How Stagedge Went ABOVE & BEYOND in Cancun
Today’s customer success story takes us abroad to the white sand beaches of Cancun. Hosting an overseas event brings many advantages: in addition to their innate appeal, they provide participants with a unique opportunity to combine work with entertainment while gaining a new perspective on their industry in a new place.
But with opportunities come challenges. And for corporate event production companies, going abroad involves special complexities. Read on to learn how Stagedge overcame these challenges for one client on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
The Challenges of a Foreign Venue
One of our enterprise clients, a tech giant, had scheduled its North America Sales Kickoff Meeting for January 2023. With a new theme in place, they wanted to convey a positive outlook following changes in leadership, strategy, and a company merger. Ultimately, the beach resort of Cancun won out as a destination thanks to great weather, an all-inclusive package price, controlled costs, and the opportunity to organize everything in-house.
When it comes to domestic events, many organizations will consider hiring the venue’s in-house vendor to produce the event. But in a foreign venue, everything becomes more complicated. “Without a production partner, the client would have been overwhelmed hosting an event in Mexico,” says Technical Director Aaron Brown. “Everything you’re used to getting in the U.S. is more complex.” This complexity extended to infrastructure needs like internet and power, which had to be run on generators located 1,000 feet away.
Without a production partner, the client would have been overwhelmed hosting an event in Mexico. Everything you are used to getting in the U.S. is more complex.
The venue entailed other challenges, as well. Because of the all-inclusive nature of their chosen hotel, the company’s industry group had to be lodged separately and bused back and forth. This division of groups required separate food and beverage arrangements. In addition, the general session room was too small and didn’t include enough chairs. Breakout sessions were spread out across 12 rooms, with extensive schedule changes and minimal support. To top it all off, the on-site vendor was managing 10 concurrent events, juggling equipment back and forth as they attempted to meet the needs of multiple clients.
Stagedge to the Rescue
Stagedge’s first step was to reach out to industry contacts who had worked in Mexico to identify the best local vendors. The next step was to stock up. “We quickly figured out it wasn’t worth shipping anything due to customs and security,” says Brown. “But even with a great production vendor, it was still challenging to work with their limited resources to create the production the client wanted. It’s not like the U.S., where you can just go and rent what you need.”
Stagedge’s on-site support was extensive. Although the in-country vendor owned the gear and provided some of the set-up support, Stagedge brought all of its own production, lighting, video, and audio personnel. The Stagedge team was involved in all aspects of production—from the general session, breakouts, and registration to videos, the website, and the event app. Stagedge worked with talent and scripting, handled the open experience, designed wayfinding and staging, managed the parties, and was even consulted on the choice of driving services.
It is a testament to the Stagedge team that this event was pulled off so smoothly, they brought experience and forethought to challenges before they became a problem on-site. A lot was happening behind the scenes to make it a great event experience for the audience and the client.
The key to Stagedge’s success was adaptability. This entailed changing and adding rehearsal times, moving breakout sessions, and making things work both with the vendor and the equipment that was available. “It’s a testament to the Stagedge team that this event was pulled off so smoothly,” says Senior Director of Productions Rich Mankiewicz. “They brought experience and forethought to challenges before they became a problem on-site. A lot was happening behind the scenes to make it a great event experience for the audience and the client.”
Supporting Speakers and the Custom App
Stagedge also provided vital support with speaker preparation and the creation of a custom app. Part of their white-glove service included hiring a speechwriter, who, together with a speaking coach, worked with speakers in both the speaker ready-room and the mainstage rehearsals. A key decision was to locate the speaker ready-room on-site, both to ensure that executive speakers reviewed the content and to make any necessary changes to teleprompter scripts and graphics. “It was the first real opportunity for the writer, coach, and designer to sit with the speaker and go over what was going to happen,” notes Senior Producer Joey Toppan. “We ended up having to do quite a bit of writing on-site because the script hadn’t been finalized.”
In an event venue with unreliable internet, two hotels, and extensive breakout areas, supporting the creation of a custom app also proved to be a test—but Stagedge was up to the challenge. “The client wanted the app to be able to push out updates and a map of the site,” says Mankiewicz. “Each person’s personal schedule for the week was on their app, including their preassigned breakout rooms.” The Stagedge solutions team supported the client with badging and the updating of the app, including adapting to last-minute changes such as the combining of rooms.
The Big Show and Looking Forward
All of this behind-the-scenes work culminated in a show that was the crown jewel of the event. Combining scenic work, custom LED walls, and wind, water, earth, and fire subthemes, the opening experience featured acrobatics and performers dancing in choreography to a background video. Not only did Stagedge’s creative director write the script, but he also provided the music, working closely with the video editor and the dance troupe. “This was truly a ‘soup to nuts’ production,” says Mankiewicz, “featuring a lot of producers and technical people. The flow of the show was very intricate, and both producers and the show caller had to be top-notch.” After taking care of the sourcing and interviewing of talent, Stagedge helped the client select a nationally known performer, Will Gill, to be the host and DJ.
The audience’s reaction was overwhelmingly positive. “Often, when folks have to complete a post-event survey, you get the ‘bad stuff,’” Mankiewicz explains. “But here, lots of people wrote about how they enjoyed the opening, the set, and more. The general high level of the production and design was evident to everyone who experienced it.”
Despite the limitations of working in Cancun, the event was successful from an engagement perspective—so much so that Stagedge has already been hired for next year. Moving forward, this will allow Stagedge to get involved even earlier, vetting venues for years ahead and providing a plan for areas that need improvement. “We want to work to make their life as easy as possible on site,” says Technical Director Chris Casimiro. “Beyond the audiovisual aspect, we’re delighted to be seen as the all-around best consultant for events.”
Putting the Extra into Foreign Event Planning
As this customer success story makes clear, planning a foreign event requires extra time, extra planning, extra site visits, and extra communication with local staff and production teams. But here’s the good news: Not only can it be done, but when it does, the results are truly spectacular. All the more reason to work with a trusted partner that knows what it’s doing, in-country and out. To find out more about overseas event planning, read our related blog, here. Or reach out to us to make your dream of a worldwide event come true.
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