A tailored launch: Lisbon

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ATENSPORTUGAL EvENTS

Given the nationalistic nature of anything to do with government-owned corporations in Portugal, it was a remarkable tribute

to Surrey-based Arcstream AV that they won the contract to handle the production of Portugal Telecom’s recent high-profile re-branding, against tenders from several Portuguese rivals.

The event required a venue in the capital with large enough capacity and the ability to adapt to the event’s high tech demands.

Working closely with Hipnose Events of Lisbon, Arcstream’s brief was to create a giant projection screen and an impressive laser show within the cavernous Pavilhao Atlantico, which is equally at home hosting sell-out pop concerts as it is business events.

Using a 25m x 10m Translite Midnight rear projection screen from Harkness as the backdrop to the stage set, with

six Barco 20K projectors edge-blended to create vast images, the key moment was the reveal of the new logo.

“It was a serious technical challenge,” admits Arcstream CEO Brett Salmon. “Especially as we had to omit all ambient light from such a vast venue to maximise the impact of the reveal, which we did with five separate lasers and more than 70 diffraction mirrors, rigged to bounce laser beams all over the auditorium.”

The projection screen featured a 3D reveal of the logo, with HD broadcast cameras filming the stage, and with all eyes on Portugal Telecom’s CEO Henrique Granadeiro, he held a card symbol to the camera, which was picked up and used to create a 3D image as if he was actually holding the logo, which was in turn projected onto the screen behind him.

“Our corporate branding is an important part of how we project ourselves,” added Granadeiro. “And the new look is in keeping with the technical and service-oriented improvements we have made of late.”

With tailored launches for the media and the company’s key sales teams following on from the show for employees, Arcstream was equally proud of its own technical achievements on the day.

Arcstream lights up the Pavilhao Atlantico

Paul Rouse looks at three separate events showing the diversity of Portugal

'It was a serious

technical challenge'

Continued from page 51

What’s new

Latest developments in Portugal include:

LISBONA second Lisboa Congress Centre is due to open in 2011 for events up to 14,000, located in the Nations Park district.

New hotels due to open in 2010 include the Vincci Av Liberdade (100 rooms) and the Cais de Santarem (91 rooms) in the city centre, and the Vila Galé in Caxias (300 rooms), whilst Hyatt will be opening the 86-room Hyatt Regency in Lisbon in 2011 and the 160-room Hyatt Pinheirinho Resort on the Blue Coast south of the capital in 2013.

Orient-Express meanwhile has recently sold the Lapa Palace to the Lisbon-based hotel group Olissippo, which already owns the Castelo and Oriente hotels in the city.

ALGARVEThe Crowne Plaza Vilamoura will be the group’s first hotel in Portugal when it opens in January 2010. It will feature 327 rooms and suites and 1,200 sqm of meeting room space including two large rooms each divisible into three.

Work has halted however on the proposed Crowne Plaza in Albufeira, with the company pulling out of the project. Work had also stopped on the planned Conrad Vilamoura, but this is now back on track for a proposed early 2011 opening. The hotel will have 158 rooms, 1,400sqm of meeting space and a spa.

Hotels due to open include the five-star Real Marina Hotel & Spa in Olhao (144 rooms, meetings up to 660, thalassotherapy spa) in April 2010, and the Radisson Blu Resort (194 rooms, 160 apartments, 10 meeting rooms, spa), which, when it opens in mid-2010, will form part of the recently-opened motor racing circuit near Portimao.

Vale do Lobo meanwhile is planning to open a luxury resort hotel at Vale Real in 2012, while a Hilton property is expected to open in Alvor in 2012.

Organiser: Brett Salmon, Arcstream AV

Client: Portugal Telecom

Event: Corporate re-brand

Participants: 5,000 employees

Venue: Pavilhao Atlantico

PORTUGAL MEETINGS.indd 2 13/08/2009 12:50

The formula: Algarve

Positive thinking: Madeira

ATENS

McLean Events obviously likes the Algarve: it has run two of its buyers-meet-suppliers workshops in the region

already this year: Spatec, for the spa industry in March; and Confec Blue, for the European meetings industry, in June. The McLean formula is simple but effective: take a great conference venue in an attractive destination, host in a wish-list of key buyers in a particular market segment, sell workshop space to leading suppliers, and guarantee a series of one-to-one meetings, backed by social networking events.

This year’s Spatec at Albufeira’s Grande Real Santa Eulalia attracted 70 buyers and 100 suppliers. The event was so successful, there's now a waiting list. “It worked well,” says McLean Events' David Zarb Jenkins. “Business was brisk, the hotel has great meeting facilities, the spa was there for downtime, and the sun shone in March. What more could you want!”

There can be few more relaxing destinations to contemplate the way of the world than Madeira. So it was AOM's suggestion when

approached by leading international philosopher Dr Hubert Fein to organise a week-long residential course for discerning mature students. “Aged between 40 and 85, all with strong academic backgrounds, and very well-travelled,” explains AOM’s Maja Schröder.

The programme included twice-daily philosophy sessions, sightseeing in and around Funchal - taking in the Botanical Gardens, various museums, the levadas and a Madeira tasting and tour of Blandy's wine lodge – and an outside dinner at Solar do Piano restaurant.

Business was brisk

Quinta da Bela Vista: quiet contemplation

ATENSPORTUGAL EvENTS

'Take a great conference venue in an

attractive destination'

Organiser: Maja Schröder, AOM Art of Motivation

Client: Dr Hubert Fein

Agency Partner: JC Tours

Event: Philosophy week

Participants: 15 philosophy students

Venue: Quinta da Bela Vista, Funchal

Organiser: David Zarb Jenkins, McLean Events

Company: McLean Events

Event: Spatec

Participants: Buyers and suppliers

Venue: Grande Real Santa Eulalia, Albufeira

Continued from page 51

As Schröder explains: “Most dinners were held at the hotel in different restaurants, including a special wine-tasting dinner. The hotel was so good we didn't want to leave it!

“All the participants were enthusiastic about the venue and the outstanding service at Quinta da Bela Vista. The lounges offered the perfect setting for our meetings, and the cuisine was much appreciated, from snacks at lunchtime to the special four or five-course dinners organised in the evenings.

“The hotel garden is a destination in itself, and was admired for its beauty and variety - not only by the biologist in our group, who was of course particularly thrilled to find herself in a familiar setting.

“For me as a planner it couldn't have worked out better - complete satisfaction from the client and all the group members, and talk of another course here, and of the participants coming back for their own holidays. The hotel is part of the Quintas da Madeira collection of luxury properties on the island, and more than met my expectations. The guests were amazed that the staff knew all their names and room numbers after only a few days - extremely rare in a hotel this size nowadays.”

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