I was engaged as a technical production manager in order to create a sophisticated atmosphere for a high profile awards attended by celebrity and press.
The delivery of the project was defined by the very specific requirements of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the strict restrictions of Westminster City Council events licensing department. The presence of public, celebrity and media, and the limited availability of the venue, along with the need to close a public pavement, required precise project planning and implementation.
In collaboration with Westminster City Council, a comprehensive traffic and crowd management scheme was developed, along with a detailed installation plan to ensure that the event infrastructure could be installed and removed on schedule.
Key to the project was the overnight installation team, allowing the main floor management team to focus solely on the live event. Specialist show calling, autocue and graphics teams were brought in to provide broadcast levels of speaker support throughout. Elements of media and video interviews were staged outside the venue, and crowd management was planned and executed. Finally, a fully-catered afterparty was arranged and everything quickly and carefully removed before dawn.
As the Royal Opera House allows only 8 external events per year, not many agencies have staged an event in this way and the importance of an experienced pre-production team can not be overlooked when dealing with a multidiscipline event of this type. Full engagement with all key stakeholders and a recognition of the challenges and requirements of 24-hour working practices helped to ensure the success of the event.
