode. We did a full run through on the morning before the event. Our AV team at the back of the room control everything throughout the event – running the presentation, cuing lighting and balancing all audio before the audience hears it. Jamie was fantastic to work with and a true natural speaker. It’s always great to stand at the back of the room and just see it all in action. That’s the real joy for everyone in events, watching all the preparation pay off and seeing Jamie entertain and engage every single member of the audience was amazing! ... Read More

Planning a successful Outdoor Event, safely: Part 2

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
In the spirit of welcoming the Winter chills, we thought it only fitting to reflect on the glorious Outdoor Events that the long and sun-filled days that Summer allows us. As part of this homage we have compiled a quick list of outdoor event essentials to help you plan properly for next season. Last month we shared the first part of this blog post - which focussed on having the right people for the job, styling for outdoor events, and making sure your equipment is weather-proof. There’s no setting for an event that can compete with nature itself. If you’re organising any kind of gathering that could take advantage of the season and a beautiful natural setting, or spill from the confines of a building into manicured grounds, then you should embrace the opportunity. While getting out amongst it can add some logistical and physical challenges, this shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the beautiful natural landscapes on offer. All you need is an experienced outdoor event company to take the stress and hard work off your hands. We have the equipment, strategies and processes in place to ensure that your guests are comfortable, entertained and delighted. Magic Lantern If you’re familiar with the magic of 2D and 3D projection mapping, it will come as no surprise that this is just as deployable outside as in. In fact, many people are familiar with the possibilities of this technology because of a famous outdoor event – VIVID Sydney. VIVID sees the facades of famous Sydney buildings, including the Opera House itself, transformed by high-powered projectors beaming digitally controlled and animated images onto their giant canvasses. VIVID runs through the night, in all weather, its expensive projection technology waterproofed by housing in protective structures. This same technology is available through Staging Connections, who can not only provide the equipment but also design and create custom content for your event. It’s a creative tool whose uses are as diverse as the events industry itself. Imagine your guests emerging from a day of conferencing at a luxurious rural retreat, based in a large manor-house style hotel. Set in magnificent manicured grounds, the ballroom opens huge French doors onto a sweeping lawn area, which has been set-up with marquees for a sophisticated garden cocktail party. As the sun sets and your guests enjoy drinks and canapés, the broad neoclassical façade they look back to starts to subtly shift and change with the fading light, as a multimedia display picks out architectural features while reinforcing the subject and theme of the day’s activities. This is just a small example of what’s possible. Safety First Staging Connections’ experience in providing services outside the confines of a venue spans every conceivable kind of occasion, from cocktail parties for dozens to large-scale sporting events for hundreds of thousands. In addition to a full inventory of staging, rigging, lighting, audio and vision equipment specially built for weather-proof use, Staging Connections have also implemented a company-wide event safety system called StageSafe, a suite of processes, protocols and tools that has created a culture that keeps the safety of guests and employees foremost in all staff member’s minds. StageSafe is unique in that it is an holistic safety programme created expressly for the events industry. Drawing on years of risk assessments and practical experience, StageSafe brings together all the data and knowledge the company has accumulated and puts it directly in its employee’s hands via a smartphone app. Staff can consult working practice documents, easily access information on safety standards and log hazard or incident reports in real-time, reporting data directly to in-house safety experts for analysis and action. All data is analysed to apply continuous improvement to work practices, ensuring the health and safety of customers and staff at all future events. Staging Connections are justifiably proud of the StageSafe system, and were honoured with the ‘Best Individual Contribution to Workplace Health and Safety’ gong at the NSW Government 2014 SafeWork Awards in 2014. “StageSafe is not just a system, but a way of doing things, an attitude that the whole Staging Connections team bring to each event they deliver,” said Tony Chamberlain, Managing Director at Staging Connections. “Our crews are trained in all aspects of what they do, and understand that safety is paramount in creating a brilliant show.” Following the systems’ great success, Staging Connections have confirmed their dedication to OH&S by making the StageSafe app available to the rest of the events industry. Natural Beauty Staging Connections have the privilege of operating in some of the world’s most beautiful natural environments, including the breathtaking sweep of Sydney Harbour, the tropical beauty of Far North Queensland adjoining the Great Barrier Reef, the Red Centre of Alice Springs, the paradise that is Fiji and a myriad of parks and protected areas throughout Australia, New Zealand, China and Singapore. With experience across longitudes, latitudes, climates and all weathers, a Staging Connections team will know and respect their area and the environment, delivering a meaningful and thoughtful event no matter what the scale. With such a diverse range of environments available for outdoor events, think about what you can achieve for your audience over the warmer months. Enchant with a beautifully lit garden, inspire awe under a canopy of stars, bond families together with a picnic in a park or reward high performers in a tropical paradise. Staging Connections will help you get out there. If you're wanting to plan an outdoor event, make sure you speak to the professionals. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help bring your vision to life in the great outdoors! Love learning the latest in event delivery and technology? Download our range of free White Papers today. ... Read More

