pg2 pg4 pg 13 R22.80 October 2011 www.theevent.co.za AWARDS LIVE Events scored a second Grand Prix in two years at the Loerie Awards, which took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 16-17 September 2011. A T this year’s Loerie Awards, Ogilvy Cape Town scored a Grand Prix for their Live Activation for Volkswagen Golf, entitled Marching Band. The guerrilla activation for VW Golf saw a Cape brass band march up and down the Sea Point Promenade in sielnce, effectively advertising how qui- et can be enjoyed inside the VW Golf. Last year the Grand prix went to VWV for the FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony. Before that, the last time a live event won a Grand Prix was in 2004 when VWV’s Passion campaign won top spot for the Miller Brew- ing Company. The Grand Prix could be a sign of a changing trend in ad- vertising, which puts more fo- cus on experiential campaigns rather than traditional below- the-line advertiisng such as print and television. 2011 saw the inclusion of a focused judge for Live Events - Matt Shirtcliffe. This year also saw the inclu- sion of a new category - PR - which includes awards for public relations campaigns tar- geting television, radio, print and online, as well as an over- all campaign incorporating all four. Public Relations Industry of Southern Africa (PRISA) spokes- person Bridget von Holdt be- lieves the move is indicative of the importance of strategic communication in the overall communication mix and that the inclusion of PR exposes oth- er industries to the real value of strategic communication and its vital role in brand management. In the Live Events category, King James RSVP scored a Gold Loerie for their event celebrat- ing Silverstar Casino’s third birth- day which saw cardstacker ex- traordinaire and multiple Guin- ness World Record Holder, Bry- an Berg, spending ten days in a Perspex box building a three metre high number Three as well as replicating the Silverstar Casino using 63 000 freestand- ing playing cards. In the same category VWV Group won Bronze for their MINI Countryman launch cam- paign which demonstrated the added drive capabilities of the first ever four door MINI by invit- ed influential bloggers and four friends on a road trip to various fun events across Gauteng. In the Live Activations cat- egory DraftFCB won Silver for their Pirates TV on Demand campaign for Vodacom, while A Word of Art won Bronze for their adidas originals campaign which took place at various venues across Woodstock. In the Sponsorship catego- ry, Studio 4332 won a cam- paign Bronze for Mark on De- sign for Grolsch at this year’s Design Indaba. The event comprised a pop up Grolsch Bar on the beach, in the run up to Design Indaba. “After two years of a decline in entries, 2011 saw a small in- crease over the previous year. I hope this is a sign that the economy is coming back to life but there is certainly still a long way to go. The number of Gold and Grand Prix awards were very tight this year, with only three Grands Prix being award- ed overall. Clearly this is a mes- sage that although the number of media platforms available is constantly increasing, the abili- ty to achieve the truly outstand- ing remains as difficult as ever,” says Andrew Human, CEO of the Loerie Awards. The Loerie Awards is an an- nual recognition of the best work produced in the brand commu- nication industry in Africa and the Middle East. For the full list of winners visit http://winners.theloerieawards. co.za Sally Fink ANOTHER GRAND PRIX FOR LIVE EVENTS Marching Band
Transcript
pg2 pg4 pg 13
R22.80October 2011 www.theevent.co.za
AWARDSLIVE Events scored a second Grand Prix in two years at the Loerie Awards, which took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 16-17 September 2011.
AT this year’s Loerie Awards, Ogilvy Cape Town scored a Grand Prix for their Live
Activation for Volkswagen Golf, entitled Marching Band.
The guerrilla activation for VW Golf saw a Cape brass band march up and down the Sea Point Promenade in sielnce, effectively advertising how qui-et can be enjoyed inside the VW Golf.
Last year the Grand prix went to VWV for the FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony. Before that, the last time a live event won a Grand Prix was in 2004 when VWV’s Passion campaign won top spot for the Miller Brew-ing Company.
The Grand Prix could be a sign of a changing trend in ad-vertising, which puts more fo-cus on experiential campaigns rather than traditional below-the-line advertiisng such as print and television.
2011 saw the inclusion of a focused judge for Live Events - Matt Shirtcliffe.
This year also saw the inclu-sion of a new category - PR
- which includes awards for public relations campaigns tar-geting television, radio, print and online, as well as an over-all campaign incorporating all four.
Public Relations Industry of Southern Africa (PRISA) spokes-person Bridget von Holdt be-lieves the move is indicative of the importance of strategic communication in the overall communication mix and that the inclusion of PR exposes oth-
er industries to the real value of strategic communication and its vital role in brand management.
In the Live Events category, King James RSVP scored a Gold Loerie for their event celebrat-ing Silverstar Casino’s third birth-day which saw cardstacker ex-traordinaire and multiple Guin-ness World Record Holder, Bry-an Berg, spending ten days in a Perspex box building a three metre high number Three as well as replicating the Silverstar
Casino using 63 000 freestand-ing playing cards.
In the same category VWV Group won Bronze for their MINI Countryman launch cam-paign which demonstrated the added drive capabilities of the fi rst ever four door MINI by invit-ed infl uential bloggers and four friends on a road trip to various fun events across Gauteng.
In the Live Activations cat-egory DraftFCB won Silver for their Pirates TV on Demand
campaign for Vodacom, while A Word of Art won Bronze for their adidas originals campaign which took place at various venues across Woodstock.
In the Sponsorship catego-ry, Studio 4332 won a cam-paign Bronze for Mark on De-sign for Grolsch at this year’s Design Indaba. The event comprised a pop up Grolsch Bar on the beach, in the run up to Design Indaba.
“After two years of a decline in entries, 2011 saw a small in-crease over the previous year. I hope this is a sign that the economy is coming back to life but there is certainly still a long way to go. The number of Gold and Grand Prix awards were very tight this year, with only three Grands Prix being award-ed overall. Clearly this is a mes-sage that although the number of media platforms available is constantly increasing, the abili-ty to achieve the truly outstand-ing remains as diffi cult as ever,” says Andrew Human, CEO of the Loerie Awards.
The Loerie Awards is an an-nual recognition of the best work produced in the brand commu-nication industry in Africa and the Middle East.
For the full list of winners visit http://winners.theloerieawards.co.za
Sally Fink
ANOTHER GRAND PRIX FOR LIVE EVENTSMarching Band
2
VENUESDINOKENG, located just 90kms from Johannesburg and north-east of Pretoria, is an undiscov-ered event and wedding desti-nation in the heart of Gauteng.
THE ideal of sustainability has begun to play a significant role in the tourism industry.
To this end, Dinokeng has in-
troduced Meet Dinokeng, a responsible approach to holi-daying and eventing. The M campaign focuses on travel with a conscience and aims to uplift the local economy and com-munity by growing business and leisure tourism in the area.
The Meet Dinokeng cam-paign uses five local business people to show how visitors are contributing to the local econo-
my. Through their inspiring stories, these five hope to encourage corporates and organisations to consider Dinokeng for their an-nual conference, gala dinner or executive meeting.
Dinokeng offers visitors a wide range of activities from horse riding and quad biking to spas, hot air ballooning and game viewing. “Dinokeng also has a variety of corporate social re-
sponsibility (CSR) projects if you are looking for an unusual team building experience that benefits locals while helping your team to bond,” says Dinokeng spokes-person Adrian Amod.
Dinokeng boasts 32 differ-ent venues which can host an event, catering to between 20 and 100 people.“Dinokeng is also a great option for your hon-eymoon. The area has a host of
game lodges, including some of the best five-star accommoda-tion in the province, pampering spa facilities, romantic hot air balloon rides and fun adventure activities like horse riding. So Di-nokeng is the ideal location for an affordable honeymoon close to home,” says Adrian.
The launch of Meet Dinokeng was a full day event. The day started off with guests, that in-cluded journalists, tour operators, professionals from the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) industry, gather-ing in Onverwacht to help build a bike shed at St Joseph’s Care and Trust Outreach, a local care centre for orphaned and vulner-able children.
Guests then enjoyed an infor-mative introduction to the cam-paign, and how tourism benefits the local community. They then had the opportunity to meet the five inspiring business people that participate in the campaign.
