Vatel's owner Miriam Villalobos was curious to learn about the production industry, and back in 2000 took a job in public relations at local company A1 Audio, during a show by Mexican band Molotov. The company was the main one in Querétaro and serviced all the major shows in the area, allowing her to meet professionals and engineers from many other places.
She says: "Audio became my passion! After four years, I met Héctor Alvarez - currently soft rock singer Camila's engineer - and he recommended that I move to Mexico City because the market was bigger, more dynamic and interesting. He said I would never get tired of learning and also seeing new technologies which often don't reach smaller cities", Miriam said.
So she went to Mexico City. The first year was hard, and it was also unusual for a woman to be working on the technical side of production, but things became easier when she started working for an agency called Elite, producing small and medium social and corporate events.
"There were many problems with service providers because of how they treated their kit, so I proposed that Elite rent equipment directly to me - it was only four loudspeakers and an 8-channel desk - and I provided the 'service' and also continued producing their events. We did a test and everything worked out well!"
This success continued, and in 2006 she founded Vatel and continued designing and providing bigger sound systems, getting recommendations and involved in larger festivals and high profile events. This included production for the Pope's visit in 2011 which required 286 speakers, 22 delay towers, some serious logistics and crew.
Lighting evolved over the years, first working with partners like Navigation Lights as providers - a company which already had Robe in their stock that Vatel sub-rented.
It was through Navigation's Alberto Ramírez that Vatel started using Robe for productions where they were in charge of moving lights. "We initially used Robe's wash fixtures. Then a while later I met Alberto García Ramírez at Vari - Robe's distributor in Mexico - and he introduced us to all the models available," Miriam recalls.
In the search to purchase her own lighting fixtures, Miriam saw Vari's demo of the Pointe, and "fell in love and ordered eight!"
"The Pointe is currently a big hit in the market. Everybody wants to use it and everyone is talking about it. We're really happy with the products and also with the service from Vari. The staff are always there, they are highly knowledgeable and are willing to help 24/7". More recently, due to the demands of numerous social and corporate events, Vatel decided to invest in two Robe MiniMes.
With its six full time employees and regular freelancers, Vatel provides audio and lighting for product launches, press conferences, promotions, concerts, festivals, exhibitions, governmental events and many more.
Recently their Robes were utilised for the launch of a special issue of Rolling Stone Mexico magazine at the Auditorio Condesa DF, for which Vatel designed and installed the lighting system featuring 32 x Pointes in total.
"It looked great, the client was happy and the artists complimented our work and our equipment!" reported a satisfied Miriam.
