Feast your eyes on this stunning enchanted forest event theme we designed for this year’s Victoria Racing Club Young Member’s Ball. The night was a spectacular evening filled with performances including death-defying aerial-artists. Event Brief
Staging Connections has been lucky enough to work closely with Victoria Racing Club over the last consecutive five years. Every year we are asked to create a fresh new creative look for each event theme that wow’s and excited their guests. This year we were asked to turn the event venue, Crown Palladium ballroom, into a magical “Secret Kingdom” that continued to surprise and delight guests throughout the evening. On top of creating the overarching event theme, we had to design a themed pre-function area, as well as stunning table centrepieces and of course, the hero of the night, the ceiling installation. The Event Solution
Through our clients mood board we conceptualised alternative room looks and styles together to come up with a different and a cost effect design for the ceiling installation. The idea of placing a large tree with a drooping canopy over hanging the central stage and dance floor was a key element our client wished to explore. Playing on the peacock colour pallet, the installation was made up of over 600 pieces of coloured fabric drops, fresh falling foliage and scattered crystal beads to capture the glistering light. We created a majestic 360 degree 15m x 14m border of hanging foliage which traced the outside of the dance floor. To add more depth and dimension to the installation we produced a secondary central installation above the middle stage, where a dense 3m x 3m filled arena of cascading materials hung lower, allowing this overall design to look full and luscious. Hanging garden ceiling installation By placing this installation in the centre of the room, it instantly created the wow factor and exuded an ambient forest and enchanted kingdom atmosphere, particularly when guests where up and dancing underneath. To depict the feel of a forest, the centrepieces and table design was a key factor in assisting this theme to fruition. Alternating heights of alike floras and foliage stood 1.5m tall and 40cm high wooden centrepieces filled the room within. Dark black linen and chair covers acted as the backdrop for the centres, coloured table pin spot lights allowed the florals to pop. Candy buffet by Hey Suga!
The room was finished off with a brand new gorgeous navy blue drape line surrounding all four walls and with the use of gobos, were lit beautifully with silhouettes of moving branches upon entering. Large real-life potted trees were placed in-between tables, corners of the room and in the pre function area portraying the mystical forest guests were surrounded by. The over all style of the room would not be complete with out the use of technology. We where able to create this mysterious environment through the use of innovative lighting, and pioneering special lighting effects. Up to date technologies in audio visual, including sound, vision and lighting was the platform for this space to come alive. Performances by Applause Entertainment Placement of lighting within the ballroom was challenging and many plots were drawn up to ensure that highlights and shadows were cast in the right areas so the entertainment were clearly seen for all the audience to enjoy but the shadows cast from the trees and foliage created atmosphere for the theme. The gobos on the draping created a depth as if the forest extended into the night and the movement programmed by the lighting designer opened and closed the forest canopy beyond the ballroom. To start the proceedings a thunder and lightning storm erupted to silence the crowd and the trumpet call introduced the MC for the evening. Performances by Applause Entertainment Throughout the night acts entertained the crowd form a central stage and the sound system was placed in and around the foliage to disperse evenly on the audience. This dispersal was mapped out using software to find hotspots and flatspots and adjust accordingly. At any point through the ballroom the even quality of sound has to be maintained to give the MC and the acts the best possible coverage. Ian Howard, the Technical Director and lighting designer for the event, ensured the crew were on point and cued for each part of the evening. Being a dramatic event with heavy use of audio visual techniques his role was to ensure everything ran seamlessly from changes in room looks, to sound requirements and camera shots as well as managing lighting coordination with stage-hand movement on stage. The key to running a successful audio visual event is communication. To ensure a flawless and safe event all crew use talk-back radios and are clearly briefed prior to the event as well as participate in a full dress rehearsal to iron out any potential issues. … Read More
How to Make Money by Webcasting your Event
Mar 19 2018
Our General Manager of Digital, Tim Chapman, shares his two cents on why we should be webcasting our events and how it can actually generate you a profitable outcome. Making money from webcasting is not a new concept, the real challenge is producing content that people are willing to pay for. Asking people to pay for a low quality video with little or no interactivity simply does not work. Over the past year Staging Connections has taken a new approach to monetisation in the webcasting market by offering consultative sessions with our clients. We start by addressing the key outcomes required from the webcast which are most commonly an extra source of event revenue, catering to a wider paid audience and a cost efficient way to provide an engaging archival representation of the event.
If the event attracts a fee to attend then a natural progression would be to charge for viewers to watch the webcast. The key is replicating the event in broadcast quality vision with a high level of audience interactivity to rival being there in person. The plan starts with the monetisation options and which will work best dependant on the event. Options include a pay wall using PayPal for attendee viewing, webcast sponsor(s) to offset the cost of the webcast equipment in return for static and video advertising, in webcast purchase of products or services and affiliate marketing opportunities. A rising trend is the use of paid webcasts for CPE (Continuing Professional Education) as many professionals must acquire a set number of points per year to maintain their qualification.
The Staging Connections webcast platform differs to others on the market and makes the monetisation task much simpler. We start with a blank canvas and expertly design a HTML play page that incorporates all manners of monetisation opportunities. It starts with a branded registration page offering seamless integration to the pay wall feature. You are then transported to the play page where advertising loops in the video and slide windows surrounded by attractive branding with active links to sponsors showcasing their products or services that can be purchased directly. The page has a social media feed running and a chat room to keep everyone entertained during breaks with the chance just for the webcast viewers to win a prize in one of the pop up polls towards the end of the day. As the webcast draws to a close the viewer is redirected to information regarding the clients next event.
The viewer leans back in their chair at the end of the day having downloaded the conference notes, met some new people on the web chat who have now become contacts on LinkedIn and generally been impressed with how good the camera quality and slide integration were all making the investment as a viewer very worthwhile. Written by Tim Chapman, General Manager - Digital, Staging Connections. Tim has an extensive background in combining technology into the event space. He is passionate about being at the forefront of digital trends and utilises this knowledge to build product offerings for the Staging Connections Group of Companies. Tim has developed a new webcasting platform recognised as one of Australia’s most advanced in functionality and continues to develop solutions using leading edge technology custom designed for the events industry. Want to know more about webcasting? Download our latest Event Insights white paper on Making Money from Webcasting
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