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Martin Professional in Support for Major Thomas Cook Conference
Thomas Cook's award-winning annual conference took place in Antalya, Turkey in December. Two back to back conferences catered for over 2500 of Thomas Cook's managers from across the business, over a six-day period.
Produced and staged by drpevents, part of the DRP Group, the conference included spectacular outdoor welcome evenings, four days of plenary sessions, a ‘Strictly Come Dancing' competition, two closing ceremonies featuring singer Candi Staton, and two prestigious gala dinners, which included emotional award ceremonies.
The Strictly Come Dancing evening was one of the highlights of the conference as staff who were paired with professional dancers got the chance to compete with their colleagues from the business. A week of full auditions were staged at drp studios in the UK.
Ian Ruhback, senior technician from drpevents explained the lighting for the conference: "So many different shows were happening in the main room the lighting was essential to create different moods and atmosphere. We installed a cross-arch over the stage, which remained throughout the event, and the lighting gave the appearance of taking a different form from day to evening shows. A ground support system, seven lighting trusses, ever changing stage sets and a raised movable dance floor were installed and operated by the 30 strong onsite drp crew.
Ian Ruhback, along with Adam Pardoe, MD of drpevents have built up a strong working relationship and loyalty with Martin Professional, as Ian explains: "More thought has gone in to the new generation of Martin lights, they are more reliable and better value for money, so it makes sense to have them in our stock. It's a matter of cost and loyalty."
Martin lighting used for the Thomas Cook conference included MAC 250 Entours, MAC 250 Washes, MAC 700 profiles, MAC 700 Washes, LC 2140s, Atomic 3000 Strobes, Stagebar 54 longs and a Maxedia media server to control the LC panels.
Ian commented on how the lighting worked for the conference: "The LC Panels were flown upstage and displayed the theme of the conference as well as revealing the winners' names at the gala dinner. We used MAC 250 Entours for their small size, as they can be positioned into small spaces for mid-air effects; they were also sat on the stage and around the dance floor without looking out of place.
"The light output on the MAC 700 Profile is immense and the animation wheel creates many new effects. The MAC 700 wash has a really punchy beam and really great colour selection. We have been very pleased with all the Martin products and impressed by the reliability - bearing in mind we had to transport by road everything out from the UK in five articulated lorries."
drpevents also bought a pair of the new K1 Hazers: "They are really impressive. They have been brilliant and we are really pleased with them, they are a great leap forward for JEM," says Ian.
drpgroup have gone through a rapid expansion over the last five years. Dale Parmenter, group managing director, has driven the organisation forward and took the decision to invest considerably in video, sound, lighting and infrastructure.
This has allowed the company to bring much of the necessary technical support in-house and in turn their team has grown to 60 people. Ian Ruhback commented further: "As a direct result of the economic climate, we are increasingly finding clients are nervous to commit themselves until the last minute, however, as a business we are well placed to cope with these demands and offer considerably flexibility."
11th February 2009
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