MGG's newly appointed general manager, Denzil Smith, who joined the company in December, took the production to a new level. With a team of professionals at his side including lighting designer from MGG, Kevin Rieck, and the assistance of the impeccable system technician, Thomas Peters (known to drive people mad as he labels every piece of equipment and cable - and quite rightly this ensures a seamless production), the event was technically flawless.
This was no mean feat as the event, which ran off a grandMA2 full size, included 48 ClayPaky Sharpies (fourty more Sharpies than last year) and some 400m of Prolyte Trussing besides a list of other fixtures.
"It ran so well," said a clearly pleased Denzil Smith. He has a tranquil nature, stressing is just not part of his make-up. He sticks to a formula of keeping cables and set up neat at all times, and always having a back-up plan, which he usually doesn't have to use anyway."
Commented Kevin Rieck, "It was the same event, but it was bigger, we had a lot more trussing, and I added about 100 more lighting fixtures. This year we were also more prepared, I worked Time Code properly and it was nice to set up, press play and actually see the show run."
The show had a tight three day load -in of three days, and that was probably the only challenge.
MGG supplied the full technical for the main conference in the Pavillion Room and for the Ballroom, which was transformed to an eating area. For every meal, the room was transformed to look like a different venue and themes included sports, a township environment with dancers, a beach and outside look and even a home improvement vibe.
MGG also supplied the full technical for two gala dinner evenings, which included an Awards night followed the next day by an entertainment type show.
"I love all the toys," said Smith. "I like putting jobs together when you can use a lot of technical. It's the technical challenge I enjoy, and I enjoy trying and doing something new every time."
(Jim Evans)