They encountered Fani Face who runs a vibrant township res-taurant; Greg who runs a sustain-able atchar business that em-ploys local pensioners; Patricia who conducts authentic village tours in Onverwacht and Laleen who runs an inspiring ceramic studio. They also met Happy who runs a vegetable stall that sup-plies local businesses with fresh produce.
For more information visit www.meetdinokeng.co.za
PAGE TWO PIN-UP: DINOKENG
Dinokeng
3
AWARDSSOUTH African Tourism’s (SAT) digital Touch Table won two awards for excellence in inter-active communication at this year’s Loerie Awards which took place from 16-18 Septem-ber 2011 in Cape Town.
SAT’s Touch Table, which the organisation de-scribes as a world fi rst in
interactive travel and tourism trade communication, won two awards at the 33rd annual Loerie Awards - a Silver Loerie in the category of Internet, Mobile and Interactive Com-munication: Applications and Interactive Tools and a Loerie Craft Certifi cate in the cat-egory of Internet, Mobile and Interactive Communication: Digital Crafts.
The Touch Table offers eight interactive hubs, allowing eight people to use it simultaneously. Using touch screen technol-ogy, users are able to search the National Tourism Database, browse numerous leisure expe-riences offered in South Africa, search the destination by prov-ince, send email and digital postcards from the table; and review the larger South African Tourism global advertising and marketing campaign and its elements in full high defi nition.
The Loeries recognition comes amidst a string of recent
South African Tourism awards and accolades. SA Tourism’s Adventurers Wanted campaign (in collaboration with National Geographic) won a Media & Marketing (M&M) Award for Global Media Excellence, while the World Travel Awards (WTA) named South African Tourism Africa’s best destination mar-keting body, an award South African Tourism also won in 2010, 2009 and 2008.
“We are delighted that our peers in both travel and in ad-vertising and marketing rec-ognise our work,” says William Price, Global E-Marketing man-ager at South African Tourism.
“The Touch Table is a truly pioneering marketing tool, ex-ploiting the move to digital and social media - both among global travel trade profession-als and consumers. It makes it possible for us to take destina-tion information to people in the way they are accustomed to searching for it, and in a sim-ple format. More importantly, it provides the global travel trade with the information, re-sources and networking tools to effectively sell our destina-tion,” added William.
The Touch Table was launched at the annual travel and tourism INDABA in Durban in May 2011, and was an in-stant hit with the global travel trade, and with the South Afri-can tourism product too.
“The technology and ease of use of the Touch Table makes a great fi rst impression and users fi nd it a really useful and acces-sible source of destination infor-mation. The beauty of a digital platform such as this is that the content is always relevant and up to date. It becomes a per-sonal tool for users.”
“Because it’s digital, we are able to ensure that content is specifi c and useful no matter where in the world we take it,” William said from Paris, where the Touch Table is currently on display at the Top Resa trade exhibition in France. “The Touch Table debuted at INDABA this year with global content. And at Top Resa in Paris we have added France-specifi c content to the global content to suit the information needs of that mar-ket. When it leaves Paris, it goes to the World Travel Market in London, where the content will be adjusted again to give it a strong UK-campaign infl uence. The Touch Table is very easy to pack up and ship, making it exceptionally portable, and increasing its easy use all over the world. It’s a great destina-tion marketing tool,” he says.
The Touch Table was a Gloo Digital Design entrant into the 2011 Loerie Awards and the Pixel Project was an integral partner in its development.
Sally Fink
SAT WINS AT THE LOERIES FOR INDABA TOUCH TABLE
Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk disovering the Touch Table at Indaba
4
EVENTSTHE Loerie Awards took place from 16-18 September 2011 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
THE Loerie Awards is the coun-try’s top showcase of ad tal-ent, which just finished its third
year in Cape Town, after taking place at the Good Hope Centre for two years.
The Good Hope Centre was a good fit for the awards, as the entire venue could be scraped out and transformed as the or-
ganisers saw fit. (Think wall to wall bars and multiple stages.) The Good Hope Centre be-came party central for two days of the year, a sentiment that seeped into the rest of the city. Even Long Street closed off for the night to accommodate the party crowd. This year Loeries CEO Andrew Human took the decision to make the awards more about the awards them-selves, rather than the party. The CTICC was an apt choice, as it boasts a stylish auditorium with plush seating for 1 500.
Funk, who are the official
project managers for the MTV Africa Music Awards, took the reins as project managers this year for the first time. Executive producer Lydia Mason explains that she wanted to give the event an ‘MTV Edge’. So the live acts and boombox party vibe was replaced by the red carpet treatment and world class hosts; legendary local newsreader Ri-aan Cruywagen for the Saturday night and Baywatch star David Hasselhof on the Sunday night. “We wanted a tight show and therefore decided to keep the live acts for the after parties,”
says Lydia. “We changed the for-mat to make it more about the work. We wanted to keep things simple and treated it like a TV broadcast. The production val-ues went into the hosts.”
1 500 people were given the red carpet treatment, which in-cluded being interviewed by Jon Savage, Sizwe Dhlomo and Zizo Beda, and thanks to a mi-crowave signal, this footage was seen on plasma screens through-out the venue and broadcast to those watching live from the Nu Metro cinemas at the V&A waterfront. All footage was high quality HD thanks to the SABC HD OB van on site. The feed only went down once, but the disrup-tion was quickly fixed in time for the awards.
The custom 18 metres of screen inside the auditorium were supplied by Gearhouse as well as the lighting for the red carpet, the plasma screens in the foyer, all projectors, the DJ booth for Black Coffee, and the sound equipment. The company also designed and manufactured the lectern and awards table.
The event’s audio visual pieces were produced by Elmir Arnautovic from The Project and Howard Music acting as the au-dio post production facility. How-ard Music also came on board for the first time. “We final mixed all AV elements, including voice-overs for all awards, which were pre-recorded at our studio. Each
Loerie award had it’s own ani-mation and unique sound design which was probably the most challenging part of the job,” says Adam Howard.
100 people were flown down specifically for the awards, in-cluding production crew and 50 South African artists to perform at the various after parties cour-tesy of MTV.
A last minute decision was taken to move the official Sun-day after party from The Fez to Trinity. Lydia is quick to dispel ru-mours that this had anything to do with permits. “It was entirely down to demand. More people wanted to come than we could accommodate at The Fez. “We wanted to create a party for all the young urban people working in the industry, which is why we brought on MTV with a marquee outside of Trinity for 1000 people. Inside Trinity we catered more for the mainstream industry folk with some beautiful underground incidental acts to give it some spice,” she says.
Gearhouse provided the stages, sound, crew and AV. The City of Cape Town provided the IRP My City buses to trans-port guests from one venue to another. As Lydia puts it. “We called on the World Cup system, and Cape Town got behind us all the way.”
PARTY PLANNINGTHE Event Newspaper asked in-dustry experts for their take on creating memorable out-of-the-box events.
EXPERIENTIAL events liter-ally means offering guests a meaningful experience at
events that they will talk about for days or even weeks after. In the competitive market place creating word of mouth buzz around their product offerings is an essential part of the mar-keting process. Out of the box brand activations are the most effective way of achieving this. On the other end of the spec-trum, memorable networking
and cocktail functions can serve as the perfect end to confer-ences, while even meetings can take on new life with a few imagi-native ideas.
Kim Winstanley, MD at Eventworx, says there’s an art to creating memorable experien-tial events. “Experiential event-ing has become critical in South Africa’s small, overly saturated event market. It offers a new channel to talk to customers who have generally seen and done it all before. The first thing you must understand is that it is all about objectives. Knowing your audience is crucial, but knowing the objectives of the event is the foundation that every element is constructed
upon. Naturally, an experiential event is primarily about posi-tioning the product / service in its best possible environment in order to drive sales, awareness or to gain market share.”
Kim believes this new way of eventing is what drives growth. “The effect of these new experi-ential events on clients and more so on the guests is driving brand impact, goodwill and salience to new heights. It is growing re-lationships and most importantly, creating relationships with an en-tirely new level of expectation.”
