Screens and PowerPoint by Royal Appointment

We work on our fair share of Charity fundraiser events, but it's extra special to be involved in one where their Majesties the King and Queen are guests of honour.

This particular event was a star-studded fundraising evening in support of Elephant Family. A charity, founded in 2002 to protect the endangered Asian Elephant.

More than 250 guests attended the exclusive 'Wonders of the Wild event, held at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

And it was our job to transform the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse into an event space fit for a king, and his Queen.

Working with Storm Lighting, accredited technical suppliers for Kew Gardens, and alongside our old friends at X3 solutions, we were providing the video elements, with various large display screens running videos and PowerPoint slides.

The Storm team had the bigger task, as they were lighting the entire inside and outside of the building, as well as a fair bit of the gardens, providing colour and atmosphere to the entire proceedings.

Working in the temperate house was a wonderful experience, but was not without it's challenges. The plants were being watered both automatically at ground level, and manually with hoses sprayed onto the upper leaves, and this was being done systematically, from early in the morning right up until lunchtime. This meant we couldn't move things into position until the watering for that area was complete, almost doubling the amount of time we needed to complete the work.

The Stage ready for rehearsals

The heat and humidity was quite intense, and as the day wore on conditions were getting progressively worse. Lets just say the regular application of deodorant was essential to avoid offending co workers.

Of course, anyone who has had any experience working in any capacity with senior members of the Royal Family, knows there are additional layers of security and procedure to be strictly adhered to. 

Everyone had to submit their personal details well in advance, and carry photo ID on the day. There can be no last minute changes to the staff roster on one of these jobs.

The entire event space was thoroughly searched by the royal protection officers, and sniffer dogs did the rounds as we were working. 

And once the security sweep was complete, no one comes in or out of the area without showing ID, and going through a thorough security search.

The temperature began to fall quite rapidly as the sun dropped outside and the atmosphere finally became bearable, and had even become quite pleasant by the time the great and the good began to arrive.

There there were speeches, awards and the all important fund raising auction.

Once their Majesties had left the building, Sophie Ellis Bexter took to the stage to commit 'Murder on the dance floor', and following her set, Gok Wan closed the night with a DJ slot.

Kew Gardens Temperate House

The event finished promptly at 10:30, and the crew got stuck into the de-rig, Our video team were the lucky ones, as the house lights were switched on, and we were able to pack our kit up swiftly.

Not as easy an evening for those responsible for the lights outside, who had the task of coiling up hundreds of metres of heavy power cables through the darkness.

By midnight the flurry of activity was gradually diminishing, the smaller contributors had packed up and left, and it was just the final few cases of the lighting equipment from outside that had to be pushed up to the loading ramp. The last truck finally left site just after 1am and the weary crew headed home after a very long 17 hour day.

I suspect Kew Gardens opened for business the following morning, and non of the visitors had any inkling that only a few hours earlier the place had been hosting royalty.

Of course, I was still sleeping off the late night, and then up and planning the next job.

For more information on how we can help support your in person, hybrid or virtual event, get in touch. hello@confidence-digital.com