A number of high profile figures have confirmed to speak at the Association of Global Event Management (AGES) 2016 annual event, which takes place in St. Augustine, Florida, USA on 29 February and 1 March. 

Internationally recognised figures speaking at the conference on day one of the event include: Gilbert Felli, IOC’s Senior Olympic Games Advisor; 

Jerry Anderson, founder and Senior Principal of Populous; John Baker, VP Games Overlay and Broadcast Integration, Toronto 2015, José Quiñones González, President of the Peruvian Olympic Committee and Member of the board COPAL 2019 (Pan Am and ParaPan Am Games 2019, Lima) and Patrick D. Sandusky, Chief External Affairs Officer, United States Olympic Committee. 

AGES has also announced that former Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli is now an Honorary Member of AGES. 

According to AGES, a large majority of its members, associate members and partners have confirmed their presence at our event. 

AGES also announced that its membership is growing, with two new members joining recently: Pro Construction, a market leader in Poland and that delivers event infrastructure works at international level, and Unitec Systems, a leading event supplier in Korea specialising in seating. 

The AGES 2016 event is hosted by CAT ES, an AGES member and leading supplier of temporary power.

The second day of the event will include presentations from AGES partners EY and SOS Global, as well as working group activities. 

One working group is developing a state-of-the art contract template for the delivery of overlay works while another is elaborating a table showing temporary import and export provisions for all major large events until 2020. 

AGES members ES Global, GL events, Nüssli and MTD have delegated experts to these working groups. AGES says it will focus on finding suitable industry partners in the area of technology and sustainability in 2016. 

For more information visit www.ages.international

CSM Live, the branding and live experience division of CSM Sport and Entertainment, has been appointed as the Official Provider of Look, Wayfinding and Signage for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Following a competitive tender process, CSM Live will be responsible for scoping, producing, installing and de-rigging all elements of venue dressing at competition and non-competition venues. This remit includes the Look and Feel, field of play branding, wayfinding and information signage, sponsor recognition, media treatments and Host City dressing, applying relevant experience from previous multi-sport events including the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In line with Birmingham 2022’s sustainability pledge, which includes plans to deliver the first ever carbon-neutral Commonwealth Games, CSM Live will work to design and provide an entirely sustainable solution, maximising the re-use of the hardware with the aspiration that none of the produced materials goes to waste after the Games.

CSM Live has also committed to work with local companies, suppliers and staff on the programme with a target to procure over 65% of its requirements locally, in order to deliver tangible benefits to the business community in the region.

Working alongside the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee, venue scoping will begin immediately, with production due to commence in the early stages of next year. CSM Live will also engage with local students on the design process for the Wayfinding and Signage programme.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will see athletes from 72 nations and territories compete in 19 sports across 14 competition venues from 28 July until 8 August 2022. The event is expected to have a global TV audience of 1.5 billion and attract more than one million spectators.

Giles Stanford, Director, Global Events at CSM Live, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Birmingham 2022 as we seek to deliver a sustainable, innovative and carbon-friendly Commonwealth Games. We have a strong pedigree in providing sustainable branding solutions for major events and combined with the expertise of the local business community, we hope to deliver a spectacular event for all those involved.”

Ian Reid, Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham 2022, said: “It is fantastic to have CSM Live join us as our Official Provider of Look, Wayfinding and Signage for Birmingham 2022. With a strong track record of working on major sporting events, I know we can rely on their expertise to help us deliver the most sustainable Commonwealth Games to date. In addition to their work on competition venues, CSM Live will also be working with us on our community engagement activities, which will support us developing positive relationships within local communities across the West Midlands.”

Commonwealth Games Federation President Dame Louise Martin said: “With CSM Live, we have the ideal partner to deliver the look and feel for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. I am delighted by the important pledge from CSM Live to ensure that no product used in its operations will go to waste after the Games.

A further commitment to work with local companies will ensure there will be positive benefits for the West Midlands from the Games. My thanks also goes to our CGF Partnerships (CGFP) team as they continue bring on board world-leading organisations to support the delivery of Birmingham 2022 as well as our long-term ambitions.”

