Attendees of the recent Pedders Gala Awards night enjoyed a surprise AFL themed evening at Metricon Stadium, home of the Gold Coast Suns. The details of the event including the theme and the venue were kept secret, adding to the impact of this once-in a-lifetime-experience.
Upon arrival guests were immersed in their own ‘match day’ experience from a player’s point of view.
The group entered via the Suns change rooms and were treated to pre-dinner drinks and a 3 minute ‘rev up’ speech by Suns assistant coach Shaun Hart.
From here Zac Smith, an up and coming Suns player, lead the group out onto the main field of Metricon Stadium via the home team tunnel. Cheered on by the club’s official supporter group the SUNScreamers, guests tore through a branded Pedders welcome banner and onto the main field.
The stadium big screen played back a welcome video production as the group entered the centre of the field and took their seats for the main dinner.
A substantial amount of event production was involved with this event as the formalities of the night followed a very structured and professional gala awards format with an array of awards and highlight reels as well as presentations and speeches all intertwined with the comedic influences of MC Shane Jacobsen (Kenny).
The BMA Event Group was the event production company used to facilitate this part of the event and they worked closely with Gavin Cohen and Shane Jacobsen (MC) to ensure the production ran smoothly and on schedule.
The BMA Event Group were also engaged to provide background music throughout the stadium seating bowl, as well as atmospheric lighting on the field of play and parts of the stadium to create truly corporate gala event feel.
While the team at Metricon Stadium believe that nothing is impossible when it comes to organising an event, the two main challenges for the Pedders Gala were the protection of the playing surface and wet weather.
As this event was held in February only a matter of weeks before the first NAB Cup event for 2013, the integrity of the field was a priority to ensure the playing surface was presentable for broadcast and safe for player usage under game and training conditions.
To achieve this Teraplas was used to protect the surface from the foot traffic and equipment required on the field of play.
Guests were able to get phortos with the Gold Coast Suns as a souvenier of the event.
In addition, to offset any wet weather one of the stadium’s internal function spaces with exceptional views of the field of play and additional AV were setup in readiness for last minute activation should wet weather had set in.
Fortunately there was dry weather on the night and the event was a success for organisers and guests alike.
