NAME: The Sibos Party
TYPE: Closing party for the Sibos 2006 Conference
BY: James Gordon Workshop (JGW) with catering by Belinda Franks Catering.
CLIENT: ID South Pacific, JK Events (Belgium) and Swift.
NO. ON ORGANISING TEAM: Two JGW project managers plus James Gordon’s art direction during the planning phase. Five staff created the props and a further five event managers assisted during the build and event.
WHERE: Playbill Venues Royal Hall of Industries (RHI), Courtyard, Hordern Pavilion and Byron Kennedy Hall (BKH) linked via marquee structure and tunnel - all in Sydney.
PAX: 3750 international and local delegates and their spouses.
BUDGET: Decent

WHAT YOU DID: As the world’s leading financial forum, Sibos is much more than a conference and exhibition. It is the world’s premier financial services event, attracting the industry’s leading figures and firms. It is where meeting and doing business are at the top of the agenda and the Sibos Thursday night party has an enviable reputation among attendees as the place to network. By all accounts the Sydney experience did much to enhance this reputation. James Gordon Workshop utilised all available space at Playbill Venues to create four unique events within one as the evening unfolded.

The brief required that guests would be able to enjoy an elaborate buffet dinner before being entertained into the wee hours of Friday morning.

Guests entered through two sets of doors on Driver Avenue directly into the RHI, which was turned into ‘Dine with Oz’ for the event. The exterior was washed in colour, a contrast to the black and white Aussie elegance of the interior. Seven self-contained buffets, a 35-metre bar, seating for 2700, together with 35 roaming entertainers completed this very modern Australian dining room.
The courtyard area between the RHI and Hordern Pavilion was transformed into ‘Let Oz Entertain You’ – a carnival complete with Aussie games designed with international clients in mind and a kilometre of festoon lighting. Boing-ga-roo, the Thong-a-Thon and Toss The Wombat turned out to be favourites games of the night.

The Red Hot Club or Hordern Pavilion opened later and was transformed into a space that regular visitors to the venue wouldn’t recognise. Enveloped in luscious red velvet, raised lounge areas, a sea of mirror balls, chandeliers and lighting effects created the atmosphere. An 11-piece band played a 100-minute set before the DJ and pumping dance floor closed the evening out.

For those who preferred a gentler night, The Cool Lounge opened in the BKH. The venue was transformed into a glowing candle. Pool tables, pinball, coffee and gelato worked perfectly with cool live jazz and chilled Latin beats.

SPECIAL TOUCHES: In the Hordern Pavilion it would have to have been the custom-made six-foot chandeliers. A sea of red and silver glitter together with CO2 jets had the crowd in raptures for the band’s finale. In the RHI it was definitely the monster four-metre by four-metre, custom-made lighting units. Specially printed vinyl featured animals unique to Australia. These were definitely a talking point for all. A frieze of Australiana animals in graphic black vinyl was applied to the walls directly. The client was thrilled by this too.

CHALLENGES: 1500 stools got in a 40-foot container mid-tornado off the coast of Taiwan 10 days before the gig but the calm of all those involved meant that plan B wasn’t necessary. With four days bump in including event day there were a number of logistical challenges with so many suppliers on-site. Considering the scale of the event there really weren’t any issues at all.

CLIENT’S COMMENT: “From my point of view, it really was the best party we have ever had: the right combination of beauty, fun, music and good “nosh” with something for all tastes. People adored the entertainment – both roving and stage entertainment – and really participated in the games. The fact that we had four parties going on simultaneously – each with a different decor and atmosphere - worked particularly well and people happily went from building to building to experience something new. So congratulations and thanks to you and to the wonderful team. It was a pleasure to work with all of you.”
– Swift project manager

<< Top