Lighting & Staging Solutions at the Flight Centre EOFY Gala

Impress Stakeholders with an effective and entertaining corporate event

The End of Financial Year is a big deal in the corporate world. As everyone (except accountants) bemoans the coming of ‘tax time’, businesses are busy reflecting on the past twelve months and setting the agenda for the next twelve. With growth to celebrate, staff to thank and stakeholders to impress, it’s no wonder that so many corporate events fall in July and the End of Financial Year.

Flight Centre, the internationally renowned travel agent group, is one such organisation which uses the EOFY to touch base with stakeholders and celebrate their achievements. Through the annual ‘Heartland’ Gala Ball, Flight Centre commemorates the end of the financial year, celebrates company achievements and recognises the efforts of their highest achievers.

Microhire, together with event organiser cievents, successfully implemented and delivered the 2015 Heartland Gala Ball. Working with cievents, we implemented a combined staging and lighting solution which was aligned with the client’s needs, chosen theme, audience and venue.

The event’s components

The key to organising a successful event is balancing all the essential moving parts. Working with cievents and Flight Centre, we determined critical information about the venue, audience and chosen theme. This information helped draw up the basis of our staging and lighting solutions.

Here is a summary of this essential event information:

• Client. The Heartland EOFY Ball is an annual event which offers the opportunity for Flight Centre staff, management and other various stakeholders to celebrate store achievements, recognise high achievers of the past twelve months, and set the agenda for the upcoming financial year.
• Venue. The regular venue for this annual event is the Royal International Convention Centre, a high capacity event space that has been the host of the Heartland EOFY Ball since 2013.
• Audience. The event is a highlight in the guests’ calendars; it is a formal yet fun opportunity to network with up to 1500 others in the industry, and celebrate each other’s achievements. The nature of the event means that guests ‘dressed to the nines’ – cocktail dresses and black ties are the lie of the land.
• Theme. The 2015 event was themed ‘Fourth of July’. This themed reflected the time of year, as well as showcasing a tradition of the USA; an ever-popular tourist destination. This theme was set to bring a flavour of USA-style celebration to the night.

The solutions

With the essential components of the event as a base, we developed the ideal staging and lighting solution to maximise the event’s impact. The combined effect presented a visually stunning and immersive experience for the Heartland audience.

Staging solution

Staging was used to highlight and utilise different areas in the venue space. In particular, staging divided the space into the main awards stage, MC stage, and the DJ stage.

Some of the staging highlights included:

• The dancefloor ‘big reveal’. The DJ riser was hidden behind a reveal drape, which created an element of surprise when the dance floor was finally opened to the audience.
• Illuminated glow stairs. These stairs were used to highlight the main entry point of the main awards stage. They were also choreographed with the opening dance act, providing an additional visual element to compliment the performance.

Lighting solution

Lighting design utilising over 160 intelligent lighting fixtures, including Microhire’s 65 intelligent moving lights installed at the Royal ICC.

Some of the highlights included:

• Stage effects, including top and bottom drape up lighting across the full stage wall drape.
• Clay Packy Sharpies for beamed stage effects.
• DJ and dancefloor lighting and effects.
• LED pars for chandelier and banner spotlighting.

Combined effect

The holistic solution to lighting and staging worked together to complement the theme and operate within the requirements of the event.

An example of how our staging and lighting solutions working together was during the awards ceremony. The layout of the room was designed so that team banners that hung on side-walls corresponded with certain team tables. As these teams were ‘called out’ on the main stage, the lighting was programmed to not only highlight the team banner, but also the team section out on the floor.

The result was a spectacular and highly entertainment Gala; Flight Centre employees felt proud to be part of an exciting organisation and the event put Flight Centre in positive light in front of stakeholders. The event certainly set a positive tone for the new financial year ahead.

Work with Microhire for events that impress

Microhire is one of Australia’s leading event specialists. We combine our decades of experience with Australia’s most diverse event equipment inventory.

We have a proven track record in providing technical and design services for some of Australia’s most recognised awards nights and gala dinners. We can assist you with everything from event design and development, to venue selection, production management and technical direction.

Call 1300 667 095 to find out more about how we can help you, or your client, pull a special event.