Member Article

R&B Group beat Olympic competition for national event production awards

Newcastle and Yorkshire based event production company R&B Group scooped not 1 but 2 medals in London’s AV Awards on Friday night, beating off competition to take home ‘Live Event of the Year’ and the overall accolade of the evening; the ‘Grand Prix Award’.

The awards which were celebrating their 15th year were open to any company involved in the AV industry across Europe, from media production companies to manufacturers of any kind of equipment or software used in AV communication; so for this small firm from the North East this is an amazing achievement.

The Live event of the year category was awarded for utilising the newest technical ideas and was open to a wide range of corporate events, awards ceremonies, experiential events, sponsored events, sales conferences, product launches, exhibition events and more. Judges were looking for examples of absolute excellence in lighting, sound, projection-display and staging.

The Grand Prix award category could not be entered but was awarded. R&B Group were selected overall winner. Their entry showed most evidence of industry leadership and market development along with technical and creative innovation.

R&B Groups entry greatly impressed the judges. They proved that projection mapping technology is both available and affordable to the corporate market and the relatively new technology, which animates stationary objects with 3D video, has the potential to revolutionise events.

Most commonly used by big brand companies with huge budgets, R&B Group have proven that the corporate market can also afford to take advantage of this visual technology to convey messages.

Having received such positive feedback from their long standing client, ncj media, the high profile North East Business Awards Grand Final event was selected as the company’s entry into the Live Event of the Year category.

R&B Group were given a brief to provide a ‘new and fresh look’ to their client’s annual event. It needed to supersede any other event that they had previously staged, wow the audience, incorporate the event branding and still come in on budget.

R&B Group’s creative solution involved indoor projection mapping technology which allowed a virtual set to be brought to life via the use of projection, set and lighting simultaneously. With added sound effects and music, the result was a spectacular and immersive experience which couldn’t help but impress.

R&B Group project manager, Paul Borthwick commented: “Our client was really excited about the use of the new technology and the impact it would have on their event.

“It can be hard to visualise what the end product will look like, so we were thrilled that there was such a level of trust on their part. It was fantastic to be shortlisted but to walk away with two awards, having been recognised by our industry peers, is amazing.

Sue Coulson, head of regional events at ncj media: “I was absolutely delighted to be invited to attend the AV awards as R&B Group`s guest. Having worked on the NEBA Grand Final Awards from concept to completion as my role as Head of Regional Events, I felt very proud to be part of it all.

“R&B Group did an exceptional job and so many guests at the NEBA final commented on how good the Projection mapping was. What a fantastic night the awards turned out to be when they won not only Best Live Event but also The Grand Prix award. Well done to the whole team.”

Antony Crerar, director of R&B Group said: “I had decided that the team behind the event should go to London rather than the directors, as they were the ones who’d created the amazing event. So on the evening I was waiting for the news coming through. When my phone rang and I was told we’d won Best Live Event of the Year I simply couldn’t believe it.

“The noise in the background was deafening as the celebrations started so I didn’t stay on the line for long. I quickly called my co-director and some of the senior management team to tell them the good news. I hadn’t finished these excited conversations when my phone rang again. This time the noise was even louder; we’d won the overall Grand Prix award!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by R&B Group .