InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Group

April 2008

TRL, Wokingham

reason / objective

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) held their EMEA conference in April 2008 at Farnborough 5. Within this programme each of the Groups brands (InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) were asked to hold their own conferences within the same week around the Farnborough area.
InterContinental Hotels approached Smyle to produce a stand alone conference and bring to life the premium positioning of InterContinental within IHG including the support of their partnership with Aston Martin.
 

concept / solution

To enhance upon the new brand partnership with Aston Martin, Smyle sourced the venue local to Farnborough - the Transport Research Laboratory in Wokingham – a venue with its very own test track. This meant that as part of the conference, delegates could be put through a unique Aston Martin driving experience.

InterContinental wanted to create a completely bespoke environment for their conference so a large temporary structure was erected within the grounds of the TRL.

The 25m x 25m structure was then divided into a main plenary, breakout rooms and a lounge space. Adjoining structures were then built for the kitchens and toilets.

Delegates were collected from Farnborough 5 and brought to the TRL by buses – to. Smyle had representatives on each bus to ensure a slick process for all delegates registering and being collected.

InterContinental were in the process of evolving their brand around the world, including a modern new design palette including specialist luxury materials. In designing the conference set, Smyle wanted to showcase the brands new designs hence the set was constructed taking key elements used elsewhere in the brand palette as inspiration.

The main body was made of suede panels – in the InterContinental pantone taken from panelling in their bar area. An offset main anamorphic screen was installed and two Christie HD 8k projectors were used for back projection. Smyle used Vista Spyder for mixing with a combination of HDCAM, Digi Beta and HDV decks for playout.

As the delegates were very senior within the organisation, Smyle wanted to create a peer to peer style of presentation. In order to do this, the main stage was set relatively low

Following a main morning plenary delegates then broke into 4 breakout sessions. The adopted design philosophy was also carried out in the 5 breakout spaces. The spaces were intended to encompass the company’s brand strands – Brand Compass, Partnerships, Sound Strategy and Innovation in Meetings.
These included replica meeting rooms, a Sonic Sound recording studio, a Aston Martin driving experience on the TRL track and a small set with theatre style seating for a presentation.

The whole event was filmed using 3 Cannon HDV cameras. During the plenary session an on-site Director mixed the footage live on a GVG Indigo. The resulting mix was recorded to tape and also used for inserts on the main projection screen throughout the event.
A separate Smyle Film team were on hand at the event with an HDV Sony Z1 camera to capture the activities outside of the main conference room.

The catering was a huge part of the event – InterContinental needed Smyle preferred caterers Last Supper to recreate an on brand experience as a guest would receive in one of their hotels. Last Supper sourced locally produced and organic produce for the event and created beautiful displays similar to those at The Cookbook Cafe at the InterContinental London Park Lane.