All Company Celebration Day
An all-company conference set in a high-tech auditorium followed by a river cruise along the Thames in a 61-metre luxury yacht.
The Challenge
After several acquisitions and award wins, our client wanted to bring the company together to provide business updates, deliver motivational speeches and celebrate in style. Ideally the conference would take place during the day with a celebration in the evening. There were several offices requiring travel and accommodation as well as groups of new starters joining in the run up to the event.
The Approach
For such an important celebration, Zentive knew the venue(s) would be the cornerstone for success. After providing a list of suitable venues and their sustainability credentials, The Mermaid and the Silver Sturgeon was selected due to capacity and quality. We arranged for the Silver Sturgeon to be docked at Blackfriars pier meaning the group only had a short walk to board the yacht.
We utilised several spaces at the Mermaid to deliver the conference. The mezzanine and foyer were used for arrival refreshments. Digital signage was used around these spaces to show current achievement and employee updates. The auditorium at the Mermaid would be used to deliver sessions such as important business updates and the guest speaker due to its tiered seating, inbuilt lighting, audio production and spacious capacity. The Riverside Rooms were then used for the breaks and lunch. This offered a spacious area to eat, drink and network whilst overlooking the Thames.
After the conference ended, we had a limited timeframe to bring all 300 attendees from the conference venue to Blackfriars Pier to board the Silver Sturgeon yacht. The cloakroom was brought to the entrance doors to expedite the guest’s departure before the group walked through Blackfriars to the pier to board.
Once boarded, they were welcomed with a prosecco, beer or mocktail before a short awards show whilst the boat took off. With the event coinciding with the England’s Euros knockout match, 4 LED screens were placed on the bottom deck of the boat with surrounding seating to show the match. Those who didn’t want to watch could roam the boat freely, with a lot of people taking to the top deck to enjoy the sunshine and drinks.
During this time, a gourmet BBQ was being prepared at the back of the boat, complete with burgers, juicy BBQ chicken thighs, prawn skewers, cheese stuffed sweet potatoes and a wide selection of salads. The hour and a half service meant everyone had a chance to enjoy the food and sit at one of the many decadent booths.
After a 3 and a half hour charter, the boat docked safely underneath the stunning Tower Bridge and gave delegates time to say goodbye and disembark before they continued their own journeys to celebrate further or rest up after an eventful day.
The Result
Delegate feedback for the event was some of the best yet, with quotes like “I have never experienced such a lavish, luxurious, exhilarating work event in my life”, “It was an amazing day” and “The event was well organised, well run, entertaining and informative”.
Guests enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed the evening celebrations onboard the Silver Sturgeon with the BBQ and networking being a clear standout for the day.
All carbon emissions were calculated including those during the pre-event process such as site visits. By holding the event in London where the vast majority of attendees are based and encouraging the use of public transport to the event, we reduced the potential carbon footprint for this event by approx. 3.59 tCO2e.
This is equivalent to the average petrol family car being on the road for 1 year (9,182 miles).
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