New Zealand hosts Chinese odyssey triumph
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The massive delegation was flown to New Zealand in 12 waves over two months from 9 October to 5 December for the 2023 Amway China Leadership Seminar, produced by Encore Event Technologies APAC.
The Amway Diamond top performers were treated to an extensive programme of events and excursions that rewarded exceptional performance and elevated brand allegiance whilst enjoying the incredible sights and adventures New Zealand has to offer.
The event highlight was a stunning final gala night dinner which was staged 15 times throughout the period to visitor groups of approximately 600 per event. Held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland and Queenstown Ice Arena the galas, which took a year to plan, treated guests to a spectacular night full of technological wizardry and heart pumping entertainment.
Using the L-Acoustics L2D Loudspeakers as a key component, Encore is the only company is the APAC region to have used the new speakers outside of the global pilot programme.
“These aren’t your everyday speakers, they’re arguably one of the finest on the market,” said Encore’s director of innovation and technology, Daniel Lourenco. “We flew the speakers in from France, which was no easy feat, however it was worth it to produce something incredible. These speakers reduce the amount of set up time and give greater horizontal dispersion at the front of the stage resulting in a sound quality that frankly gives you goosebumps.”
The superscale events, which took up more than 6,000 work hours, included 155sq.m LED screens, 15 20K projectors, 80 table projectors, eight curved screen projectors, four floor projectors, six semi-trailers hauling equipment and even an ice rink. More than 600 hours of custom motion design content was created across the two locations.
Encore won the competitive bidding process, which resulted in visitors filling 20,000 hotel nights in Queenstown and Auckland and funnelled an estimated NZ $40m into the economy. Auckland Convention Group and Queenstown Convention Bureau managed the pre-event activities including tourist activities to showcase each local area.
“We haven’t done anything along this type of volume before,” said Andrew Priddle, national head of production. “Logistically it’s been the biggest undertaking for us, and the sheer amount of rigging was a real accomplishment.”
Encore used a wide range of technologies that showcased panoramic scenes of New Zealand’s natural wonders played across a giant, mountain shaped central LED. The immersive screen content not only changed during meal service, but cohesively and creatively throughout the entirety of the event, seamlessly tying together the theme through the walk-in reveal experience, performances, corporate presentations and main act.
“This was flanked by additional curved projection screens and 3D-mapping on the stage floor,” said Encore technical event director Daniel Carver-Shadbolt. “We also used snow machines, special effects and multi-sensory interactive displays of earth, water, fire and air to really enthral guests.”
Each dining table and even individual plates had an individual animated projected designs, which changed throughout the night to including stunning New Zealand themed creative themes and Amway-branded designs.
During meal service the giant, mountain-shaped LED display capped with imitation snow-caps underwent a dramatic transformation with lava projections oozing over the stage. “This created an impressive backdrop for performers, Strings of Fire, who combined pyrotechnics and acrobatic stunts to music setting the stage literally ‘ablaze’,” said Mr Carver-Shadbolt.
Entertainment included trio JGEEKS who combined traditional Māori moves with modern dance techniques and humour, C-Pop singer Laurence Larson and multimedia performers Vosper Tron. Throughout the evening, care was taken to ensure the performances and scenography intertwined to reinforce Amway values of harmony, wonder and partnership.
Delegates in Queenstown were also treated to an incredible display on ice complete with a 3D mapped “ice mountain”. Skater performers also wore 3D tracking beacons all driven by Disguise software - a real-time 3D simulator and media server that integrates traditional lighting fixtures, LED screens and projection surfaces.
“We used real time generated tracking content using Notch and Zactrack automated follow-system, for video and lighting tracking of five skaters simultaneously. You’d see skaters followed by a visual trail of butterflies or fish which was really stunning,” said Mr Priddle. “We also had the tracking system on Laurence which really added to his performance. It was quite something to see him running around the stage being tracked by the system.”
Encore has a long history of delivering experiences for Amway, the direct selling business, having devised similar trips for delegations from Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, South Korea and Russia over the past 18 years in addition to other events for international clients.
Ken Pereira, head of Auckland Convention Bureau at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, said that the gala dinners were a highlight of the itinerary. “Delegates were wowed by the gala dinners. The evenings showcased Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture and spirit, brought to life through a dynamic set up of lighting, sound and visual elements. A key point of difference for hosting an incentive trip in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is the contemporary Māori culture at the heart of the region, and we were thrilled to see this celebrated at the dinners.”
