A word from the editor

I hope that you had a great Christmas and enjoyed all the New Year celebrations. The Revelation team bid farewell to 2008 in style with our own masked ball at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire. The grand banqueting hall of the castle was decorated with opulent lighting and exquisite floral displays which along with the Christmas music and open fire burning made it the perfect setting for a fantastic festive meal. We all stayed in beautiful cottages set in the castle grounds which fortunately meant there were no neighbours because at the after party the karaoke came out again and it would appear that we have not improved one bit in the last year!!

Some huge news for us is that we are moving from our offices in Hambrook to the beautifully converted Hope Manor Farm to the north of Bristol. So, as of the 2nd February our new contact details for your records will be;

Hope Manor Farm,
Cutts Heath Road,
Milbury Heath,
Glos,
GL12 8PS,
UK.

t: +44 (0)1454 262 242
f: +44 (0)1454 262 252

The new premise gives us much more space, more parking, some amazing views plus a veggie patch and even some cows! We would love for you to pop in and see us, so if you are ever in the area please come in for a coffee.

We have also updated the contact numbers for the Middle East office too, these are now
t: +971 (0)2 444 9680 and f: +971 (0)2 449 6253. Our Ops Manager, Rob spent a lot of time in Abu Dhabi at the back end of last year overseeing everything...keep reading for the update on what we have been up to out there.

We are all looking forward to a busy 2009, already having delivered some great shows in World Future Energy Summit 09 (which this year was hosted in Abu Dhabi) along with Turret ME, LEO Pharma's product launch, gala dinner and conference as well as a brand new event, the Drinking Out Excellence Awards with William Reed. Plus we have a list of shows coming up including a portfolio of Easyfairs exhibitions, Sign & Digital UK and Sustainability live! with Faversham House Group and a host of William Reed award ceremonies such as PubChef, Hotel Report & Retailers Retailer to name but a few.

Well, here's hoping that you have a great start to the year.

Fiona, Editor
It's a Revelation...

Middle East Update

The Abu Dhabi office @ADNEC delivered the WFES (World Future Energy Summit) Press Conference in October at which we managed all the AV and technical production and we have just completed the production for the WFES.

We also had the ADEPIC 2008 Conference & Exhibition, again at ADNEC, in November where we were responsible for managing all the conference production, including the opening ceremony. Gordon Brown, PM, (accompanied by Cabinet colleagues Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business & Ed Miliband and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change) addressed the audience in addition to a number of senior CEOs representing leading UK companies. As you can imagine, with 250 speakers and over 2800 registered delegates covering a multitude of disciplines, it was a huge show and broke all previous records.

Again in November we had the BIG 5 conference in Dubai where we managed a fantastic line up of speakers, delivering a programme based around delivering high-performance, energy efficient green building solutions and environmentally friendly technologies.

aeo Conference

Revelation is very proud to have managed and produced the whole aeo conference for the 7th year running. Held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole the conference tackled the topic of the changing commercial environment for events with a number of keynote speakers from a range of industry backgrounds taking the stage to address the audience. Our team was responsible for liaison and management of the venue, delegate and speaker management as well as helping to bring in key sponsors for the event. We also provided all the key personnel onsite to work alongside the onsite AV management company.

“A huge THANK YOU to the whole team for putting on a really successful event in Brighton. We are delighted with how it all went, and as always I felt so reassured knowing that you guys have the event in hand. Despite any challenges it all went really smoothly, so thanks for all your support in the run-up and on site. You're all stars!” Director, aeo

South West Tourism Excellence Awards

Working alongside Services for Tourism, Revelation were responsible for event managing and producing the South West Tourism Excellence Awards for the fifth year running. Our role included the venue and speaker management, organising the entertainment, coordinating the online registration and payments of guest's pre event, plus managing all the production elements such as sound, lighting, stage and set design. All this alongside ensuring the smooth running of operations on the night.

Everyone involved in the event was extremely happy at the way the awards ran and a number of guests on the evening had passed on some very positive feedback... “The evening ran incredibly smoothly and our every need was catered for, which is all down to your hard work and the team who assisted you. The food was fantastic, the layout was stunning, the service was extremely efficient and the company most entertaining!”. Some guests even heralded it as the best one yet!!

EI Awards

The EI Awards in November (now in it's eighth year) was the first time that Revelation had worked with the Energy Institute (EI) so we were delighted to be appointed to manage the production of such a high profile event.

This year, the ceremony, supported by Deloitte, was held in the Ballroom at The Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, with Roger Black MBE as the celebrity host. As part of our role, the team designed the set to fit aesthetically within the art-deco ballroom, in colours that were sympathetic to the venue. The area incorporated a large central rear projection screen, a good sized stage and two lecterns, all provided by Revelation. We also took responsibility for the lighting and the sound for the event, as well as the providing speaker and presentation management both pre event and on site. Plus for each award nominee, we produced a short movie showing still images of examples of their work, for which we also provided voice-over services.

At the drinks reception and in the bar at the end of the awards guests could enjoy a duo playing light jazz amongst some ambient lighting managed by Revelation.

LEO Pharma Product Launch

We were very proud to have been appointed as event production company for LEO Pharma's product launch, sales conference and gala dinner, set over 2 days and attended by staff from a number of different divisions. The event took on a different twist than in previous years, with each section of the event taking on a different theme which our team were responsible for delivering.

Although the stage and set, designed and built by Revelation, stayed the same for all three parts of the event, with clever use of lighting and theming the room looked dramatically different at each point.