Event organiser to the stars Marc Hirschowitz from Concept-spark applies his philosophy of thinking out the box to events. “We feel there is so much that is
average out there that we like to push the boundary a little (and sometimes a lot),” he says.
He explains that client ex-pectation plays a big role when planning an event. “Events have evolved: no longer do clients and guests have the expectation to arrive at an event, and expect to just be fed and entertained: it has gone far past that. Events are now experiences that should treat all five of your senses. The sense of taste, sight and hear-ing are usually there; so for some time now we have focused on the senses of touch and smell too: using room atomisers to cre-ate an olfactory experience and tactile fabrics and surfaces to treat the sense of touch.”
Earlier this year Marc and his team put together the inaugural Spring Trend Showcase Event, which showcases the latest event industry trends, from food, bever-ages, decor, entertainment and music. Marc opted for creative ice sculptures, over the top flo-ral displays, playful lighting and impromptu performances. “We typically pride ourselves on not repeating concepts. There are so many amazing things to do out there, its boring doing things the same,” says Marc, who is often called upon to lecture on event and tabletop trends and has even been featured on popular lifestyle show, Top Billing.
“Our intention is always to create a memorable event.
When guests see something new and exciting, or something old, but presented in new and excit-ing ways - it leaves a lasting im-pression,” says Marc.
CEO of the Cape Town In-ternational Convention Centre (CTICC) Rashid Toefy spoke at the SAACI Conference in July on experiential meetings, a sub-ject very close to his heart. “I like the concept of the Experience Economy that looks at what hap-pens when you start customising services to deliver specific experi-ences based on clients’ personal tastes,” he says.
Rashid believes that event or-ganisers should take a fresh look at the meeting architecture. “If you identify meetings as one di-mensional then you’re in serious trouble. Meetings are not one dimensional; meetings are about the magic that happens when two people get together.”
His advice is for meetings ar-chitecture to be engaging and about knowledge sharing. Even conferences should make the delegates feel included. “When you feel like you’ve contributed something, you leave feeling like that was a valuable confer-ence,” says Rashid.
If he had his way, he’d offer each client an Ipad containing everything they needed to know about their event from room lay-out to menus. Now that’s thinking out the box.
Sally Fink
CREATING EXPERIENTIAL EVENTS
Marc Hirschowitz
Kim Winstanley Rashid Toefy
7
8
CORPORATE GIFT PRODUCT SHOWCASE
GIFT BUCKSGIFT Bucks and E-wards MasterCards are the quick and easy, secure and reload-able solution for all personal gifting or busi-ness rewards needs. It’s a perfect way to thank staff for a job well done and an ideal gift to thank clients for their support.
“You’re giving complete choice to buy anything, anywhere, any time – with a shopping card that’s accepted wher-ever MasterCard is, throughout South Af-rica,” says Geoff Saner.
Giving the gift of choice is a fantastic way to drive sales, attract customers, re-ward employees, thank suppliers, or just to give family, friends and colleagues the right gift, every time – because they can get exactly what they want. Gift Bucks and E-wards cards are reloadable, and can be topped up whenever targets are met, or when birthdays, bonuses and long service awards come around.
There are no forms to fill in, no bank ac-counts, and no fuss when presenting the card for payment at any till point.
“We also personalise your gift card recipient’s info letter and send an SMS to them when it’s loaded, run a helpline for any queries and balances and statements are available online 24/7,” says Geoff.
For more visit www.giftbucks.co.za
THE ULTIMATE GIFT CARDTHE Ultimate Gift Card is a gift card with a difference. Instead of hitting the mall, the lucky recipient can log onto thegift-card.co.za and choose from a wide range of lifestyle experiences.
“Whether your taste is for all types of adrenalin-pumping adventure, or a quiet family day out, you could select a relaxing back massage, facial, pedi, mani or spa treatment, treat yourself to a weekend away with a loved one, take a flight to a far-away friend, take a flip in a jet fighter, float around in a hot air bal-loon, or indulge in an hour of chocolate tasting,” says Geoff Saner.
The Ultimate Gift Card can be topped up at any time.
Another option is instant recogni-tion with a personalised message via a prepaid electronic voucher sent to the recipient’s mobile phone. “What a great feeling it is to receive an instant Thank You for a job well done, direct-ly from the boss. And then simply to choose whatever you want from a su-perb range of activities, whenever you want to,” says Geoff.
For more infomation visit www.thegift-card.co.za
ANGEL HEARTANGEL Heart Products are a person-alised way to look at corporate gift-ing. ‘Trinkets with Meaning’ are ideal in a time when giving is most successful when linked to a higher meaning; when giving shows awareness.
“The Angel Heart products speak of being in touch with oneself, of giving grati-tude, of changing the world one heart at a time,” says Kathy Gibbons. “Angel Hearts have already been the foundation gift of many conferences, corporate cli-ent gifts and staff gifts. Our product travels the world and is given fondly from person to person, with many companies giving a different virtue at each conference, staff building, or celebration. We can make up bespoke ranges for corporations, includ-ing exclusive packaging and messaging.”
The range comes beautifully present-ed on cards that feature a virtue such as Love, Grace, Faith, Wish, Wisdom, Believe and is available in solid silver or dipped gold. (or solid gold on request). Charms include hearts, angel wings, wishbones, Africa, peace signs, hummingbirds, clo-ver, infinity, hand of Fatima, lotus flower; chakra signs, zodiac signs, and a range of African symbols.
For more visit www.angel-heart.co.za.
CARTOON CANDYCARTOON Candy, the manufacturers of well-known Turnbulls Butterscotch sweets, are now able to wrap a company’s brand around their popular sweets, so the events industry can add that personal touch to delegate bags, exhibition stands and even conference tables.
With a new digital printing process, Cartoon Candy is able to print small runs of 30kgs (approximately 8 000 sweets) from one to four colour (CMYK) for an exceptional price and with reasonable lead times, with no set-up costs or artwork charges. All clients need to do is provide their logo. Candy is available in various flavours of Turnbulls: Original Butterscotch, Mint, Cappuccino or ICE Mint.
Cartoon Candy is dedicated to enriching the lives of those in the community surrounding its factory in Germiston, through community upliftment programmes and staff education initiatives. The company also honours the environment by reducing its carbon footprint through recycling and reducing energy consumption, as well as educating the youth in rural areas about protecting the environment. For more info, visit www.cartooncandy.co.za.
We’re distributing 4 000 copies a month free via bulk distribution at event industry organisations and associations; key industry meeting points like convention centres, hotels and rental houses; and at key industry events. This means we’ll remain the most read events industry trade publication.
After seven years of carrying the cost of mailing another 4 000 copies direct to everyone else, we’re asking for subscriptions to help us cover our rising distribution costs.
Subscribe now for just R22.80 pm to keep receiving your copy, delivered to your door every month.
Please contact us for a subscription debit order form: [email protected] or 021 674 0646.
9
VENUESWHEN selecting a venue for a conference, workshop or func-tion, why not try something a little different?
TO showcase its unique function and conference venues with the best views
in town, the Two Oceans Aquarium hosted an Amazing Race, cleverly titled The Amaz-ing Space, for 150 lucky ladies from the tourism and events in-dustry on Tuesday 13 Septem-ber 2011.
The event kicked off with cocktails and canapés at the Two Oceans Aquarium where a DJ and glitter tattoo artists from the Jolly Roger Pi-rate Boat were on hand to get guests into the spirit. The ladies were then divided into nine teams and given a set of clues which would take them the length and breadth of the V&A Waterfront to complete a set of challenges.
Despite the unseasonal Cape Town rain, the ladies donned their plastic rain pon-chos and set off to complete the allotted tasks: blind wine tasting at the V&A Visitors Centre; locating the historic Chavonne’s Cannon Battery; a macaroon taste test at the Myatt Coffee Shop; hand massages at the Body Shop; a group photo aboard the Nau-
tilus Luxury Yacht; yoga at the aquarium and cocktail mak-ing at the One & Only.