[Source: Glasgow 2018] As the Official Provider of Event Look Services, CSM Live will help ensure that the Championships look fantastic and that the experience for fans, competitors and all involved will be one not to forget in a hurry. Their role will see them provide scoping, production, installation and project management of the event look and feel.

Glasgow 2018 European Championships will see some of the continent’s leading sports come together for one innovative multi-sport event which runs from 2 to 12 August. The event includes the existing European Championships for Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon with a new Golf Team event.

CSM Live approach these Championships with vast experience, having delivered the Look Services, wayfinding and city dressing for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, amongst a number of other global sporting events.

Glasgow 2018 Championships Director Colin Hartley said:

“The Championships are nearly here and the atmosphere is building steadily in the run-up to the first event. The look and feel of the competition and the city branding are a big part of the experience for sports fans, spectators and visitors. We’re looking forward to working with CSM, and all our partners, to make this a vibrant and unforgettable experience”

Chief Executive Officer of CSM Live, Alastair Bewick said:

“We’re excited to be part of the inaugural European Championships, helping bring the event to life in Glasgow this August. It’s all set to be a fantastic new multi-sport event, and we’re looking forward to helping the fans connect with the Championships through the bold look and feel in the venues and across the city.”

CSM Live joins Strathmore, Atos, Gleneagles, Harper Macleod LLP, Avid, NVT, Aggreko, Glasgow Airport, GL events Field and Lawn Ltd., Arco, Adi.tv and Xerox as part of the Glasgow 2018 sponsor family.

Host City: What to you is the most exciting thing currently going on in the world of major events?

Soaad Stott: Honestly, it’s an incredibly exciting time for the world of overlay – we seem to be at the threshold of some really big changes. The Olympic & Paralympics are obviously the gold standard in our industry, but for good reason. Everything that we do in overlay is on view in this magnificent showcase.

With the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014, it became very clear that the Olympic Movement is fully behind the use of existing and temporary venues wherever possible, with the goal of reducing costs, improving sustainability and allowing the hosting of global events to become accessible to a greater number of nations and communities. This is starting to come to fruition - with the forthcoming Games in Tokyo, we’re going to see the first Games designed without an Olympic Park, which will be really exciting.

While the Olympic and Paralympic Games are leading the way on the global scale, this design approach is becoming increasingly adopted by events at all levels. The opportunities that event and overlay design affords for regeneration, activation and innovative design can have a fantastic influence on everyone involved, whether visitors to the events, or residents in legacy. Anyone who saw 2015 The Rugby World Cup at alternative sporting venues across the UK can attest to our industry’s ability to really change the existing conversation or perceived identity around existing venues for major events. The London Stadium and stadiummk were prime examples of new rugby audiences experiencing a venue and having a fantastic experience.

Of course, some sports have a completely unique character, such as the party nature of the beach volleyball tournament, but that is also embraced by temporary design, particularly when the temporary venues chosen are in such spectacular locations like the beach volleyball in the heart of London. During the beach volleyball at both London 2012 and at Baku 2015, dancers would emerge between matches in cheerleader style and energise the audience. Though an elite sport was being played, putting on a spectacular show was also a key part of this event. Temporary overlay design can have a truly special character, all of its own, and that’s what we really aim for at Populous.

Host City: A really exciting project you are working on is Paris 2024, following on from your successful work on London 2012.

Soaad Stott: It seems that Paris 2024 is taking the lead from London on how to do overlay better. As I said, the huge amount of temporary overlay and facilities in London set a real precedent.

Paris is the Park and the design of every venue has some legacy and sustainable content. There were so many meetings; not just with the International Federations, but also with the city and its residents.

A large number of the drawings we produced during the bid phase are actually to demonstrate the plans the stakeholders, local councillors and residents, making sure that everyone was informed and on board with the plans for the Games and for legacy, which forms a major component of the bid we created with Paris 2024.

Most of the venues are already there – we were just making sure the plans were feasible and genuinely workable and what people wanted.

Host City: How does the design of the Olympic Games fit in with the city of Paris?