Techie Tuesday: Telephone Hybrid Units explained

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
Each week we aim to demystify the world of AV equipment and event services lingo and reveal exactly what those techs are talking about. In this weeks #TechieTuesday we look at Telephone Hybrid Units, those magical little machines that broadcast your call over the radio!. Welcome to another edition of Techie Tuesday! Each week we aim to demystify the world of audio visual equipment and event services lingo. Ever wondered how you can hear a talk-back caller speak on the radio from their own phone? Or perhaps how a news correspondent can be heard on television when they’re reporting from a remote location without a camera? This is all thanks to the Telephone Hybrid Unit. AV Discipline: Audio AV Category: AV Equipment AV Jargon: Hybrid, Phone Interface, THU What is a Telephone Hybrid Unit? In its simplest form, a telephone hybrid integrates a telephone call into an audio system, allowing the event to extend outside of the function room. It is typically positioned at the Technician’s control desk for ease of access and connectivity with other audio equipment. Hybrid units enable presenters to deliver their speech remotely over the phone, with the live audience listening in the function room, or allow remote participants to listen into a live presentation via the phone. How Does it Work? When you want to present or broadcast a telephone conversation, the telephone hybrid is used to convert the call into a particular format that is compatible with audio systems. For example, when a listener calls a radio station’s talk-back line, the phone is connected to the telephone hybrid unit which gets activated by the on-air announcer ie the DJ. With a simple switch of a button on the hybrid unit, the phone signal is converted into an audio compatible signal which gets fed through the station’s live broadcast and out to the listeners. The AV technician will have individual control over the send and receive signals, ensuring no unwanted feedback (echo or high-pitched robotic noise) is present on the telephone call. Why do you need a Telephone Hybrid Unit? Event types such as Conferences, Product Launches and Annual General Meetings commonly use this device to connect delegates into the event, when they are unable to attend in person. Just like a normal phone call, the telephone hybrid allows for two way communication. The only difference is that instead of using a handset, an audio system with microphones and speakers are required. While other technologies such as video conferencing and web casting have the distinct advantage of being able to use visual elements to communicate, the telephone hybrid is the simplest and easiest method of connecting a remote presenter or audience. It also doesn't rely on internet connection, so for events in remote locations, a telephone hybrid may be the best solution. When you’re next at a conference listening to a speaker present remotely, you‘ll be one of the very few who knows how they do it! If you have any words, terms or lingo you would like our AV experts to demystify for you please send your suggestions through to info@stagingconnections.com Written by Andrew Thorne, ANZPAC Manage Safety & Training, Staging Connections. Andrew Thorne drives our training programs at Staging Connections, including our Certificate III in Live Production and Services Program for our new trainees. Related Blogs Techie Tuesday: Talk Back Systems Optimise your event communication with design and production Techie Tuesday: What is a Graphic Equaliser and why do I need one? Love learning the latest lighting and AV techniques? Download our range of free White Papers today. ... Read More

Techie Tuesday: How do you display multiple content on screen?

