Spike Allibone 17/07/2005 Spike Allibone 17/07/2005

A Kids' Press Conference

We had fun staging a press conference with JK Rowling after we'd done the book launch. She had expressly asked for members of the press to be in attendance, but for them to be children only!

No one thought to take a picture of her actually in the nice red velvet chair we bought! - No matter. We got to keep it afterwards though. it's a "conversation piece" whenever people come round.

Spike Allibone 15/07/2005 Spike Allibone 15/07/2005

I Love Risk Assessments!

Oh how we laughed when this turned up on site without us being consulted beforehand! I think we must've had an over-eager entertainment agency or something...

Yes, this is a life size, fire breathing remote control robot horse! Very useful for a lot of the events we have managed over the years. This arrived for the Harry Potter Book Launch we did at Edinburgh Castle in 2005. Lovely big show, live on air to countries around the world, with celebrities, animals, children, explosives, government officials, Hollywood directors - all that...... and then this horse, which, showed up without a risk assessment.

We thought it might be worth a shot at first so our safety manager, Julian Bentley at MRL got it to breathe a few flames for a quick on-site viability test. "Put it back in it's stable please..... right now!"

Spike Allibone 11/05/2004 Spike Allibone 11/05/2004

Extreme Window Blacking!

Here you see Pete, Anya and myself finding a way to keep the sun out of our cocktail party lighting a few floors below.

The purpose of the event was, amongst other things, to promote the new building in Gresham Street in London on behalf of our client who built and owned the place.

I should say though, since the huge glass atrium was one of the main selling points of the office, blacking it out was a slightly odd thing to do

Let's be honest though.... lighting effects are far more important than just boring glass and sunlight!

Below are some more shots of the rig and the end result

Spike Allibone 21/04/2004 Spike Allibone 21/04/2004

Rehearsal for 19 at the Albert

I loved the horn section in this set.... our Director was Kim Gavin..... A very accomplished theatrical and special event director and choreographer.

Spike Allibone 12/09/2002 Spike Allibone 12/09/2002

Party Planning Site Visit

Sometimes, when you site visit a space for a cocktail party, you find yourself saying " This is gonna take some work". Fortunately, this atrium in London for Standard Life scrubbed up pretty good in the end.

Does Night Train blog?

Well yes.... except my industry does tend to require a fairly professional level of discretion surrounding some of the things that happen... and not just backstage either.... for example, I worked for over a year on the Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies... and couldn't really tell anyone what was happening throughout, and even after the events.

But hey, here's my "professional" Night Train blog nonetheless. You'll love it!