Soaad Stott: Because there is no Olympic Park in the bid, Paris itself really is the park. It’s very much part of philosophy of these Games, that it’s for Paris as a whole and not just pockets of Paris.

In somewhere as compact as Paris where space is such a premium, there are challenges but definite benefits. There’s an energy and charm that you get from having all the landmarks close together.

As well as historic beauty, Paris also has a modern urban side. We wanted to make sure all these aspects were incorporated and all represented in the designs. One of the brilliant things was being able to locate some of the new Olympic sports in ancient monuments and sites and have the juxtaposing of the modern with the old, beautiful Paris.

We designed it so that every venue would have a similar feel. Everywhere you go you will have the same Olympic experience. The streets and boulevards will also be part of the whole experience of excitement people moving around the city, with parks becoming community activation sites and fan fests. It will be an incredible experience, with the most beautiful and iconic spaces within Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, being infused with a sporting identity through the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This exclusive interview first appeared in the Winter 2017 edition of Host City magazine. Sooad Stott spoke at Host City 2017, the largest meeting of sports, business and cultural events

[Source: Losberger De Boer] Arnout de Hair succeeds Berndt Zoepffel who steps down from his current position as CEO and will be joining the Supervisory Board of Directors of the company.

The Supervisory Board is grateful to Berndt Zoepffel for his contribution to the successful growth of Losberger De Boer. "Losberger De Boer has undergone an impressive development under the leadership of Berndt Zoepffel since he joined the company in 1996. The merger with De Boer Structures in May of 2017 was an important milestone in a period of strong internal and external growth. Today, Losberger De Boer is a leading global player providing a wide range of products and services to many highly recognized customers.

The merger between Losberger and De Boer is a major step in becoming a leading provider in temporary space solutions and we are on the threshold of a new phase in the further development of our company. We came to the conclusion that in the coming years, strong emphasis will be placed on the further integration of the various companies that were acquired during the last few years to fully benefit from all the available capabilities. Arnout de Hair has shown strong leadership during the transition of De Boer into a strong and profitable company. We are convinced that with him we have a very good candidate to fulfil that future role at Losberger De Boer.”

Peter Rijkoort, current Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of the Losberger De Boer Group, will be appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Losberger De Boer on 1 February 2018.
He will then step down from his position in the Supervisory Board of Directors. Peter Rijkoort has extensive international experience and has built a strong track record in senior management positions at various companies. He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Directors of De Boer Structures from 2010 until 2014 and is acting Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of Losberger since 2016.

Arnout de Hair joined De Boer Structures in 1998 and was appointed as COO in 2001 and as CEO of the company in 2012. After the merger with Losberger, he was appointed as COO of Losberger De Boer. Arnout de Hair has built extensive operational and general management experience during his various senior management roles at Losberger De Boer. He studied Economy and Logistics at the Royal Military Academy and Business Administration at IBO, the Netherlands.

Host City: Events involving multiple host cities are usually delivered by a local organising committee (LOC) in the host nation. What prompted UEFA to bring the organisation of its events in-house instead?

Christian Hirschmueller: UEFA’s approach is built on the understanding that knowledge and experience are critical success factors to deliver UEFA’s events on a very high service level in the most effective and most efficient ways.

Historically, UEFA started to be directly involved in event operations in 2002 for the UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal. For UEFA EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, the geographical proximity of the hosts still allowed to have a LOC model, with many synergies created between the LOC and UEFA Events SA. It was thus a kind of intermediary step on the process to fully bring operations in-house.

By founding UEFA Events SA – a 100%-owned subsidiary of UEFA – after a very successful UEFA EURO 2008, UEFA was able to keep in-house the knowledge and experience obtained during its two previous major sport events. Furthermore, this knowledge was structured in so-called ‘Competence Centres’, such as Technical Services & Overlay (TECH). With the in-house organisation of the annual UEFA Club Competition Finals as from 2013 onwards, UEFA Events SA has been able to use the knowledge and experience of the Competence Centres across all UEFA competitions and maximise the output in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

This process which lasted over several years, from the first operational steps in Portugal to the current performance of UEFA Events SA, was initiated, led and implemented by the CEO of UEFA Events SA Martin Kallen.