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
Each week we aim to demystify the world of AV equipment and event services lingo and reveal exactly what those techs are talking about. In this weeks #TechieTuesday we explain what on earth they mean by 'PIP'- the feature that allows you to display multiple video feeds into the one screen! Welcome to another edition of Techie Tuesday! Each week we aim to demystify the world of audio visual equipment and event services lingo. In this week’s Techie Tuesday we take a look at the Picture in Picture (PIP) feature. You have most likely seen a PIP used on the nightly news where a video is playing with the image of the reporter overlayed in the corner of the screen. Not a news fan? You would have definitely spotted the picture-in-picture feature during live sport coverage. Image Source: Adobe Blogs | ESPN AV Discipline: Vision AV Category: AV Effect AV Jargon: PIP, Pip The PIP feature is also used in the world of corporate events. A PIP describes multiple images displayed on screen at any one time, giving the audience extra visual stimulation. It is typically used on large screen backdrops or projection screens where there is ample room to clearly see multiple images. A PIP feature is commonly used to add one or more live camera feeds (imag) of the presenter(s) to the screen while also displaying the slide presentation or a background graphic. Event types such as Conferences, Product Launches and Annual General Meetings typically use the PIP feature to present the visual content in an interesting and engaging manner. Technologies such as video conferencing and webcasting have used the PIP feature for many years, however live events are now using the PIP feature more often, especially where multi-projector blends are being used to create a single striking visual backdrop to the stage area. If you have any words, terms or lingo you would like our AV experts to demystify for you please send your suggestions through to info@stagingconnections.com Love learning lighting and AV techniques? Download our range of free White Papers today. ... Read More

Techie Tuesday: Vivid Sydney Exposed

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
Each week we aim to demystify the world of audio visual equipment and event services lingo. In this week’s #TechieTuesday we take a look at the recent Vivid festival in Sydney. If you visited Vivid or saw the spectacular pictures on television, you may have wondered how they created those beautiful landscapes of colour that blasted across the harbour. AV Discipline: Vision AV Category: AV Effects AV Jargon: That looks cool... Vivid requires many weeks and months of planning, to ensure each year is bigger and better than the last. The level of detail and quality found across the creative installations is extremely complex, with some teams dedicating weeks if not months to planning and testing their designs. In fact, this year’s Vivid saw each individual tile on the Sydney Opera House mapped out with pixel-perfect precision so each tile could be illuminated when needed. Photo Credit: Naiker Photography 'Sydney Opera House' Let’s explore what’s involved and see how the technology can be used for corporate events. There are two very different types of technologies found throughout Vivid, they are; colour changing lighting fixtures and projection mapping. Colour changing fixtures are the simplest way to bring colour and movement to the festival. Many landmarks were flooded in vibrant colours, providing spectators with a striking view of the harbour. With careful selection and placement of lighting fixtures in and around the landmark, this allows the lighting designer to program the movement and transition of colours. Hours of programming on a lighting console are required to ensure the correct timing and sequence of colours, transitioning from a cobalt blue one minute and morphing into an emerald green the next, bringing the land mark life! Photo Credit: Naiker Photography 'Sydney Opera House' Video Projection Mapping is a highly technical way of incorporating visual effects and colour stimulation. Many buildings were transformed with projected images, which warped and entertained the spectator’s senses. With accurate focus and alignment of projectors, this allowed video designers to use the building as a canvas on which to project animated colours and objects. Many hours of programming on a edit suit are required to create the animations and visual effects, with multi coloured pattern one minute and a growing garden enveloping the building the next. Photo Credit: Naiker Photography 'Customs House' Colour, movement and animation are great ways to entertain, engage and stimulate your audience. Elements that enhance your event will provide long lasting memories for your audience. You can see that Vivid is not restricted by the confines of a function room, so any area can be transformed into your own bespoke event space. All you need is the concept and the audio, vision and lighting equipment will assist in bringing it to life. Check out the video below showing the awesome visual effects used to promote and launch the Alienware: Area 52 product. If you have any words, terms or lingo you would like our AV experts to demystify for you please send your suggestions through to info@stagingconnections.com Love learning lighting and AV techniques? Download our range of free White Papers today. All images supplied by Naiker Photography. For more stunning images of landscapes with beautiful lighting effects visit their Facebook Page. ... Read More

