Event Production in Banff

Location

Tunnel Mountain 9 Golf Course,
Fairmont Banff Springs

Guests

1,300

Client Sector

Consulting

Awards

Best Innovative Event over $500K
ADMEI Achievement Awards

Outstanding Logistical Achievement
Canadian Event Industry Awards

Objective

A client known for raising the bar each year took us up on our offer to deliver an event the magnitude of the Canadian Rockies. This event for incentive winners and their guests needed to feel intimate and exclusive, awe-inspiring, iconically Canadian and be staged in a dynamic, natural setting.

Challenges

Designing a stand-alone event venue in a natural setting on a golf course to accommodate 1,300 guests required innovative thinking. We faced several challenges including:

  • Choreographing a ballet of vans, trucks, semis, flat beds, catering kitchen, bussing, tents, executive washrooms and all power supply over a single-lane access road.
  • Orchestrating hundreds of vendors to make sure every piece of the puzzle was complete.
  • Negotiating a 4-week rental of the Golf Course in the middle of elk rutting season.
  • Experiencing all four seasons on event day.

Strategy

  • Creative “begging” of the Parks Board and our friends at the Fairmont Banff Springs to make this epic event happen.
  • Staging the event on two fairways gave us space for separate cocktail reception and dining areas.
  • Building a wildlife sustainability and environmental impact plan to consider elk mating season on an operational golf course.
  • Designing a 40,000 sq ft clear-span tent, the largest ever built in the region, including faux hardwood flooring for multi-tiered seating of 142 harvest tables.
  • Artful outdoor transition lighting of illuminated twig orbs to guide guests from the reception to the dining tent.
  • Renowned Canadian singer-songwriter, Sarah McLachlan, stepped onto a revolving stage for a private performance. The masterfully designed stage, paired with IMAG screens, provided the “best seat in the house,” no matter where guests sat.

Award Winning Results

“Dine on the Nine” was an all-hands-on-deck approach resulting in a one of a kind experience for our client, guests, industry partners and our team. The trust of our client, the collaboration between PDS, the Fairmont Banff Springs, the Parks Board and all vendors involved to pull off an event of this magnitude in a National Park was necessary to bring it to fruition. We were told by the Regional Vice President of Fairmont that approval to do this again likely won’t happen, so it truly was a once in a lifetime event.

...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.

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

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.