Event Management Vancouver

Location

Rocky Mountaineer Train Station, Vancouver

Guests

125

Client Sector

Food Manufacturing

Notable Elements

A larger-than-life robotic eagle ‘soaring’ above the guests

Objective

Our discerning client had high hopes for this evening and wanted an authentic BC, culturally rich experience for their dessert reception. They represented a food company, so the dessert items had to be branded, tie into the theme and be creatively presented.

Challenges

  • Produce a luxe, intimate environment for 150 people in a venue that can easily accommodate 500 people.
  • Operate around strict boundaries for set-up and strike access in a working train station, with a tiny window of time to accomplish a LOT of work.
  • Originally designed as a networking event with short performance vignettes, guests were instantly transfixed and wanted to sit down to enjoy a full show. This limited the flow of the event and challenged our talent and production crew to adjust “on the fly”.

Strategy

  • Infuse distinct, multi-cultural elements to anchor the event theme.
  • Merge two uniquely Canadian elements to design a custom Cirque du Soleil style performance with traditional First Nations culture.
  • Inspired by the eagle, a powerful emblem in First Nations’ cultures, it also appealed to our American guests. “Spakwus” means Bald Eagle in the Squamish First Nations language.
  • We built a functioning, robotic art installation of an eagle with a wingspan of 65’ to ‘fly’ over guests while incorporating aboriginal symbolism with projected graphics and traditional music .
  • Immersive, impactful moments were delivered via a 110’ wide LED wall featuring coordinated First Nations quotes, ancestral teachings and graphics.
  • Musical performances were featured alongside acrobatics and visual content.
  • Once we saw the crowd’s delighted reaction, we pivoted in real time to change the show from vignettes to a running 35-minute performance.

The Result

Guests were curious, delighted, engaged, and our client was thrilled. It was this company’s first time hosting a program in Canada and it ticked all the boxes our client had outlined: an authentic, culturally rich BC experience. At the time, this was one of the biggest technical shows that had been installed in the venue. We dropped the most rigging points into the building that the station had ever seen – in just a day and half. The event was truly a showstopper!

Your team planned and executed our client’s BEST PROGRAM EVER!

...another huge success... tremendous amount of support we received from your team in both the pre-planning and on-site execution... we were just blown away and loved seeing our vision really come to light.

PDS made this evening one of the most memorable events in the history of our client’s 35+ years of programs. As you could tell from the standing ovations on both evenings, this event was stunning and magical!

it was the best ever in the 50 years we have been hosting this prestigious event. ..the standing ovation at the end of the evening said it all!

Our winners, spouses and hosts had the time of their lives! They loved every minute of it... that was the BEST final night event... Please know how much you helped me and my team create such a once of a lifetime experience in Victoria!

...you ALL absolutely KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK! .... my email hasn’t stopped buzzing... congratulated us on the design, production & flawless execution of this event.

I feel so excited to share my gratitude with you all! This is exactly the partnership that I was aiming for...YOU ARE ALL MY “A” TEAM.