There was a time when converted hotel ball-rooms into some kind of table and chair seating witnessed the odd conference with chandeliers, mirrors and dance floors still evident. Conferences in those days were so unusual that the spoken word reverberated for weeks afterwards around the prestigious clubs, lavish private dining rooms and mansions of the well-heeled with their week-end guests on patios by the pool.
Today the information revolution grows more intense and the corporate, association or public sector MICE gatherings are hard-pushed to get their particular message across. Event architecture, with all the bells and whistles of message retention is now essential. Enter the world of staging, production and technical know-how with hitherto unknown words such as: build-up! lights! strike!
With the theatrical industry on a downward spiral – arose the formidable technical expertise of the event staging and production industry. Of course the big money is in the live entertainment side with rock concerts and big international super-stars taking centre-stage although festivals are a small part of the technical mix in South Africa.
There are however very few MICE undertakings that do not have eye-catching back-drops, follow-spot lighting, surround sound, digital data projection sourced from an external venue to name but a few of the technical wizardry available today.
The Academy has been a part of a select audience at the launch of a visual presentation showing crashing ocean waves on a rocky shore and experiencing the spray on one’s face! How this was undertaken without a water spray being secretly targeted at the audience remains a mystery. Messages captured in unique memories such as these continue to rule the MICE industry in an ongoing quest for high message retention.
Commented SA Roadies’ Freddie Nyathela in the international IQ publication on live entertainment: ‘The truth of the matter is that the technical and production side of the industry holds the power, and that is where the bulk of the industry is’ (SA Roadies are the association for the technical support teams who transport staging equipment across southern Africa)
Strike! has no inference to the union movement. In this unique yet essential part of the MICE industry, strike! is the break-down at the completion of the hi-tech audio visual equipment and staging……until the next ‘gig’.