Why you need Digital Banners and Widescreens at your event

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
A theatrical set is a combination of engineering, practicality and imagination that, at its best, becomes part of a show’s narrative as it helps tell it. The ubiquity of digital video technology means that your event can benefit from the same attention-grabbing visual techniques that wow Broadway audiences. With the right content, your brand, message and story can fill screens, dance across walls and create long-lasting impressions in your audience’s memories. Even better, your content can be transported to new venues, re-used in electronic communication, broadcast on web and re-purposed as a promotional tool after your event is over. What is a digital stage set? ‘Digital Stage Set’ is a catch-all term for a combination of techniques, equipment and strategies that all use digitally created graphic content to enhance a live event. A Digital Stage Set can be any combination of static, animated or video content displayed on screens, projected on surfaces or animated across LED lighting fixtures. The options with projection alone are almost limitless! With one projector you can present an animation on a central screen all the while projection static branding on two peripheral screens. Set the scene of your event The first thing you need to consider when using digital sets is the venue you intend to deploy them in and the projection space that allows. Small function spaces - will be well served by projection to a modest central screen, augmented by strategically placed flat-panel displays. Larger theatre-style presentation spaces - can support multiple projection screens and projection onto walls. Extremely large ballroom or gala centres - allow you to stretch your imagination. They can house multiple sized custom screens, curved screens and projection mapped immersive visuals, all on a grand scale. Designing to your message The aim of your event is to convey your message, a digital set is intended to enhance it not outshine it. The development of your content and its technical implementation should go hand in hand. The best AV companies now have graphic designers, computer animator and video content creators in-house, which is the ideal team for enhancing your message. Take your speaker’s PowerPoint or Keynote presentations as a starting point and work through them with the content creators. They will pick out themes, selected static or animated visuals, highlight the most important sections and help structure the presentation with visual markers. Making use of the natural breaks You obviously don’t want to subvert attention during your speakers presentations but there are several natural breaks in the proceedings; introductions, walk- ups speaker changes that allow you to use the whole Digital Stage Set to entertain the crowd. For example, introducing a speaker allows you to use all visual displays in unison to immerse the whole venue in a single visual sequence. An image can traverse the room making heads spin, light and fire can rise from every corner in your event. All these transitions should be made with tight, precise timings before bringing the focus right back to the speaker. Making an experience for your guests Envisage this: Video operators ensure that all presentations are queued up on a central computer and can be edited at a moments notice if necessary. All of your creative content will be deployed across projectors and screens via media servers run through powerful video mapping software. Lights go down, animation and video come up and your first speaker will take to the stage, right in the middle of the digital set you have created. Your presenter speaks. Slow video loops of your logo and slideshows of images pertinent to your theme run unobtrusively on secondary displays, quietly setting the scene in your audiences peripheral vision. At the moment when the major new product/direction/award is unveiled all displays leap to life in concert with the key image and text. As the details are explained, different points and illustrations make their way to different parts of the room, adjusting and focusing the audience’s attention as necessary. As the presentation ends, the room becomes one image, surrounding the crowd in the environment of the idea. Take your digital set with you Marketing memory After the applause has died down and the audience has left, your Digital Stage Set is ready to keep working for you. You should follow-up your attendees via email, framed in the same style and content as the event and send out a link to video highlights. Make sure you tie their experience into your emailed content. You have created a memory that is branded with your visuals in each attendee’s mind, and every time you communicate with them make sure to use these same images. If your content and message were compelling, they will recall the event even more fervently. Portable set If your event is travelling its easy to take your digital set with you and adapt it as needed to the new venue. Projections can be scaled up and down according to room size and available surfaces. Similarly, images that were split across multiple devces can be amalgamated to one or vice-versa. Digital Sets are incredibly malleable and coherent content with a clear message with translate well no matter what media is carrying it. Your digital content is now a business asset that cost a fraction of its physical counterpart with the ability to be scaled down to an iPad or up to an arena. Digital Stage Set Event Packages - Digital Banners & Widescreens Staging Connections offer two Digital Stage Set packages for Digital Banners and Widescreens. In-house content creators work with you with options for either static or animated imagery. Standard display options include projecting from one projector onto multiple screens or from multiple projectors onto ultra wide screens, if your venue can physically accommodate them. In all cases and all combinations, Staging Connections work with you to bring out the heart of your message, and enhance your event with the right combination lighting, sound and decoration to fit with your theme. Unique boxes The standard package does not limit your ability to create something truly unique. Staging Connections’ creative team and event planners love to extend themselves by creating totally individual events that create an environment for the organisation’s message. Whether it is bringing a character to life, creating a new display concept for a revolutionary product or finding a way to communicate a radical idea with absolute clarity, the Digital team love a challenge. That’s the great thing about the digital visions tools of modern AV – it’s never been easier to bring the hardest-to-image concepts to life and it’s never been more affordable to create a theatrical experience for your audience that’s every bit as entertaining as a night on Broadway. ... Read More