Once all their tasks had been completed the dishev-elled and mince-haired la-dies returned to the aquarium for a drink, a light supper and makeover tips from charismat-ic make up artist Karim Sattar, who was in town for the Look & Feel Good Expo taking place at the Cape Town Internation-al Convention Centre (CTICC).
The Amazing Space was a clever way for the Two Oceans
Aquarium to draw attention to its function spaces, such as Tranquillity with its four meter window looking into the kelp forest, which hosted the yoga challenge. The room can ac-commodate 30 guests.
In fact, the entire event was carefully arranged to en-sure that guests experienced each and every venue. Wel-come cocktails were served in the Think Tank, which opens up into the marina.
Dinner was served in the Atlantic Ocean Gallery, with
round tables arranged be-tween the glass displays, and the evening ended with an impromptu disco at the I&J Predator exhibit, the largest exhibit in the aquarium featur-ing ragged-tooth sharks and sea turtles.
Banqueting packages in-clude AV equipment and ca-tering and beverages, but the best part about conferencing at the Two Oceans, is that del-egates are granted free ac-cess to the rest of the aquar-ium, which is a lovely way to
end any workshop.By choosing a different
venue, conferences, out of the office events, such as seminars and workshops, and even cocktails functions and dinners, can can go from or-dinary to extraordinary, and be talked about by guests for years to come.
For more information visit www.aquarium.co.za.
Sally Fink
A CONFERENCE VENUE WITH A VIEW
Two Oceans Aqaurium
10
OctoberCook Franschhoek Summer Edition7 October, Franschhoek, Western Cape
Look & Feel Good Expo7-9 October, Coca Cola dome, Johannesburg
Coldplay 8 October, FNB Stadium Johannesburg
Soweto Fashion Week 8 October,Soweto Hotel On Freedom Square, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Tree Aan! 8 October - 6 November, State Theatre, Pretoria, Gauteng
Apricot Picking At De Krans 23 November- 7 December, De Krans Wine Cellar, Calitzdorp
Freshlyground 10 Year Birthday Tour23 November, Boardwalk Casino Amphitheatre, Port Elizabeth
Freshlyground 10 Year Birthday Tour23 November, CTICC, Cape Town, Western Cape
Beer Essentials24-26 November, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
SA Open Championships24-27 November, Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate, Kempton Park
4U Rage Festival25 November- 10 December, Umhlanga, Ballito, Plettenberg Bay
The Cape Town Festival of Beer25-27 November, Hamilton’s Rugby Club, Cape Town
An Evening With Josh Groban26-27 November, Sun City Superbowl, Sun City, North-West
Faerie Realm Midsummer Festival of Enchantment26-28 Riversands Farm, FourwaysBookEx26-28 Sandton Convention Centre, Sandown, Gauteng
Joburg Luxury29 November- 2 December, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
An Evening With Josh Groban29-30 November, The Fields At Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
DecemberAn Evening With Josh Groban2 December Sun City Superbowl, Sun City, North-West
The DigitalLife Expo 2-4 December, Coca-Cola dome, Northgate
‘Magic of Bubbles’ Cap Classique and Champagne Festival 2-4 December, Franschhoek
Die Burger Cycle Tour4 December, Stellenbosch, Cape Town
Carols on The Square5 December, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Gauteng
Lil Wayne7 December, Bellville Velodrome, Cape Town
Jimmy Carr8 December, Grand Arena, Grand West, Cape Town, Western Cape
Lil Wayne9 December, The Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Jimmy Carr10 December, Sandton ICC, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Durban Wine Festival10 December, Munies Hockey Club, Durban, Kwazulu-Natal
East Rand Summer Festival10-12 December, Boksburg, Gauteng
The Games and Gadget Expo 15-18 December, Good Hope Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape
Cape Town Bike Festival 16-18 December, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Vodacom Jazz Picnic16 December, Kempton Park, Gauteng
Knysna Rocks Music Festival23 December, Knysna Sports Ground, Knysna, Western Cape
Garden of Lights28 December - 3 January, Kempton Park, Gauteng
Compiled by Charl Fourie
EVENT LISTINGS
NOVEMBER
NSBC Annual Dinner & Small Business Champion Awards
2 November, Gauteng
The Loeries Travelling Exhibition7–11 November, DV8 Saatchi &
Saatchi, Namibia
WTM7 November, Cape Town,
Western Cape
IP Africa15 November, Sandton
Convention Centre, Gauteng
Emergency Medicine in the Developing World
15-17 November, CTICC, Cape Town
Africa Electricity 15–17 November, Gallagher
Convention Centre, Gauteng
Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week
17-19 November, City Hall, Cape Town
Limpopo Small Business Summit 21-23 November, Oasis Lodge
and Conference Centre, Mokopane, Limpopo
Chamber Forum24 November, TBC
Construction Management 4027-29 November, NMMU, Port
Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
CEO Indaba on Climate Change28 November - 2 December, ICC
Durban, KwaZulu Natal
EIBTM29 November - 1 December
Barcelona, Spain
HELTASA29 November - 2 December,
NMMU, Post Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
Virology Africa29 November - 2 December, Graduate School of Business,
Cape Town
China Sourcing Fairs30 November - 2 December,
Gallagher Convention Centre, Gauteng
DECEMBERSAACI Western Cape Branch
Committee Meeting2 December, Cape Town
For more or to add your own: www.theevent.co.za/diarise
DIARISEThe Freshly Ground national tour kicks off in October
12
PARTY PLANNINGGUESTS who attend corporate functions rarely think about the weeks of complex logistics that lie behind one successful even-ing, says Alan Roberts, CEO of eventing company Vaxo.
WHEN Alan plans an event his first ques-tions are how big is
the budget, how many guests, and whether it is a daytime or evening function. If the em-ployees are bringing partners the cost and the scale instant-
ly doubles. Yet Alan advises against holding no-partner events at night. “It’s a recipe for disaster to have a night time party without partners,” he says. A tip to compensate for non-partner events such as golf days is to remember the neglected partners by offering a spa voucher or gift for spous-es in the goodie bag. It’s the little touches that count.
Companies also have a responsibility to get their staff home safely, and are increas-ingly offering chauffer servic-es like Toot ‘n Scoot to avoid
being held liable if a drunken guest has an accident.
Clients must also pick a theme, because even for a year-end party it helps to or-ganise the décor, food and entertainment around a theme. The entertainment de-pends on whether the event is a sit-down dinner or an in-formal cocktail party. “If it’s cocktail style you can have a jazz band as the entertainment while people mingle. But if you are sitting at tables people ex-pect more than just dinner. It’s very difficult to sneak out so
you need some entertainment to enthral them,” Alan says.
The choice of venue is very dependent on the size of the party, with options dwindling as numbers get larger. Some ven-ues simply rent out an empty room, so you have to hire ta-bles, chairs and organise the décor, build a stage and rig up sound and light equipment.
Alan prefers venues that al-low party planners to hire their own caterers, as the quality is usually far better than in-house caterers that are part of the package. External caterers put in more effort to ensure they win repeat business.
For internal events it’s ac-ceptable to issue invitations by email, and email will also suffice for informal events that outsiders are invited to. The swankiest events demand for-mal invitations delivered by courier, which is a quick way to push up the expenses.
The tough economy is see-ing fewer companies stage year-end parties, since it’s impossible to do anything de-cent for under R350 a head, and classy functions cost about R1,000 a head. Alan budgets R100 a head for alco-hol alone. “People drink differ-ently when there’s free booze compared to when they are paying for it themselves. Some become completely abusive,” he warns.
The event must be tailored to the level of the staff, he adds. “Factory workers want a braai, office workers want smoked salmon and entertainment.” Family fun days at venues such as Gold Reef City are becom-ing popular, as they don’t cost much more and portray a car-ing image because people can introduce their families to their colleagues.
Health and safety regula-tions mean events need to be far more than simply compliant with fire regulations. Compa-nies installing sound and light systems must have safety certifi-cation, medics need to be pre-sent, and for large events local hospitals and traffic authorities may have to be consulted.
It’s also crucial not to as-sume anything – like assuming a venue has a back-up elec-tricity generator. If it doesn’t and the power goes off, you’ve lost your lights, ovens, air conditioning and music.