Host City: Which aspects of event delivery does UEFA outsource most – from operational management and expertise, down to products and services?

Christian Hirschmueller: The daily business in the operational part of UEFA Events SA is to plan and produce UEFA’s events. This means to appoint and contract suppliers, organise the works and coordinate the several activities with all relevant stakeholders. These typically are tasks of companies offering main contractor services which we operate by ourselves.

Regarding operation, this seems one of the main differences between UEFA and other organisers of major sport events: While for other major sports events it might be key to involve a main contractor in order to deliver the event including all the above tasks, UEFA Events SA is covering this part itself and looks for specialised suppliers delivering the services directly.

This leads to a more direct interaction between internal stakeholders and suppliers and contractual relations are thus getting more transparent. Our experience shows that it saves financial resources, time for complex overhead management and reduces miscommunication between all parties due to less interfaces.

Host City: Can you give us an idea of the scale and scope of technical services and overlay required for an event like the European Football Championship?

Christian Hirschmueller: Generally speaking, TECH is responsible to provide and operate technical infrastructure at the stadiums for UEFA’s major sport events as e.g. UEFA EURO, UEFA Champions League Final or UEFA Europa League Final according to all stakeholders needs and agreed service levels.

On the one hand this includes the existing technical infrastructure, such as stadium and grid power systems, the proper functioning of the pitch floodlighting or the operation of sound systems, giant screens and stadium TV system.

On the other hand, this also includes the provision of temporary infrastructure inside and outside the stadium, as the technical and infrastructural needs for such major sports events are higher than existing systems are usually able to cover.

The list of figures and deliverables is long: for UEFA EURO 2016, TECH delivered 24 MW of temporary power systems for TV broadcasting and additional outside facilities with approx. 1,000 km of cables, 17,700 m2 of tent structures with water und air-condition installation, cleaning services for 500,000 m2 and removed 600 tonnes of waste, installed 1,700 TV commentary desks in 10 different venues, provided a total of 800m cable bridges, installed approx. 25,000 cable hooks, 100 camera platforms, 39 TV pitch view studios, implemented the sound system upgrade of 10 stadiums with 1,100 speakers and around 200 individual infrastructural changes in these 10 stadiums.

In addition, TECH was responsible for the health and safety procedures during the set-up and dismantling period with a 4,000-page documentation and 200 on-site briefings, the permission process for technical installations with approx. 15,000-page documentation as well as for the frequency management process with 5,000 frequency applications over all matches.

The TECH planning team was made up of seven people: three in Switzerland and four colleagues in Paris. The overall budget of TECH for UEFA EURO 2016 was EUR 26m.

Host City: For most mega events, the host nation benefits from the opportunity to engage with local suppliers and sponsors to deliver the event. How can hosts of UEFA events benefit if all the procurement and marketing is handled centrally?

Christian Hirschmueller: Let me give you the example of UEFA Technical Services & Overlay (TECH) for UEFA EURO 2016 in France.

All suppliers were chosen in an open and public tender process. Key factors for choosing suppliers are quality of equipment, availability of resources as well as experience for these very specialised fields in major sport event. Once this is given, local/national suppliers are very attractive for us as they have often the advantage of low logistics and accommodation costs. With these parameters, in total more than two thirds of TECH’s budget remained in the host country.

Beside the planning team mentioned above, the 10 TECH venue managers and the 10 TECH venue coordinators were all locals – half of them never participated in major events before, let alone in major sport events. This means that instead of hiring international crews, we developed a training programme and achieved a very successful knowledge transfer. This was mainly possible due to the model of UEFA Events SA and the core team in Nyon relying on the operational experience of several successfully delivered UEFA EURO tournaments.

Host City: In another innovation, UEFA is staging the 2020 European Football Championships in 13 host venues, all in different nations. It must be incredibly complex working in 13 different countries to deliver the event – how is this being managed?

Christian Hirschmueller: It is a project management challenge to organise a consistent UEFA EURO 2020 tournament under consideration of the new format with its multi-country aspect and cultural diversity. The main task is to prepare the stadiums – which are coming from different operational and infrastructural levels – for a EURO tournament operation.