The Adelaide Crows soar at this year's Annual Club Gala dinner

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
This year's annual gala dinner for the Adelaide Football Club was nothing short of a flying success. As a proud sponsor of the Crows, our Staging Connections Adelaide team pulled out all stops to make this year's event the best yet. On top of our stunning AV design, the night was MC'd by Nova's Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and with two performances by The Superjesus the guests were treated to a truly enthralling evening. *Author's Note: After publishing this blog post, the much-loved and respected Adelaide Crows Coach, Phil Walsh, sadly passed away. As a proud sponsor of Adelaide Football Club, Staging Connections send our thoughts and well-wishes to the family and friends of Phil Walsh, as well as the staff, players and wider Crows family. #WeFlyAsOne A spectacular Gala Dinner to celebrate the 25th Season of the Adelaide Football Club. The Brief The Arena floor of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre was the perfect venue for this event. The sheer size of the venue made it possible to design, create and deliver a stunning Gala Dinner setting for 800 VIPs and guests. One of the challenges we often face is displaying various multimedia content and live camera feeds simultaneously on stage. Staging Connections team were engaged to design, create and deliver a Gala Dinner setting for 800 VIPs and guests on the Arena floor of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. We were required to celebrate their 25th season by using predominantly silver colouring whilst also highlighting the club's colours of red, yellow and blue. Being one of the club's major fundraising events for the year, we were also tasked with delivering a high impact stage look with practical vision systems to display silent auction progress and engage the audience in the evening’s events. The Solution Th high impact stage set using five projection screen surfaces suspended in a staggered array allowed for mapping of projection over the entire set or individual screens. Together with the 3 standard projection screens around the room, this allowed for video playback, sponsor acknowledgement, silent auction real time updates, Event Tweet and live to screen camera images. To incorporate the silver of 25 years, we utilised aluminium trussing around the screens, in the air and around the circular ceiling feature that featured an 8m wide projection of the AFC’s 25 year logo. LED lighting enabled all truss to be lit in a dramatic silver colour and allowed the room to be washed in changing colours depending on the events during the night. Event Tweet was used in both landscape and portrait formats on screens around the room to engage the audience with the evening’s proceedings. An alias twitter account (@AFC_Gala Insider) was created and curated by Staging Connections during the evening. Images of certain auction items were tweeted during the night as well as announcing major auction items as they were auctioned. These tweets together with tweets from attendees were moderated and then displayed on the room screens using Event Tweet. All of this combined for a fitting setting for The Superjesus to kick off the night, the auctioneers to auction the major items, a fun filled panel-type quiz game hosted by popular radio station, Nova FM's, Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and a party band to finish off the night. The 25th year of the Adelaide Football Club was certainly celebrated in style. Love looking at beautiful events? Check out some of our recent work and get your daily dose of event inspiration by following us on Instagram! ... Read More