“People think it’s just about choosing the colour of the ser-viettes so they don’t have the attention to details that an event company has. You can do it yourself, but you need someone dedicated to it be-cause so much goes into it,” Alan says.
Lesley Stones
THE SCIENCE OF PARTY PLANNING
Event by Vaxo
13
AWARDSTHE World Travel Awards took place on 16 September 2011. For the third consecutive year, South Africa led the African category receiving 40 out of the 60 awards.
THE travel industry’s equiva-lent of the Oscars, the World Travel Awards recognise
the world’s leading establish-ments and services, as voted by travel agents.
Kwazulu-Natal scooped mul-tiple awards this year including the award for Africa’s Leading Port for Durban as well as Africa’s Leading Villa for Thanda Private Game Reserve. The five-star Fair-mont Zimbali secured Africa’s Leading Tourism Development Project. For the fourth con-secutive year, ICC Durban was named Africa’s Leading Meet-ings and Conference Centre.
In the region specific cate-gory, The Last Word Long Beach in Durban was named South Af-rica’s Leading Beach Hotel.
In Gauteng, the Palace at the Lost City was named Africa’s Leading Hotel as well as Africa’s Leading Casino Resort. The hotel also scored in the region specific category, by scoring South Af-rica’s Leading Hotel.
The Sun City Resort claimed Africa’s Leading Family Resort for the third year running, as well as South Africa’s Leading Resort. The Sandton Sun was named
Africa’s Leading Business Hotel while overall, Sun International was named Africa’s Leading Ho-tel Brand.
The Saxon Boutique Hotel and Spa was a big winner, earn-ing Africa’s Leading Boutique Ho-tel, Africa’s Leading Suite for the Nelson Mandela Platinum Suite as well as South Africa’s Leading Boutique Hotel in the region spe-cific segment of the awards.
Other Gauteng winners included The Regent, which took top spot for Africa’s Lead-ing Apartment Hotel. In the region specific category, the Pretoria Hotel Sheraton was named South Africa’s Leading Business Hotel.
Another of last year’s winners, the Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, held on to Africa’s Leading Conservation Company for the fourth year, Af-rica’s Leading Safari Lodge for a second, as well as Africa’s Lead-ing Town House Hotel.
In Limpopo, Legend Golf & Safari Resort was named Af-rica’s Leading Sports Resort as well as South Africa’s Leading Golf Resort in the regional cat-egory. Shambala Private Reserve received the coveted Africa’s Leading Luxury Lodge.
In the Western Cape, the city of Cape Town was named Africa’s Leading Destination for fourth consecutive year. The five-star Arabella Western Cape Hotel & Spa was named Africa’s
Leading Luxury Hotel as well as Africa’s Leading Spa Resort for the third year running. In the re-gion specific category, the re-sort also came home with South Africa’s Leading Spa Resort. The Phantom Forest Eco-reserve in Knysna was named Africa’s Leading Green Hotel.
South African Airways scoop-ied Africa’s Leading Airline while O.R. Tambo International Airport was named Africa’s Leading Air-port for the second year. 1Time took home Africa’s Leading Low-Cost Airline. The Blue Train was named Africa’s Leading Luxury
Train for the third time. South Afri-can Tourism was named Africa’s Leading Tourist Board. Other winners included:•Mantis Group (Africa’s Leading Boutique Hotel Brand) •Avis (Africa’s Leading Business Car Rental Company)•Travel with Flair (Africa’s Lead-ing Business Travel Agency) •Europcar (Africa’s Leading Car Hire)•Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (Africa’s Leading Cruise Line)•Signature Life Hotels (Africa’s Leading Innovative Hospitality Company)
•Molori Private Retreats(Africa’s Leading Luxury Travel Group) •Flightsite.co.za (Africa’s Lead-ing Online Travel Company) •&Beyond (Africa’s Leading Re-sponsible Tourism Company) •Club Travel (Africa’s Leading Travel Agency)•Travel with Flair South Africa (Af-rica’s Leading Travel Manage-ment Company)•&Beyond (Africa’s Responsible Tourism Award)
Sally Fink
SOUTH AFRICA DOMINATES THE WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS
The Palace at the Lost City
14
PARTY PLANNINGWAS there enough? Was it overcooked, or even worse, under? Food can make or break an event.
Conferencing IN the conference industry, event organisers are responsible for del-
egates’ meal requirements, from breakfast to tea, to dinner and post show drinks.
Regular meal breaks are es-sential. After all, there’s nothing worse than a hungry, grumpy delegate, especially during full-day conferences that run over a number of days. But this isn’t as simple as serving a slap up buf-
fet in the middle of the day. If the ingredients aren’t chosen care-fully, delegates can experience a mid afternoon slump, leaving them tired and sluggish for the rest of the day.
Always opts for a healthier option for sustained energy. A healthy balanced meal can sus-tain and stimulate the delegate throughout the day. Light, low fat and low GI foods can bat-tle the slump periods and keep delegates vitalised and awake.Providing plenty of drinking water also improves delegate concen-tration levels.
Then there’s the matter of diet. Catering should cater to all dietary requirements, wheth-er it’s Kosher, Halaal, Vegetar-ian, Vegan, Low GI, dairy free, wheat free etc. Event organis-ers should know their delegate profile beforehand in order to cater effectively.
SustainabilityCATERING plays an important role in decreasing an event’s carbon footprint,
When choosing a venue, en-sure that you look at those that have existing programs promot-ing energy efficiency, water con-servation and waste reduction. Also ensure that the venue offers recycling bins in public spaces or participates in back-of-house re-cycling programs.
Green food choices include Fair Trade, organic or locally
sourced ingredients, including the coffee and tea; and seafood should always be sustainable.
Polystyrene and plastic pack-aging is a definite no-no, as is bottled water and paper servi-ettes. Rather opt for buffet style catering served on re-usable china, water served in jugs and cloth napkins.
If possible, look at innovative ways of serving food, such as tor-tilla or pastry cups which can be consumed in one or two bites, thus illuminating the need for sur-plus crockery.
Ask the venue if they have a recycling or compost system in place, or find a local donation program for the excess food and beverages.
DessertDESSERT is the final touch of your event that the client will experi-ence. A bad dessert can effec-tively ruin the entire meal experi-ence. Desserts should be talking points at the end of the evening. For this reason the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) searched far and wide for a pastry chef.
Before every event, Chef Sean Mann sits down with clients in the CTICC test kitchen and talks them through various men-us, with some desserts prepared in two different ways. In this way, clients get to choose and taste everything before an event.
Sean believes in pushing
boundaries, re-inventing tradi-tional favourites through the use of different flavours and textures, and experimenting with the senses, such as his Vanilla Mousse with Chamomile and Green Tea layers, and Wasabi Pannacotta.
Local is lekkerAN event needs to deliver an experience package in order for guests to leave feeling satisfied.
At Meetings Africa this year, Moyo-on-the-move, a service offered by the Moyo restaurant chain, closed off a small sec-tion of the exhibition hall and recreated an authentic look-ing Moyo restaurant, complete with traditional singers, dancers, and décor. Delegates had their faces painted with Xhosa face paint and enjoyed some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, such as potjie, oxtail amos and chicken tagine.
Keeping it freshTHE hot South African weath-er invariably poses a problem when cold dishes are served on a buffet, especially outdoors. To address this problem, the CSIR International Convention Cen-tre (CSIR ICC) started using dry ice underneath the dishes on the buffet. The dry ice creates a refrigerated environment that ensures the temperature of the food can be carefully controlled.
END OF YEARNOWADAYS people employed in the corporate arena spend more time with their colleagues than with their own families. It has be-come essential for companies to keep their staff as motivated and stimulated as possible.
TEAMBUILDING companies, and many venues, offer very competitive packages
to companies and the trend seems to be to keep it as inclu-sive and as unusual as possible.
