A first ever company kick-off event
Our client, a specialist in IT solutions, has offices spread across England and Scotland and we were asked to provide our full event management service to deliver an event that would bring the entire company together for the very first time. Strategically, this would be an important kick-off event for the business – an opportunity to share a vision for the future, ensuring that every person in every office would be aligned with the company strategy and understand the role they each have to play as the business moves forward.
The Solution
Naturally, we needed to find a relatively central location so that no one regional team would have an unnecessarily long journey. Our venue search focused on Newcastle, and the stylish Crowne Plaza offered everything we needed – comfortable plenary space for 300 delegates plus smaller rooms for breakout sessions.
Knowing the significance of this event, we wanted to absolutely ensure it would run smoothly and provide an inspiring experience for all participants. Having agreed the event objectives with our client, we set about designing an experience that aligned to those objectives. The company’s branding was integral to the design of the event. From lanyards to wayfinding signage to the look of the event space itself, we made sure that every element was strongly and consistently branded. The event theme even reflected one of the company’s brand values, ‘together we thrive’, and our client’s corporate colours gave us plenty of scope for creating a vibrant lighting scheme that went through multiple transitions to change the ambience throughout the event.
Our event management team was onsite for the entire day, taking care of everything – from welcoming and registering delegates as they arrived to manning a help desk throughout the event. This helped to ensure the day ran smoothly and on time and that every single delegate was able to fully participate. The only thing we couldn’t control was a national train strike, which might have compromised the event. We assisted our client in organising a fleet of coaches that got everyone to Newcastle and saved the day!
Ahead of the event we launched a bespoke event app that provided delegates with key information, including the agenda and FAQs, and helped to build a sense of anticipation and excitement. On the day, the app facilitated a high level of interaction – delegates could participate in polls and votes and a series of challenges was launched throughout the day, incentivising each challenge to keep everyone fully engaged. With technology being central to our client’s business, it made sense to embrace technology for the event itself – even to the extent of finding the most amazing magician who uses mobile devices as part of his magic, which both confounded and delighted his audience.
Ahead of the awards ceremony, delegates took a break for dinner. Street food catering, which included nachos, mac & cheese and sides, kept the atmosphere nicely informal and relaxed. Everyone then went to their rooms to get ready for the evening and our event management team prepared the event space for an awards ceremony and party.
Guests returned to a drinks reception in the Gin Bar. The awards ceremony that followed neatly rounded off the day’s agenda, the perfect way in which to reward and celebrate success, as well as providing plenty of incentive and inspiration for the future. All that was then left to do was to get up and party! A live band got things underway quickly, the energy levels were high and delegates had a fabulous time on the dance floor.
