[Part 5] Shake it all about!
29 May 2008
Tracey Doran is managing director of Doran Design, a design consultancy specialising in exhibition stand design. In the fifth of a six-part series, Tracey takes a look at the conference and events industry.
As it coincides with the National Venue Show I thought this time round I would don my set designers hat and write about the In’s and out’s of the conference and events industry (and is also an attempt to explain the title).
‘Venue’ merely implies a place, this could range from a field, a park to an exhibition hall or a 5 star hotel. Having worked in all areas at some time or other I know a lot of venues that try to sell the whole package. One of my clients ‘Novotel’ achieve this really well; perfect for meetings and small conferences with a guaranteed standard in any of their hotels, ‘you get exactly what it says on the tin’! For something grander they even have a theatre at Euston ‘The Shaw’, and at London West they have an exhibition hall. Other venues might have some ‘AV’, rostra and lighting, but then you need to know if they can supply the rest of the package? You have to decide what you want from the event? Is it a party, PR, sales, charity, awards or even just an anouncement ceremony? Will there be any special requirements or presentations taking place? Most of all, you need to ask yourself (or employ an expert to advise you) if the venue is right for your event?
Some venues were designed for a purpose others unfortunately were not. I’ve worked in most of the large venues and hotels in London, definitely all the conference hotels in west London. They might be spending a fortune refurbishing the interior, bedrooms and common areas, but very rarely (although there are some exceptions) would they consider adding another entrance or a ramp, or anything that might make everything easier for the conference support industry. Dependent on your ‘get-in’ time you could actually be waiting for the butcher, the baker, the candle man, the fish man, the cheese man...and remember you will be paying for this time! All production companies know the venues, and as soon as you tell them which venue you have selected, the cost of the event will be adjusted for ease of ‘get-in’. If you’re not paying the venue to make everything easy, you will be paying for it somewhere.
Most of the events I work on we bring our own equipment. Obviously, if the venue has its own catering, you would try to use it, but everything else is brought in, that way you should be in control, but you must also control the venue. My first ‘tip’ would be to remember that the venue is there to sell and to achieve this they often distort the truth. It might just be the number of people the rooms can cope with; it’s often the dimensions of the rooms. So always have a site survey. I once had to check out a new extension to a ground floor room I was using at a London venue. I was even shown the architects drawings, and even so I still asked to measure the room. It was nearly 800mm shorter than shown on the drawing, thus the 8 metres wide stage I had planned, suddenly became 7 metres!
I sent a ‘newbie’ to site survey a ‘get-in’ for a car display set-up at an airport, I wish I hadn’t. He didn’t know (but I know I should have told him) you always measure the width of a doorway when the doors are open, not closed [as not all doors have standard ‘frame edge’ hinges]. The crew spent half the night removing a large window and making up ramps to get the car in to the building! Still quicker and probably cheaper than getting hold of a door fitting company in the middle of the night.
There is a venue in London that has a car-sized lift, but unfortunately not enough turning space for an F1 car to be removed from the lift onto the required floor. A colleague of mine again had to have windows removed to get the car in to the building. However, this also required the use of a crane to be hired, as it was a couple of floors up!
So, as I said always do a site survey. Double check all that the venue has said that you will get for your money, check out how good the food really is and try to talk to the in-house technical staff, not just the sales staff. Get to know the banqueting manager, make sure you have a dedicated contact to chase when things go wrong, and never be shy, always ask to check that the equipment is working [you don’t want a clattering air-con vent drowning out you key speaker!]. Check the drapes or blackout work; look out for mirrors behind the stage or display areas. And to avoid any embarrassment, don’t forget the other sex! Always check out both sets of toilets, women’s powder rooms, men’s smoking rooms or any other sort of room that makes up part of the venue, it’s all part of the deal and remember you are paying for it!
Finally we come down to design. Off the shelf, bespoke build or something in the middle? When ‘money is not a problem’ (the amount of times I hear that – but it is) a bespoke designed set must be the way to go. You should get exactly what you want or need if it fits the venue. If money is a problem then it’s ‘off the shelf’. Personally I would rather project onto a wall than use a ‘Drape-Kit’ but there are a few basic kits that can be branded to suit all requirements. It’s the something in the middle that really interests me. A few years ago I designed and helped to start a modular stage set company called ‘Sethire.com’, where the idea was to fill the gap between. To have a stage set made up of modular components, which could look different every time it was used, obviously it won’t suit every project, but neither will any other. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for the ultimate solution, remembering always that like life, events and venues are always a compromise. What the client wants or can afford has to be taken in to consideration, as well as what the venue can cope with, and lastly TIME! Always remember time! Time to pre-build, deliver, on-site construction, AV and lighting, rehearsals and even pullout time at the end of the event. Always remember how long the venue is booked for!
Don’t get me wrong it’s a great buzz. I’ve been doing this for 30+ years and I still enjoy it. I remember designing the set for the launch of the first Vauxhall Cavalier in the UK and Ireland (actually ‘Opel’ in Ireland). I also remember working to promote the Astra, Corsa and the ‘New’ Cavalier up to the Vectra. I worked on F1 cars covering the Autosport Awards stage set for nearly 10 years. The last project I worked on only last week was for Toyota as main sponsors at the T4 party on the beach (nice venue when it’s dry) and that’s just working with cars! I’ve done a set for everything from a silicon chip to a rocket.
I did want to point out the effect that ‘up-graded’ security is having on the industry, especially new venues like Wembley (It’s like using an airport - add an hour or two to every trip!) but lets leave that for another time..
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 23/07/2014 - Latest news from Doran Design
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 6] Back to basics
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 4] Exhibiting - the boring bits!
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 3] Are you sitting comfortably?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 2] What’s in a name?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 1] It stared with a Wang!