Gauteng’s big business hub has spawned a multitude of competitive team building ven-ue options such as Elephants in Main Street that offers an Anti-Poaching Unit activity that has delegates following small clues and blood trails to a staged poaching scene through some of the area’s major game parks. They need to become crack forensic investigators. They are racing against the clock before poachers can cross the border. Another of their more unusual offerings is giving delegates the chance to bring out their inner child by creating and starring in their own rock band. [See how the Lady Gaga and Rob-bie Williams wannabees shine.] More cerebral activities include the creation of a newspaper. Delegates will form a team of editors, reporters, layout artists and photographers to produce
a quality tabloid called 7th Edi-tion. Teams will express their points of view by submitting newspaper articles, advertise-ments and letters to the editor. Deadlines are tight and dele-gates will learn how to work in a team under immense pressure.
The Kyalami Kart Circuit in Gauteng offers high octane team building as well as very affordable conferencing rates. Alternatively, delegates can go and dive with crocodiles at Southern Palace Crocodile Ad-ventures in Brits. They will slowly be lowered into the crocodile pool, in a sturdy cage, espe-cially designed to withstand the extreme power of the 3m to 4,2m crocodiles.
Durban sets the tempo for a buzzing KwaZulu Natal which has numerous hotels and teambuild-ing options. The clever folks at the Moses Mabhida Stadium offer the world’s only stadium swing. Delegates jump into the void, 106 metres above the pitch, and swing out in a huge 220 metre arc. Or they can take the SkyCar which can ferry up to 20 visitors to the stadium arch’s highest point. Here they can enjoy a 360-de-gree view of the city. The SkyCar consists of a single cabin mount-ed on an undercarriage that runs along steel tracks fixed to the top of the north arch.
Adventure Works offer team-building all over the country but some are site specific such as the
V&A Waterfront Amazing Race package. Delegates chase clues all over the aquarium, pad-dle in the canal, and learn about the history of Robben Island. They can handle groups of 7 to 750.
Adventure Works also sup-ports communities living in disad-vantaged areas. Delegates can work on one of their Social Re-sponsibility Projects; such as toy making projects for crèches, de-velopment of community veg-etable gardens, township cycles and school upliftment projects.
Port Elizabeth and the East-ern Cape have a wide selection of team build venues ranging from the smaller country lodges to major venues suitable for first-class conferences and incentive trips. Red Cherry Adventures offers fire walking which is port-able, and it can be run without risk to participants or the venue. Or companies can hire a rodeo bull from them for the day. They also offer a Plane Crash Survivor where groups are split into tribes. The goal is to complete various given challenges as effectively as possible, as per the popular television show. It will give groups the chance to work in teams and decide how they would respond to being stranded after surviving a plane crash.
The Alive Survival School will teach delegates how to survive the elements and to build shel-ters, find water, make fire, bush foods and medicines, rope and
knot work, first aid, plant, tree and animal identification.
Teambuilding venues in the Limpopo province range from game lodges to larger more well-known venues, some of the more popular areas being the Waterberg and Kruger National Park areas. Some game reserves offer team building packages whilst most of them have a range of activities that can be incorporated into teambuild-ing. The Makalali Game Lodge, about five hours drive from Jo-hannesburg, offer set team building packages and game drives from the viewpoint of a 4x4 or a hot air balloon, among others. Or delegates can help out at Makalali’s Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Cheetah Breeding facility.
Zesty Events offer tailor-made
team building and corporate function planning all over South Africa with Limpopo being one of the most upcoming break away areas. Some of their top events include loony team games and inflatable fun days, including sumo wrestling and giant slides. They recently hosted the Boot Camp Day for Miss SA at Sun City with Zesty’s top facilitator, Leroy Gopal; a professional entertainer and facilitator with experience in both the entertainment and cor-porate world.
Competition to keep team-building activities as inclusive and as thrilling as possible is fierce. This means currently companies are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the ideal package or venue for their staff.
Astrid Stark
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAM BUILDING
The Event’s Jess Novotná tests out her shooting skills at an Adventure Works day out.
15
END OF YEARNOWADAYS people employed in the corporate arena spend more time with their colleagues than with their own families. It has be-come essential for companies to keep their staff as motivated and stimulated as possible.
TEAMBUILDING companies, and many venues, offer very competitive packages
to companies and the trend seems to be to keep it as inclu-sive and as unusual as possible.
Gauteng’s big business hub has spawned a multitude of competitive team building ven-ue options such as Elephants in Main Street that offers an Anti-Poaching Unit activity that has delegates following small clues and blood trails to a staged poaching scene through some of the area’s major game parks. They need to become crack forensic investigators. They are racing against the clock before poachers can cross the border. Another of their more unusual offerings is giving delegates the chance to bring out their inner child by creating and starring in their own rock band. [See how the Lady Gaga and Rob-bie Williams wannabees shine.] More cerebral activities include the creation of a newspaper. Delegates will form a team of editors, reporters, layout artists and photographers to produce
a quality tabloid called 7th Edi-tion. Teams will express their points of view by submitting newspaper articles, advertise-ments and letters to the editor. Deadlines are tight and dele-gates will learn how to work in a team under immense pressure.
The Kyalami Kart Circuit in Gauteng offers high octane team building as well as very affordable conferencing rates. Alternatively, delegates can go and dive with crocodiles at Southern Palace Crocodile Ad-ventures in Brits. They will slowly be lowered into the crocodile pool, in a sturdy cage, espe-cially designed to withstand the extreme power of the 3m to 4,2m crocodiles.
Durban sets the tempo for a buzzing KwaZulu Natal which has numerous hotels and teambuild-ing options. The clever folks at the Moses Mabhida Stadium offer the world’s only stadium swing. Delegates jump into the void, 106 metres above the pitch, and swing out in a huge 220 metre arc. Or they can take the SkyCar which can ferry up to 20 visitors to the stadium arch’s highest point. Here they can enjoy a 360-de-gree view of the city. The SkyCar consists of a single cabin mount-ed on an undercarriage that runs along steel tracks fixed to the top of the north arch.
Adventure Works offer team-building all over the country but some are site specific such as the
V&A Waterfront Amazing Race package. Delegates chase clues all over the aquarium, pad-dle in the canal, and learn about the history of Robben Island. They can handle groups of 7 to 750.
Adventure Works also sup-ports communities living in disad-vantaged areas. Delegates can work on one of their Social Re-sponsibility Projects; such as toy making projects for crèches, de-velopment of community veg-etable gardens, township cycles and school upliftment projects.
Port Elizabeth and the East-ern Cape have a wide selection of team build venues ranging from the smaller country lodges to major venues suitable for first-class conferences and incentive trips. Red Cherry Adventures offers fire walking which is port-able, and it can be run without risk to participants or the venue. Or companies can hire a rodeo bull from them for the day. They also offer a Plane Crash Survivor where groups are split into tribes. The goal is to complete various given challenges as effectively as possible, as per the popular television show. It will give groups the chance to work in teams and decide how they would respond to being stranded after surviving a plane crash.
The Alive Survival School will teach delegates how to survive the elements and to build shel-ters, find water, make fire, bush foods and medicines, rope and
knot work, first aid, plant, tree and animal identification.
Teambuilding venues in the Limpopo province range from game lodges to larger more well-known venues, some of the more popular areas being the Waterberg and Kruger National Park areas. Some game reserves offer team building packages whilst most of them have a range of activities that can be incorporated into teambuild-ing. The Makalali Game Lodge, about five hours drive from Jo-hannesburg, offer set team building packages and game drives from the viewpoint of a 4x4 or a hot air balloon, among others. Or delegates can help out at Makalali’s Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Cheetah Breeding facility.
Zesty Events offer tailor-made
team building and corporate function planning all over South Africa with Limpopo being one of the most upcoming break away areas. Some of their top events include loony team games and inflatable fun days, including sumo wrestling and giant slides. They recently hosted the Boot Camp Day for Miss SA at Sun City with Zesty’s top facilitator, Leroy Gopal; a professional entertainer and facilitator with experience in both the entertainment and cor-porate world.
Competition to keep team-building activities as inclusive and as thrilling as possible is fierce. This means currently companies are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the ideal package or venue for their staff.
Astrid Stark
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAM BUILDING
The Event’s Jess Novotná tests out her shooting skills at an Adventure Works day out.
