Once again, Multi-Media was contacted by our client, Turnkey, to assist with all the technical support and logistics for the Pick ‘n Pay Franchise Conference at the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia. Under normal circumstances this would be an event we would service with our eyes closed, the logistics however, in getting everything through various borders to Livingston and back again is where the challenge lay. We provided all technical, structures, decking, power, carpeting, artist requirements as well as assisted with content creation for this event.
Having done this event every second year since 1991, we were under no illusions as to the task at hand, and the clients exacting requirements. Every single item sent from SA had to be recorded in detail for custom purposes, with its dimensions, weight and serial number. Each function area was in turn planned and documented accordingly, making the unloading process on site just that little bit simpler.
Precise packing lists were required for each truck, down to the last set of batteries or gaffer tape. 10 dedicated staffers took a full week to tally up all this information, mark and pack boxes correctly, make sure customs documentation matched the boxes, which in turn had to match the waybills for each truck, load the trucks before finally waving the convoy goodbye.
Tight travel schedules across borders always bring a sense of anxiety! We contracted five 32 Ton multi-link’s and two 14 Ton closed body trucks to get everything to Livingston, totaling an unbelievable 188 Tons of event infrastructure. Forklifts and crane trucks were sourced in Livingstone, technical equipment alone comprised of 90 Tons of technology. It took 7 days on the road to get through to Livingston from JHB and a few extra on the return due to custom delays. We had a team of 32 technical staff from SA together with 24 local staff over the 10 days to install and take down all the equipment and the structures.
The event itself had three themed evenings, one conference day, a spouses program and a day of activities. The first evening took place in front of the Manor house at the Royal Livingston Hotel, the second and third evenings took place on the temporary 2000sqm deck we built from scratch, the last being the Gala Awards evening. The Conference took place in the Zambezi Sun conference room, where we built a full set together with temporary grandstand seating for a more engaging audience experience. The spouses program took place in various areas throughout the Royal Livingston property.
The event deck was built from Layer Scaffolding (approximately 80 tons of it) layered with carpeting and then covered with 3 linked Bedouin tents. The performance stage was made from a trussing roof structure, which included changing rooms for artist changeovers – all this before we started installing the technical required!
We made use of various types of AV technology, conventional HD projection in the conference room,100 panels of our 12mm LED as a digital backdrop for all the evenings, changing the layout for each evening.
The 600 Franchisees were well spoilt over the few days and were very appreciative of their experience in Zambia. The event once again was a huge success!