Best Production of an Event (B-to-B)

Program Name: SpaceShipTwo Unveiling
Client: Virgin Galactic
Agency: Group Delphi

It’s tough to say which element of this program presented the biggest challenge: the two month lead time (yikes!), the client (visionary, gazillionaire and daredevil Sir Richard Branson), the product (the world’s first commercial “spaceline”) or the location (the Mojave Desert, home to gale force winds and freezing temps). Unfortunately for agency Group Delphi, it wasn’t a choice between one or the other. Fortunately, the end result was a triumph of planning, production, creativity and flat out moxie.

Virgin invited 800 clients, VIPs and members of the press to Mojave, CA, for the Dec. 7 unveiling of the first-ever commercial space plane, VSS Enterprise, that gives consumers the opportunity to be among the world’s first non-professional astronauts. The evening began with a short bus ride down an airport tarmac to a press tent for drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and speeches by Branson and others, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Next was the reveal, staged just outside of the tent and, with the help of mother nature, against a desert backdrop and a clear night sky filled with stars. After the ship made its entrance, guests came back to the tent for hot snacks and more drinks before being bussed back to Mojave. An impressive event in any city. An even more impressive feat considering the venue.

The production team started with a blank slate, just a concrete pad at the end of a runway, and transformed it into a futuristic event space. Custom party domes from China gave the site a moonscape appeal and provided a heated party space after the press conference. The press event was held in a giant clear-sided tent that allowed the desert’s myriad colors to provide the perfect backdrop for the presenters. All the power for the site came from five 400-horsepower generators and there was more than five miles of cable running along the runway alone, powering eight 40- foot-tall screen-printed, lightweight fabric icons that documented the history of flight from Daedalus through the Wright Brothers to SpaceShipOne, all pointing the way to the eventual reveal at the end of the runway. Video projections, moving and fixed lighting and multiple rock concert-quality sound environments transformed each space and moment throughout the event. As the aircraft taxied toward the guests, it traveled in exact sequence with the music and lighting.

The mini city in the Mojave also included a fully redundant power system, bathrooms for 800, complete catering facilities for gourmet meals, internet connectivity for 200 press and luxury coach transportation from six different Los Angeles hotels.

The launch generated more than 3,000 articles and $7 million in media value. There were also on-site sales that included eight upgrades and four post-event sales to date. Hey, at $200,000 a ticket for a ride into space, we’d say this event had the right stuff.

Program Name: Shareholders Meeting
Client: Walmart
Agency: TBA Global

For its annual shareholders meeting last June, Walmart, which had remained strong during the recession, wanted to celebrate its success with shareholders, associates and the media without seeming insensitive to the lingering effects of the bad economy. The resulting program found the right balance through a mix of associates-only events and a show-stopping grand finale, the all-day Shareholders Meeting, that included 16,500 media, shareholders and associates as well as an international webcast audience.

The first three days were all about training and inspiring the associates with the help of concerts by Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Foreigner and Daughtry. The associates meeting on day three featured multiple executive presentations and entertainers including Kristi Yamaguchi and Julianne Hough. For the Shareholders Meeting, hosted by Ben Stiller at the Bud Walton Arena, the voice of the associate was interwoven throughout the content during the event. A webcast, micro-blogging and Twitter brought the meeting to a worldwide audience.

The event netted nearly 20,000 page views on walmartstores.com and the webcast audience doubled over the previous year, with almost 14,000 viewers.

Program Name: World Dealer Conference
Client: Skoda Auto
Agency: Vok Dams

For the Skoda Yeti product launch at the World Dealer Conference 2009, the auto brand introduced the new model to 4,500 dealers via an Alpine event centered on the car’s friendly nature and everyday usability, and its ties to the abominable snowman, which was the inspiration for the car’s name.

The Yeti Expedition 2009 business meeting took place in a custom-made tent with transparent walls that allowed the dealers to experience the reveal. As they looked out, the dealers saw footprints descending the mountain, only to see the prints disappear behind an obstacle and then suddenly reappear as the Skoda Yeti, which accelerated down the mountain, straight toward the tent, then disappeared, finally to reappear in the tent, right in front of the guests for the first time. After the launch, the guests followed the footprints to an Alpine cabin for a reception.

The second day was all about test drives. At the end of the test drive, a course was set up so that the real limits of the Yeti could be tested with the assistance of an experienced driving instructor.