For the launch, the colours of the new product were the chosen theme; red and white. Lighting, video stings, audio and then a huge blast of confetti canons at the point of launch made this section go with a real bang. After this the colour returned to the blue of the LEO logo so that important messages about the company could be conveyed to the delegates.

The next day the message to be conveyed was ‘Out with the Old, In with the New’. To achieve this it was agreed that the conference room would be themed like a graveyard, to signify things being laid to rest. The room was decorated with gravestones, a huge wall with cemetery gates, an image of a haunted house projected on the screen and the Grim Reaper on stage, all accompanied by Michael Jackson's ‘Thriller’ and a smoke machine giving a real creepy ambience to the room. The effect couldn't have given the message any clearer and the management at LEO Pharma were really happy with the way that this worked...with some delegates commenting that it was "the best start to a conference that they had ever seen!"

The client commented that Revelation “are a secure team that guarantee you a stress free, smooth-running and more importantly, successful event and are always, constantly one step ahead”.

Background

Revelation have been event partners with dmg World Media for 4 years, with this being the fourth consecutive year that we have worked together on the European Annual Gas Conference. EAGC is a premier event, comprising of an exhibition and conference, for the gas industry and attracts a very senior list of delegates from all over the world. It has historically been hosted in some of the world's most beautiful places and this year was no exception with the event being held in the Spazio Villa Erba in Lake Como, Italy.

Solution

The Revelation team were appointed as production management on the event although initially we also acted in a consultative role, advising on the best way to get the intended message across to the audience, providing technical specification and support, as well as giving advice on sourcing a local AV company to provide all technical requirements.

In the main conference room, which seated 400 people, we designed and built a stage and set which comprised of one large central front projection screen, a large stage with a lectern and top table and branded sponsor graphic panels. As well as providing tailored sound packages and stage lighting, the room was also lit around the perimeter using dynamic flame gobos in the same red & green as in the event branding.

At a number of points during the conference there were interactive voting questions, so each delegate had a handset so they could vote on relevant questions regarding that particular session. The results were shown on screen immediately, and the responses logged. This allowed everyone to feel engaged in the conference and able to participate.

Another of our responsibilities was to manage the speaker-preview room. The aim of this is to ensure that all speakers were happy and that all of the presentations (of which the background template had been designed by our graphics team) were correctly formatted. Also by us setting up a network, presentations could be seamlessly transferred from the speaker-preview room to the main conference room. We were then on hand to escort the presenters to the main room, ensuring they were comfortable at the lectern, and familiar with their presentation on the main screen.

Results

The client was very happy with the event and gave the Revelation team 100% on every aspect of the event on our feedback form. When asked one thing that Revelation did exceptionally well, the answer was “helping to manage the local supplier's onsite (which was no mean feat!)”. Our next project with dmg is Gastech being held in Abu Dhabi in May, so watch this space...

World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 09

This is the second year this hugely prestigious event has run with the Revelation teams from both our UK and Abu Dhabi offices working alongside the organisers, Turret Middle East, as production management partner. Our core production team began working on the event in the summer of 2007 and our responsibilities have included:

• Summit Production Management
• Speaker Preview Room technical management
• Exhibition floor feature and seminar room support
• Management and direction of all AV equipment and technical support for the show
• Branding representation
• Video production and output of media to the world's press
• Web based press area for worlds press to access presentations and audio files of all presentations
• Stage management of the main plenary sessions and breakout rooms at the summit
• The pre production, stage management and show calling of the Opening Ceremony attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
• Live streaming of the conference to Bloomberg Newsroom in the UK and the USA
• Edited video output to CNBC Europe and Arabia
• Video conferencing from Abu Dhabi across the world for numerous VIP exhibitors including Deutsche Bank
• Management of the Closing Ceremony featuring the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair
• The servicing of 80 exhibition stands with AV equipment and technical support

Attracting over 16,000 people from 79 countries, WFES (www.worldfutureenergysummit.com) is now an established brand which this year has been represented as a massive widescreen projection making the entire conference set completely animated, complete with rotating windmills, panning clouds, presentations and videos animating on and off the massive screen, click here to check it out.

Some of the latest technologies have been utilised in the event including LED stairs to the stage, 8 projector widescreen High Definition Projection and cutting edge sound systems. A total of 180 technical crew have been involved in the event all managed by the team from Revelation and headed up by our MD, Matt Sims.

To see how the show got under way click on this link.

Sponsorship Challenges

With the current climate being as it is, you may be finding it hard to find companies that will part with their money to sponsor your event. With Revelation's help identifying the key elements of sponsorship and creating a variety of packages and costings that are suitable for all potential sponsors, you may just hook the big fish that will make your event even more desirable.

Some concepts that we have been working on recently are:
Branded carpets - a great way for sponsors to get their logo seen at an event. These can be reused and certainly has a high perceived value.
Branded floor tiles - Easy to construct and reusable, this marketing opportunity can be used for any event scenario.
Branded light structures - Branded lighting balloons that can be used throughout an event. These are available in all shapes and sizes and include a bright yet very soft light and can be presented in tons of different ways.

These are just a few of things that we have come up with to help provide sponsors with new and innovative ways to display their brand. If you think we can help with your event, why not drop us an email at sales@revelation-events.co.uk.

Easyfairs

We are delighted to have signed a contract with Easyfairs for a portfolio of 6 exhibitions throughout 2009 including Packaging Innovations, Contract Pack & Interior Fit Out. We will be the official AV and technical support contractor on all of these shows and are really looking forward to working with Easyfairs again.