pladis R&D conference

The Overview:

pladis Global are a global biscuit, chocolate, confectionary company owned by Yildiz Holding. pladis Global were established in 2016, when Yildiz Holding brought together United Biscuits, Godiva, Ulker and DeMet’s Candy Company under one global business.

The Brief:

Wildfire has to source a venue for a 2 day conference in the South of England for approximately 300 people in May 2017. The venue needed to be innovative and interesting, with accommodation on site. The venue also needed to have a large conference space with breakout rooms and alternative rooms for the team building activity on Day 2.

The brief expanded following the initial site visit to also include a themed dinner, with entertainment, for them to host the awards.

AV was a big requirement for this event, and they wanted to ensure the screens would be seen by all delegates and a have large enough stage to have a WOW impact.

Wildfire Solution:

The Venue 

Wildfire proposed a number of venues, ranging from Mercedes Benz World to Royal Holloway University in Windsor, the client ultimately chose our suggestion of Woburn Centre Parcs for the space and the atmosphere of the venue – who doesn’t love being in the outdoors! For accommodation, the clients were housed in the cabins, and we took over The Venue for the 3 days.

Our services included full management of the client and venue, from organising the rooming lists, to the catering requirements, and day to day aspects of the event. Prior to the event, we had a dedicated Account Manager who was a point of contact for both the client and venue to liaise any final details and questions. This was then transferred on to the event, where the venue was managed through the Wildfire staff.

AV and Conference 

The event was action packed with a full day set up of AV, with a double screen, relay monitors, and bespoke set. The conference ran throughout the two days, with over 20 speakers plus bespoke break out sessions and a team building event for over 250 people.

The conference was managed by Wildfire from start to finish including pre and post requirements such as CAD designs, briefing meetings, presentation prep etc.

On the day we had a full tech team who covered all elements of sound and video, through to any last minute changes on the decks. We also had picture in picture and a photographer on site throughout the event to capture those all-important speeches and moments!

As pladis are a global brand, they wanted to bring together all of the different countries in an interactive way throughout the conference. Immersion Markets were used as an afternoon session, where Wildfire provided theming and props, as well as expert knowledge to rotate teams around the countries to immerse themselves in their cultures. This included full facilitation of the session as well as pre-event preparation working closely with the different countries to ensure their vision was made a reality.

Evening

The evening awards were a time to celebrate the team and their work throughout the year. Wildfire know how to put on a party and pulled out all of the stops to transform the room from the daytime session, to the evening session, and back again for the following day.

The catering and menu options were a big part of the evening event, as they needed to showcase the theme of the event as Consumer Connect and encompass all cuisines from their main trading countries. Working through Wildfire, we discussed various options with the client and venue to bring together sharing platters such as Traditional British Canapes, Mezze Platters, Poppadum Bowls and American Desserts.

Working with our trusted providers, we brought in a range of Turkish Dervish and Bhangra Dancers who put on a show throughout the evening that suited everybody’s tastes. As well as this, we provided our in-house DJ throughout the night who built up an incredible atmosphere with the crowd.

As well as the entertainment, the room was themed with table centres to suit different countries and a photobooth to capture the night! Our AV crew were also on hand throughout the night to assist with the awards and provide disco lighting.

Team Building

The team building element was a huge success, with the aim for have groups working together towards one goal. We provided a large scale Chain Reaction which had 20 teams constructing and designing innovative ways for the chain to work.

This element of the conference was energised by our friendly and fun Wildfire staff to help guide the teams and encourage them to talk to one another throughout the event.

The Result:

“We had Demon Wheelers host our team building event last year in May. It was a fabulous event and one that was run extremely well and professionally. We even had the top execs from our company joining in and around 100 employees out in the fresh air, working together to create a ‘Chain Reaction’. I had lots of compliments following the team building to say that it was one of their favourites and really felt that building something together and seeing it through to fruition helped them bond with their colleagues and understand better what makes them each tick! I would definitely recommend both the Chain Reaction team building and Nathan and the Demon Wheeler team for any event in the future!”