At the beginning, the goal was to create a model that was as simple as possible, manageable, transparent and easy to understand for all stakeholders independent of their individual background.

For this purpose, UEFA Event SA has developed a process that regulates the activities of stakeholders to achieve agreed results together at certain stages, the so called ‘gates’. This process leads to the ‘UEFA Venue Operations Gate-Model’ summarising the process on one A4 page to support a common understanding in order to be ready for the next step in the planning phase.

Host City: What are you most looking forward to about UEFA Euro 2020?

Christian Hirschmueller: The UEFA EURO 2020 will take place from Bilbao to Baku and from Glasgow to Rome. It is a fantastic professional and personal enrichment to meet and cooperate with this large variety of characters and cultures and their different ways of living, during one event.

Host City: Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing you speak at Host City 2017! What are your expectations of this important meeting of cities and events?

Christian Hirschmueller: The Host City 2017 summit is an ideal place to meet and exchange with inspiring people of different branches.  I look forward to gathering new aspects and impulses for the work of UEFA Events SA.

At this year’s Annual Event of the Association of Global Events Suppliers (AGES) in March 2017 in Basel, Daniel Cordey, Chairman of AGES moderated a panel discussion featuring: Gilbert Felli, IOC’s Senior Olympic Games Advisor; Masamitsu Isaka, Senior Director, Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG); Paul Jouanneau, Director of Installation Centralised Services, Rio Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Rio2016); Jeff Keas, Senior Event Architect / Senior Principal at Populous; and Hans Verhoeven, CEO of MTD and deputy chairman of the Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES).

AGES shared with Host City some of the panellists’ comments.

Daniel Cordey: What were your personal ups and downs as the Director of Centralised Services, including the overlay for the Rio 2016 Games?

Paul Jouanneau: To summarise my feelings, I would say I felt:

Despair to have so much do to do and so little time and few people when joining the organiser. This resulted in a huge learning curve.

Fear of failure due to the quantity of crucial decisions to be done in a such a short time, while staying optimistic.

Proud of the achievements, even though there is still a way to go to finalise all deals because of the finance gap.

Daniel Cordey: How can you describe your experiences as the senior IOC advisor for the Rio 2016 Games, or in other terms, what were your major challenges?

Gilbert Felli: The experience from Rio was that altogether there was a low understanding about the requirements for temporary infrastructure for an event such as the Olympic Games. However, the bigger challenge was the fact that we never had a finalised responsibility matrix between the different partners for the delivery of this temporary infrastructure. Not only was this matrix not clear on every subject but, many times, agreements that had been reached between parties were completely reversed a few weeks later. This gave an uncertainty for the Organising Committee and the delivery partners on what they had to deliver and who would finance it. This delayed decisions and put both the organisers (OCOG) budget and the operation plans at risk.

Daniel Cordey: You mentioned that the constant transfer of responsibilities between the stakeholders affected the delivery of the infrastructure. Can you specify?

Paul Jouanneau: Sure, as example: by the end of 2014, City Hall required Rio2016 to assume the execution of International Broadcast Centre’s HVAC and Energy and Electrical power and outlets. This scope was never forecast and no team available. The tender process restarted from scratch to comply with Rio2016 Governance.

At a certain point Maracana and Copacabana Clusters overlays were to be supplied trough City Hall and federal government respectively. The decision took close to six months, was negative and implied in a huge delay in project and construction.

Daniel Cordey: The use of temporary infrastructures is promoted through the IOC Agenda 2020 to reduce costs and to avoid so-called “white elephants”. Do host cities know how to deal with temporary infrastructures?

Gilbert Felli: Let me reassess that the IOC had always clearly stated, during the bid process or as soon as the Games were awarded, that venues with no legacies should be constructed in a temporary manner. However, this message was never clearly understood by all partners, both from the Olympic Family and the local organisers.

On the organisers’ side, there was always an optimistic view on possible future legacies of the venues. Agenda 2020 finally clarified the IOC position both within the Olympic Family and with the organisers. Following this clarification, the IOC will have to be more proactive in the future with assisting organisers in managing all the temporary infrastructure delivery process.

