How we successfully delivered an immersive, corporate festival for 350 people

AT A GLANCE

 

Client: Alfa Systems

Brief: ALFA FEST Corporate Festival

Location: De Vere Cotswold Water Park, Cirencester

Lead time: 6 Months

Build time: 1 Day

Duration: 2 Days 

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​THE CLIENT 

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Alfa Systems is a leading global provider of software for the asset finance industry. They place high value on collaboration, culture and memorable experiences that bring their people and brand together.

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THE BRIEF

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Alfa wanted to move beyond the standard two-day annual conference and transform it into something their people would actually remember. They came up with the idea of ‘ALFA FEST’ incorporating their conference into a two-day immersive corporate festival. Our brief was to bring this concept to life by designing and delivering team challenges, including a multi-activity competitive challenge for all 350 guests, and a surprise evening event at the De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel, just an hour and a half from Alfa’s head offices in London.  

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THE CHALLENGES

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Logistically the event provided a range of challenges that our team needed to overcome. Our main challenge for this event was delivering an engaging team activity for all 350 delegates to do together, while also balancing the festival energy with the client’s corporate objectives. With a mix of demographics, confidence levels, and physical abilities, we had to design an inclusive experience for all delegates to participate in and most importantly enjoy, plus ensuring this tied in with the surprise festival-themed evening event.

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OUR APPROACH

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​Our approach was broken down into three specific stages.

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1. Vision and purpose

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We worked closely with Alfa to understand the purpose behind ALFA FEST. This allowed us to design experiences that felt truly aligned to the event vision and the company culture. They wanted their staff to enjoy themselves in a relaxed and informal setting, while also ensuring the original objectives of the conference were still met.

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2. Planning

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Our key planning considerations included: Flow, structure and Delegate movement; contingency including wet weather, and seamless coordination across multiple activities and teams. We needed to ensure that the delegates could transition effortlessly between the flow of the event without disruption. Particular attention was given to the outdoor multi-activity day at Lake 86, next to the De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel, with strong contingency plans built in to allow flexibility for weather conditions, as well as comprehensive health and safety risk assessments for each of the activities on offer. Throughout the planning process we kept the event vision at the forefront of our minds, ensuring we were capturing that engaging festival energy, while also retaining the corporate objectives. The team built a solid rotation schedule for all 350 delegates, creating a competitive and engaging atmosphere that would encourage teamwork and keep things exciting.

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3. Delivery

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We interacted with the De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel and our trusted suppliers to coordinate the delivery of this event, with a strong focus on delegate movement, activity zones, transport arrangements and event logistics to ensure a smooth process across all areas. On-site crew and health and safety plans were carefully mapped out to guarantee each activity was fully supported, keeping that relaxed festival vibe while remaining controlled behind the scenes. Meanwhile, other members of our crew were on site at the hotel to set up for the surprise evening event.

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Show Day

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As this event was a ‘team and theme’ we started off the previous day by laying carpet and setting up as much as we could in the Kingfisher Suite and the Marquee. The Client decided they wanted the conference part of the event themed also. This was a last-minute decision.

Nice and early the following morning, our suppliers turned up with furniture and activations (also called experiential marketing) ready for the conference to begin at 10 am. In the meantime we had another team over on the field at Lake 86, starting the set-up for the activities , which consisted of various zones:

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• Delegates on the water paddle boarding

• Giant inflatable team games

• A craft tent for those who didn't want to get too physical

• And some great team challenges

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We ran these activities on a round robin, moving 350 people in smaller teams and groups throughout the field. We also arranged a bar with lots of soft drinks and snacks, and an ice cream van, which went down really well.

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Total chaos then ensued while the teams had great fun playing the games! Scores were recorded and the competition began eith team bandanas flying and music playing in the background. Everybody had a really great time.

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Meanwhile, another team of our crew were at the hotel, stripping the conference facilities and setting up the dinner. We had entertainers, a rodeo bull, lots of activations, fairgrounds-type side stalls, etc.  We also had a face painter to get everyone into the festival spirit and a great band who made the evening go with a swing.

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There were fire pits and comfy seating out on the terrace and a fire eater who put on a fantastic show just as the sun was going down in front of the lake. What a great night! Just as the party got going at the hotel, our other team were on the field, dismantling, removing and storing all the activities from the afternoon.

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Once the party ended and everybody went to bed, our team went back to remove the theming at the hotel so that the rooms were all clear for the conference the next day.  The conference finished mid-morning, so we had the suppliers return to collect furniture and fittings. All in all, an excellent event with a full wrap-around service.