16
PARTY PLANNING
EVEN the most basic corporate event needs some entertain-ment, but if money is no ob-ject, you can stage a spec-tacular show to reinforce your company’s brand as well as keep the guests mesmerised.
SUCCESSFUL events depend on exceptional entertain-ment to get the vibe going,
says Greg Lipton, the marketing director for events company BeyondRed. The possibilities are enormous, and the budget, the
number of guests, the purpose and theme of the evening, and the facilities at the chosen venue will infl uence the choice.
If the guests include board members, government bigwigs or celebrities, the aim should be glitter and grandeur. “If you own a factory with 3,000 workers the majority of the audience will en-joy something less complicated and more light-hearted, like a comedian and a DJ,” Greg says. “You have to consider what ex-cites people these days and what will keep them riveted. You have to make it glamor-
ous and exciting. We can tailor-make something like a Mardi Gra event, but if you have 100 peo-ple and a tight budget then a musician and a DJ can create a nice atmosphere.”
For a mid-tier event he might recommend hiring a comedian as the MC, then a live band or a trio of singers, and maybe a novelty strength act to capti-vate the audience. For a top-tier event the entertainment begins with “exciters” such as men on stilts outside the venue to amuse arriving guests. Then a full-on spectacular show can refl ect the
theme or the products of the host company. That will cost R150,000 to R200,000 for the entertain-ment alone, Greg says. Often clients don’t realise how expen-sive these entertainers are. “My role sometimes is to tactfully put it to them that their wants and needs are beyond their budget,” he says. A popular artist can cost from R20,000 to R60,000, and a band closer to R100,000.
Often the company CEO wants to take to the stage him-self to give a speech or present awards, which can be tricky if it’s not managed well. “After watch-ing endless awards the audience is falling asleep, so we’ll bring on a tango act between some of the awards to rejuvenate eve-rybody.” A good party planner may ask the CEO to shorten his speech, and if necessary, re-write it for him. If a speaker insists on droning on, “we make sure a beautiful woman or a dance team comes on straight after to pick up the pace,” says Greg.
One spectacular event is Vodacom’s annual CEO awards evening, where enter-tainment has included an Afri-canised Carmen and full-scale cabarets. Vodacom usually hires Trinergy to organise the event, which is sometimes an eight-month project.
Vodacom’s head of events, Greg Black, says the format is changing under a new CEO who wants less formality. That should
also be cheaper, as ‘plug and play’ performers like a band are far less expensive than devising a spectacular show purely for one night. In the past Vodacom has imported foreign acts, but the exchange rate is now mak-ing it focus on local talent. Some favourites are the Three Afro Tenors, acappella group Navy Red, and young opera soprano Pretty Yende. “You have to ap-peal to a lot of different tastes so we have restructured the event into 15 or 20 minute pockets of entertainment rather than an hour and 20 minutes show. You want a situation where people who really like the entertainment will wish they had performed for longer rather than thinking I wish these guys would get off.”
Novelty acts like displays of strength and acrobats have been done to death, Greg feels. But fi nding the next “wow” act is diffi cult. Event organisers may visit Las Vegas and the Cirque du Soleil to get the latest ideas, but will hire local people to perform because of budget constraints.
Besides, says Greg, parties featuring the perennial Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels are always popular. “They go down well because they have great en-ergy and still have great pulling power and people really enjoy dancing to their music,” he says. Which proves it doesn’t have to be highbrow to be wow.
GENERAL INDUSTRYIF you have any news highlightsto share please visit our web por-tal www.theevent.co.za and loadyour own stories for considerationin next month’s edition.
Durban to host SETE in 2012SOUTH African Tourism, Sports and Recreation SA and Thebe Ex-hibitions & Project Group (TEPG) have announced that the city of Durban has been awarded the hosting of the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE) in 2012.
In 2011 the inaugural SETE saw the tourism, sport and event in-dustries coming together to posi-tion South Africa as a major sports and events destination. The
number of total exhibitors was 88, total number of visitors 1 462, number of conference speakers was 32, the conference was at-tended by 191 delegates and 25 international hosted buyers.
Durban will host SETE for the next three years. SETE in 2012 will take place from 12-14 Sep-tember 2012.
Joburg To Host One Young WorldTHE city of Johannesburg has won the bid to host One Young World in 2013. Lindiwe Kwele CEO of the Johannesburg Tour-ism Company (JTC) says, “JTC’s Conference and Events Bureau team has put in so much effort over the past few months, bid-ding for OWY and we are so
excited to be bringing this high profi le event to Joburg in two years’ time.”
One Young World (OYW) is a dynamic global platform for young leaders making a sub-stantial difference and tangible impact in their communities. This year more than 1200 young leaders from over 170 counties attended the event in Zurich from 1 – 4 September 2011.
“Africa is the continent which has the largest proportion (20%) of youth - as a demographic component of population – and it would be signifi cant to host this event on a continent which so many young people call home and which offers so many oppor-tunities and challenges.”
Strike Production merges with AV Alliance STRIKE Productions, a Johannes-burg based technical support company, has partnered with AV Alliance to form Strike Alli-ance, which aims to be a one-stop shop for the eventing and production industries -combining turnkey production services with unique technical solutions.
Leah McCrae, managing di-rector of Strike Productions says, “The combination of our compa-nies will ensure that we continue to deliver the highest level of ser-vices and offerings to our clients across cities. My new partners have shown nothing but great leadership and support during this merger and I’m extremely
grateful for the unanimous sup-port received from staff, suppliers and our clients.”
Strike Alliance specialises in corporate events, road shows, conferences, product launches, gala dinners, year-end functions, weddings, parties, trade fairs and exhibitions, television broadcasts and fashion shows.
New Chairperson For SAACI’s Northern Territories BranchCINE Dunkley, sales manager at the Gallagher Convention Cen-tre, has been elected as chair-person of the Northern Territories Branch of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI).
Sally Fink
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in The Event do not necessarily represent the offi cial viewpoint of the editor or the publisher, while inclusion of adverts/advertising features does not imply endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of this material is reserved. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, The Event and/or its employees may not be held liable or responsible for any act or ommission committed by any person, including a juristic person, referred to in this publication. It and they furthermore accept(s) no responsibility for any liability arising out of any reliance that a reader of this publication places on the contents of this publication.
• PUBLISHER: Film & Event Publishing
• ADDRESS: 57 2nd Avenue, Harfi eld Village, Claremont,Cape Town
EVEN the most basic corporate event needs some entertain-ment, but if money is no ob-ject, you can stage a spec-tacular show to reinforce your company’s brand as well as keep the guests mesmerised.
SUCCESSFUL events depend on exceptional entertain-ment to get the vibe going,
says Greg Lipton, the marketing director for events company BeyondRed. The possibilities are enormous, and the budget, the
number of guests, the purpose and theme of the evening, and the facilities at the chosen venue will infl uence the choice.
If the guests include board members, government bigwigs or celebrities, the aim should be glitter and grandeur. “If you own a factory with 3,000 workers the majority of the audience will en-joy something less complicated and more light-hearted, like a comedian and a DJ,” Greg says. “You have to consider what ex-cites people these days and what will keep them riveted. You have to make it glamor-
ous and exciting. We can tailor-make something like a Mardi Gra event, but if you have 100 peo-ple and a tight budget then a musician and a DJ can create a nice atmosphere.”
For a mid-tier event he might recommend hiring a comedian as the MC, then a live band or a trio of singers, and maybe a novelty strength act to capti-vate the audience. For a top-tier event the entertainment begins with “exciters” such as men on stilts outside the venue to amuse arriving guests. Then a full-on spectacular show can refl ect the
theme or the products of the host company. That will cost R150,000 to R200,000 for the entertain-ment alone, Greg says. Often clients don’t realise how expen-sive these entertainers are. “My role sometimes is to tactfully put it to them that their wants and needs are beyond their budget,” he says. A popular artist can cost from R20,000 to R60,000, and a band closer to R100,000.