Daniel Cordey: You deplored the lack of inventory of certain overlay items and too little cooperation between the national and the international supply chain. What went wrong?

Paul Jouanneau: The cooperation between local and international supplier occurred but not on long-term perspective as it would be expected. Cooperation seemed to happened just by necessity. Somehow, the difficult economic and political situation contributed to that approach.

Daniel Cordey: From a global supplier’s point of view, how could the cooperation between local and global suppliers be triggered?

Hans Verhoeven: Local involvement is important to close international deals. The format for this can change per commodity supplier and per country. It can go from joint ventures with local companies or just supplying equipment to a local supplier or hiring a local representative and offer to set up a local company with local purchasing of equipment and hiring local employees. My experience is that the event supplier must always have a local component in their offer. The more local content in your offer, the more chance to close the deal.

Daniel Cordey: What would you wish the organiser to change or improve in the procurement process?

Hans Verhoeven: Procurement should start earlier (about two years ahead of the Games), the procurement process itself talking with the international event suppliers even earlier. Experienced overlay suppliers can provide valuable inputs to the Overlay team with workshops and other means. This helps them with the design and budget processes. Also, specialised suppliers can help the organiser with feasibility studies and value engineering. With clear and practice orientated information the procurement process and quality of tender documents can be improved. Another point would be to have contracts with a rate card to enable the process in closing early contracts at least one year in advance.

Daniel Cordey: You are often involved in the Venue Development and Planning process for Olympic Games. What do you focus on when consulting, or supervising local design companies, in particular when it comes to temporary infrastructure?

Jeff Keas: We get involved at different timelines in the life of a major event including the bid phase and after a city has won the rights to host a major event.  After a city has won, we work on both permanent facility design (masterplans, stadia, arenas, etc.) as well as temporary or overlay design. When working with an organising committee on the overlay design Populous looks at major events from what I would describe as a holistic approach – meaning strategy and program management, design, procurement, delivery/site management and operations. 

The overlay design is a reflection on the operations.  The design should reflect the procurement and delivery strategy.  And the overall program management strategy will impact the overlay process.

Many of our clients are new to major event planning and overlay so we inform them about overlay and the overall overlay process.  We advise on cost efficient methods but also look for opportunities to raise the level of design.  We focus on the experiential side while also looking for opportunities to generate revenue for our clients.

Daniel Cordey: You visited Rio as the responsible of procurement of the next Olympic Games. What were your key learnings with respect to the procurement of overlays when visiting the Rio 2016 Games?

Masamitsu Isaka: I learned a lot from Rio2016. I have visited Rio and by visiting the actual place of the Games, I have gained a lot of information such as the scale for the Games and had the opportunities to contact global companies.

Firstly, I learned the importance of speed and timing. Specifically, it is important to evaluate and make decisions at an appropriate timing in order to prevent costs rising. For that purpose, I also learned that it is important to exchange information with enterprises who have experiences and knowledge, like AGES members.

The second one is the balance of price and quality. The third one is the difficulty of handling after Games.

It is difficult to procure a large scale of commodities, but I learned that dealing with them after the Games is also difficult. Thus, we need to think about after the Games at the time of procurement. For that purpose, we would like to rent and lease as much as possible.

Finally, I learned about the importance of the proper use of turnkey and commodity base, with regard to the procurement method.

In Japan there are few transactions with international suppliers in terms of overlay, thus we need to deepen mutual understanding.

Daniel Cordey: How do you expect the global event suppliers to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Games?

Masamitsu Isaka: I believe that cooperation and input from global event suppliers with abundant experiences and knowledge is necessary for the success of the Games. Not only introducing past achievements, but to make suggestions on what AGES and its members can do for Tokyo 2020. Therefore, we invite you to deepen the understanding of our culture and customs and to offer competitive services, which we will truly need.

Temporary event and infrastructure design is increasingly becoming recognised as the most cost effective and sustainable solution for organising committees and venue managers planning to host major international sporting events.