Sea World Resort Conference Centre opens its doors

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
We are thrilled to forge our new partnership with Sea World Resort's Conference Centre and invest in the latest technology for events in this new conference centre on the Gold Coast, and all existing function spaces at Sea World Resort and the Paradise Room at Sea World Theme Park. Sea World Resort Conference Centre recently hosted VIP corporate event planners for their inaugural event, and we look forward to an ongoing commitment to providing unique and outstanding events with our wonderful venue partner. The Event Brief The Staging Connections team were engaged to design, create and deliver the farewell lunch for the Day 3 famil program for Gold Coast Tourism Corporation - setting for 80 VIP guests in the new Conference Centre at Sea World Resort. Caroline Duveau-Clayton, Sales Manager Conference and Events at Sea World Resort, wanted to create the essence of Sea World Resort, basing the theme on ‘Ocean’ elements and also integrating ‘fun’ elements to the lunch to encompass Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the parent company. The Audio Visual Solution VIP guests had a memorable welcome at the entrance by various characters from the Village Roadshow theme parks; magnificent horses and cattle dogs from Australian Outback Spectacular, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Sea World Water Park plus Marilyn, Austin from Warner Bros Movie World with some farm animals from Paradise Country also making an appearance. A red carpet marked the grand entry, and this newly constructed building was officially opening its doors for their first corporate event! To add a touch of theatrics to this memorable event, the entrance and spacious pre-function area was lined with black and yellow hazard tape, bright orange witches-hats and workmen who hi-jacked the stage during the welcome speech. With this the workman, started a percussive dance utilising various work tools, culminating in a short tap routine which finished with them announcing the centre is now open for business, tearing off the hazard tape and opening the glass doors. Entrance hall set-up with plasma screens The room was filled with subtle blue lighting, based on underwater colours and patterns. The tables featured a blue crisp and white stripe runner and a cylindrical vase filled with coral, beautiful shells and star-fish filled with water and placed on an illuminate light box. 'Ocean' themed table centerpeices with blue wash lighting to enhance theme. An underwater ocean scene was projected into all screens and overlayed with the Sea World Resort logo, creating a beautiful ambience whist guests wined and dined. Theme of the night was 'Ocean' with abundance of seafood on offer for guests. Entertainment included a History of Music routine by “Those Tap Guys” and an impromptu dance routine by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles filled the room with high-energy, leaving guests laughing, clapping and dancing. Left: Those Tap Guys performing on stage. Right: VIP guests treated to buffet experience prepared by world-class chefs. If you are interested in hosting your next event at Sea World Resort Conference Centre please visit Venue Locator. ... Read More

Yellow Buildings Spotted in Tasmania

Mar 19 2018
Encore Research
Yellow buildings have been spotted in Tasmania! If you happened to be driving at night around some of Tasmania’s major cities you may have noticed some prominent buildings glowing a brilliant yellow. This stunt was all in the name of raising awareness for road safety in Tasmania – a campaign we were thrilled to play part in. National Road Safety Week ran from May 3 – 8 this year, with the aim of increasing awareness about the need for all road users to be safe and courteous on the roads. Last year, 36 people died in road crashes in Tasmania and 260 were injured. The road safety week was filled with activities thanks to the joint effort of the Road Safety Advisory Council, Tasmania Police, the RACT and Southern Cross Television. Staging Connections Area Manager for Tasmania, Fletcher Austin, says they were excited to be part of the campaign and to do what they can to shine a light on road safety. “We lit up several key buildings across Devenport, Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie. We used 9 x 500watt HUI Cyclonic’s with a yellow gel cover as well as LED flood lights situated in strategic positions to cast an elegant wash over the buildings,” he says. One of the buildings was Launceston Town Hall which became a beacon for the city. Launceston Town Hall during Road Safety Awareness Week Tasmania Header Image courtesy of Chris Lazarri referenced from Sarah Group ... Read More