Often the company CEO wants to take to the stage him-self to give a speech or present awards, which can be tricky if it’s not managed well. “After watch-ing endless awards the audience is falling asleep, so we’ll bring on a tango act between some of the awards to rejuvenate eve-rybody.” A good party planner may ask the CEO to shorten his speech, and if necessary, re-write it for him. If a speaker insists on droning on, “we make sure a beautiful woman or a dance team comes on straight after to pick up the pace,” says Greg.
One spectacular event is Vodacom’s annual CEO awards evening, where enter-tainment has included an Afri-canised Carmen and full-scale cabarets. Vodacom usually hires Trinergy to organise the event, which is sometimes an eight-month project.
Vodacom’s head of events, Greg Black, says the format is changing under a new CEO who wants less formality. That should
also be cheaper, as ‘plug and play’ performers like a band are far less expensive than devising a spectacular show purely for one night. In the past Vodacom has imported foreign acts, but the exchange rate is now mak-ing it focus on local talent. Some favourites are the Three Afro Tenors, acappella group Navy Red, and young opera soprano Pretty Yende. “You have to ap-peal to a lot of different tastes so we have restructured the event into 15 or 20 minute pockets of entertainment rather than an hour and 20 minutes show. You want a situation where people who really like the entertainment will wish they had performed for longer rather than thinking I wish these guys would get off.”
Novelty acts like displays of strength and acrobats have been done to death, Greg feels. But fi nding the next “wow” act is diffi cult. Event organisers may visit Las Vegas and the Cirque du Soleil to get the latest ideas, but will hire local people to perform because of budget constraints.
Besides, says Greg, parties featuring the perennial Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels are always popular. “They go down well because they have great en-ergy and still have great pulling power and people really enjoy dancing to their music,” he says. Which proves it doesn’t have to be highbrow to be wow.
GENERAL INDUSTRYIF you have any news highlightsto share please visit our web por-tal www.theevent.co.za and loadyour own stories for considerationin next month’s edition.
Durban to host SETE in 2012SOUTH African Tourism, Sports and Recreation SA and Thebe Ex-hibitions & Project Group (TEPG) have announced that the city of Durban has been awarded the hosting of the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE) in 2012.
In 2011 the inaugural SETE saw the tourism, sport and event in-dustries coming together to posi-tion South Africa as a major sports and events destination. The
number of total exhibitors was 88, total number of visitors 1 462, number of conference speakers was 32, the conference was at-tended by 191 delegates and 25 international hosted buyers.
Durban will host SETE for the next three years. SETE in 2012 will take place from 12-14 Sep-tember 2012.
Joburg To Host One Young WorldTHE city of Johannesburg has won the bid to host One Young World in 2013. Lindiwe Kwele CEO of the Johannesburg Tour-ism Company (JTC) says, “JTC’s Conference and Events Bureau team has put in so much effort over the past few months, bid-ding for OWY and we are so
excited to be bringing this high profi le event to Joburg in two years’ time.”
One Young World (OYW) is a dynamic global platform for young leaders making a sub-stantial difference and tangible impact in their communities. This year more than 1200 young leaders from over 170 counties attended the event in Zurich from 1 – 4 September 2011.
“Africa is the continent which has the largest proportion (20%) of youth - as a demographic component of population – and it would be signifi cant to host this event on a continent which so many young people call home and which offers so many oppor-tunities and challenges.”
Strike Production merges with AV Alliance STRIKE Productions, a Johannes-burg based technical support company, has partnered with AV Alliance to form Strike Alli-ance, which aims to be a one-stop shop for the eventing and production industries -combining turnkey production services with unique technical solutions.
Leah McCrae, managing di-rector of Strike Productions says, “The combination of our compa-nies will ensure that we continue to deliver the highest level of ser-vices and offerings to our clients across cities. My new partners have shown nothing but great leadership and support during this merger and I’m extremely
grateful for the unanimous sup-port received from staff, suppliers and our clients.”
Strike Alliance specialises in corporate events, road shows, conferences, product launches, gala dinners, year-end functions, weddings, parties, trade fairs and exhibitions, television broadcasts and fashion shows.
New Chairperson For SAACI’s Northern Territories BranchCINE Dunkley, sales manager at the Gallagher Convention Cen-tre, has been elected as chair-person of the Northern Territories Branch of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI).
Sally Fink
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
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EVENTS PREVIEWEIBTM takes place from 29 No-vember - 1 December 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the leading global events for the meetings and events industry.
EIBTM gathers over 14,200 industry professionals (in-cluding Over 8,300 meet-
ing and event planners and buyers) for three days of fo-cused access to a dynamic business environment, thought provoking professional educa-tion and business networks.
34 South African companies
will be exhibiting this year includ-ing three new exhibitors: Hyatt Hotels, Tourvest and Great Ho-tels of the World.
“EIBTM is an important mar-keting platform for Cape Town Convention Bureau (CTRU),” says Calvyn Gilfellan, CTRUCEO. “To participate at EIBTM is to market and position Cape Town and the Western Cape as a premier, world-class meetings destina-tion for the European market. Our planned activities include to have 40 pre-scheduled appoint-ments with international hosted buyers from around the world and to generate seven associa-tion leads, 10 incentive leads and three corporate meeting leads for the destination,” he says.
There are also a number of African exhibitors from across the continent including Ango-la, Benin, Cape Verde, Chad,
Equitorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ke-nya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Ugan-da, Botswana and Zimbabawe among others.
This year’s show buzzword is undoubtedly technology.
EIBTM have partnered with global meetings architecture consultants SyncPartners Ltd and Newtonstrand to create a Future Events Experience. This new live experience will pro-vide an insight into how future conferences and meetings will be run and how social media technologies will re-shape at-tendees experiences.
EIBTM will be launching its first show APP, making EIBTM from mobile handsets.
The APP will be available before the event, enabling ex-hibitors and delegates to ac-cess the show from any loca-tion. Content will include event schedules, exhibitor listings, my event planning tool and gen-eral information on travel and how to get to Barcelona and the show.
In addition to this, EIBTM will be running a number of Tech-nology Education sessions. The now famous Technology Hour will take place everyday in the
Lecture Theatre on the show floor and topics will consider the relevance and impacts of various applications ranging from social media and mobile technology to Ipads and tab-lets. Each session is structured to
evoke a range of debates and discussions throughout.
The Technology Village @ EIBTM is one of the fastest grow-ing areas of the show and over the past four years the number of companies exhibiting has in-creased by 25%. Exhibitors new to the show this year include PSideo SA, H82 medientechnik, Availpro, EventPlatform, my-Qaa, Vivien – Virtual Event De-signer and GoomeoEvents.
Graeme Barnett, Reed Travel Exhibitions event director EIBTM says, “The changing world we are all living in is being re-shaped every day by emerging technologies that connect and engage individuals all over the world. This year we have looked at developing ways to support the exponential growth of this new and rapidly evolving medi-um. As the leading global event for the meetings and events industry, one of our main ob-jectives is to drive change and bring industry players together to contribute, share, express and debate about these devel-opment – which will in turn, carry the industry forward”.
EIBTM forms part of the Reed Travel and Exhibitions portfolio of Global Meetings and Incentives Events along with AIME, that takes place from 21-22 February 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.
The Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) will cel-ebrate its 20th year in 2012.
AIME’s focus is centred more on the Asia-Pacific region and instead of technology will be focusing more on creating memorable events. To this end, the Saxton Ultimate Event Expe-rience will take place on day two. Attendees will have the opportunity to experience an international line up of present-ers highlighting what can be achieved with a combination of the finest speakers and en-tertainers, leading edge event design, and outstanding multi camera audio visual.
“We are constantly working on developing the show’s offer-ing to keep the event fresh and dynamic. With this in mind and based on customer feedback, we are rolling out some new ini-tiatives and changes in the lead up and during the show,” says Sally de Swart, Reed Travel exhi-bitions director for AIME.
New initiatives for 2012 in-clude changes to the Pre Scheduled Appointments (PSA) online facility that will help make the meetings’ process more seamless for exhibitors and Hosted Buyers.
The AIME organisers will also be releasing details on the refreshed Social Program soon that will give attendees the opportunity to relax and network with new and existing business contacts.