As temporary systems become increasingly sophisticated and trusted to provide world-class competition standards, the methods of integration and appropriate use are continuously evolving to match the complexity of the design ambition. The flexibility capacity added to a venue, and the embodied efficiency of a tailored business solution, can lead to year-round use and increased profitability. As a result, the potential for temporary works should be considered in the first stages of any event bid planning process.

Legacy strategy

From the outset of the design process, we consider the way in which the venue will be used in future phases at the very heart of the project. Event design in this way can be considered the first stage of construction.

The legacy strategy guides how the temporary venue begins to take its place on site. Certain services such as technology spaces and broadcast facilities can be embedded entirely into the permanent infrastructure, while other components such as seating bowls and ground works can be partially retained to maintain future expansion capabilities. Other areas are configured using components such as tents, canopies, cabins and fences that can be removed in their entirety, packed up and used at another event.

Enhancing character

The first step in creating an appropriate design that perfectly suits the event is to consider all aspects of the character and spirit of the occasion, and to react to it with built forms that frame and enhance that character rather than imposing a design upon it. The result is designs which respond to the way in which the event is watched and experienced, and can help to enhance that feeling amongst the spectators.

At London 2012, loud music and constant cheering played a huge part in creating the atmosphere for a number of sports; in these venues we worked hard to bring the spectators as close to the action as possible so as to spur the athletes on.  By contrast, in other arenas silence was requested during the competition and applause came only on the completion of a performance. The explosive eruption of applause, within enclosed and intimate seating bowls following a tense silence, had a drama of its very own.

Of course, some sports had a completely unique character, such as the party nature of the beach volleyball tournament. At London 2012 and at Baku 2015, dancers would emerge between matches in cheerleader style and energise the audience. Though an elite sport was being played, putting on a spectacular show was also a key part of this event.

Invisible by design

The careful layout of each constituent element of the functional areas, their juxtapositions and arrangements, enables efficient venue operations and easy orientation.

A critical aspect of operational design is knowing and understanding how to separate the public-facing areas from the back of house facilities. Security systems, crowd management planning and all-accessible integration are crucial to the staging of any event, but each must be designed to integrate as seamlessly as possible, to have the smallest visual impact.

The most challenging, yet rewarding piece of our work, is to understand and choreograph all the thousands of moving elements into one organised celebration of sport, without anyone noticing all of the work behind the scenes.

Spectator experience

Naturally, different sports encourage different behaviors in spectator movement. From the arrival profile of fans, the frequency and method of occupying the spectator plazas, all the way through to the way they time their departure, successful temporary overlay design is all dependent on the nature of the event. In designing for and predicting spectator movements, we can collaborate with transport consultants early on in the process in order to use existing transport systems to their optimum level, and design to support it.

Although the same quality of experience is required in whichever location an event is being held, the way in which it is designed and operates can take on the flavour of its host country. In London 2012 the design of the Olympic Park areas were inspired by the theme of the English garden and street parties, with these iconic British community celebration motifs enlivening the spectator plazas. And as we saw recently in Rio, a carnival atmosphere influenced the entire Olympic and Paralympic event, informing all elements of the design and the event identity.

With the makeup and traditions of fans varying greatly across different sports, cultures and parts of the world, there is a fantastic opportunity for the host country to inject its own local flare, showcasing and making the most of local products, industry and youth programs.

Lasting influence

With the unanimous approval of Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014, it is clear that the Olympic Movement is fully behind the considered use of existing and temporary venues wherever possible, with the goal of reducing costs, improving sustainability and allowing the hosting of global events to become accessible to a greater number of nations and communities.

This design approach is becoming increasingly desired for events at all levels, and the opportunities that event and overlay design affords for regeneration, activation and innovative design can have a lasting influence on everyone who is drawn together around these spectacular occasions.

Sooad Islam spoke at Host City 2016 on the panel "Making Event Infrastructure More Sustainable". Listen on audioBoom

Global event supplier Arena Group has bought Hong Kong based event production company Ironmonger Marquees, to create Arena Hong Kong, extending its Asian capabilities with a new office and hub in Northern Asia.

Ironmonger Marquees was introduced to Arena Group in 2015, when the companies collaborated on the Art Central project in Hong Kong.

Tom Evans, Managing Director of Arena Asia said: “We worked very well together, identifying a shared ethos of giving our clients the best possible event space.

Arena Group acquired Malaysian company Asia Tent International for £3.5m in June 2013.

“Arena Middle East and Asia Tents Arena work hand in glove serving the growing events market in North Asia and identified Ironmonger as an ideal acquisition to help grow the Arena brand in the region,” said Evans. 

Key Ironmonger Marquee contracts that have been delivered recently include the Cathay Pacific HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, European Tour (HK Golf Open), IMG’s Taste Food Festival and shortly to be delivered by Arena Hong Kong, the new Formula E Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

Rob Derry, Arena Hong Kong Managing Director said: “Arena Group has the expertise that has seen it deliver the finest events in the world, which gives us a huge knowledge and skill base to draw on, coupled with the finest structures inventory in the world, so our Hong Kong clients will see a vast expansion in type and quality of equipment available.”

“The success of the Arena/Ironmonger Marquee collaboration over the past 18 months means that Arena Hong Kong launches as the number one event design and delivery business for major events by market share in Hong Kong. Global brands coming into Hong Kong now have a proven world class delivery partner they can trust to create their event spaces.”

Paul Berger, CEO of Arena Middle East and Asia said: “We are delighted to welcome Rob and the Ironmonger team to the Arena Middle East and Asia division and also to the Arena Group. Hong Kong is an important marketplace for the events industry and strategically very important for Arena Group to have a strong presence. Our focus is to grow our footprint in North Asia, as the region builds up to hosting the Olympic Games in 2020.”

HOST CITY: What prompted De Boer to commission the study of event professionals’ views about the state of the events industry? 
John Cochrane: We have to listen to our peers and potential customers to really understand what we have to do keep ahead of the game. This independent study provided objective views for us to consider with open minds. De Boer listens to the market, which is essential for us to make progress.

HOST CITY: 2015 saw the number of events increase. What do you think drove this growth and can we expect this positive trend to continue? 
John Cochrane: The UK has been in a fairly positive mood for the past few years, given a real springboard by the London Olympic Games in 2012, and so there is great faith and trust in our Event Industry to make these events as positive as possible. 
In short, if someone is prepared to fund an event in the UK, the chances are it will not be a waste of money and effort. Provided we keep delivering good service and the political climate stays calm, there is no reason to believe this pattern of growth will stop.

HOST CITY: The event professionals surveyed said third party suppliers – especially temporary structure specialists – were central to making 2015 a successful year. How has De Boer in particular contributed to this positive trend?
John Cochrane: De Boer has a terrific range of innovative and structurally impressive temporary buildings. We are fortunate to be involved with some of the most high profile projects in the world and so a there is an extended audience who can see what we do. 
Event professionals speak to each other and they really know what is going on in the business and who to go to for quality and service.

HOST CITY: Good breadth of experience topped the list of qualities valued in suppliers. How important is a diverse portfolio to De Boer’s success? 
John Cochrane: It is very important to De Boer to have a flexible approach to business. Our experience has been growing for over 92 years, from private parties for 50 guests to 85,000 sqm of temporary cover at The Farnborough International Air Show, and everything in between. 
Diverse events exist and have to be serviced with a diverse portfolio of materials and experience. At De Boer we can do that really well.

HOST CITY: The survey highlighted recruitment as an area of concern for 2016. How challenging is it for the events industry to hire and retain high calibre employees? 
John Cochrane: I don’t know how difficult it is for the events industry in general because each company has a different set of values to maintain. 
At De Boer we always look for integrity, enthusiasm and a good attitude. People like this do exist and we are pleased to be able to attract their attention with our reputation and existing long serving workforce as happy examples of what could be in store if they ‘join up’.

HOST CITY: How can temporary structure specialists work with developments in technology and social media to boost the events sector? 
John Cochrane: Every industry specialist has to keep in step with technology and social media. At De Boer we make the most of our international colleague’s experience to understand that what can work for us in Barcelona for example, could work equally well for us in Birmingham or Berlin. 
This very tangible link with our European and international business units means that we are more aware of any technological developments that could and do help to boost business.