Brief:
At the end of 2022, Story Events were invited to tender for the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) Awards Dinner. We put together an extensive proposal with our creative ideas and won the pitch in early 2023. The objective of this event was to showcase some of the incredible work IFAW does around the world, and to celebrate the nominees who were voted for the work that they do in the community of animals.
Delivery:
Following a comprehensive venue search, BAFTA was the chosen venue! With their incredible projection mapping, this was the perfect venue to showcase the wildlife photography and videography during the event. The venue offered the Princess Anne Theatre which boasts one of the most technologically advanced screening facilities in the world, featuring Dolby Vision projectors and Dolby Atmos sound, and each seat is sponsored by someone famous! This was prominent for an unforgettable awards ceremony.
The Ray Dolby and Piccadilly Bar were set up beautifully with floral arrangements, a photobooth and decadent food stations. All food options were a mixture of vegan and vegetarian offerings. The event focused on sustainability and included sustainable floristry, recyclable cans of water, and a move to being a completely paperless event.
Guests arrived at 18:30 and escorted to the main room where they were greeted with prosecco and canapés, which led to a welcome speech from the Chairman of the Board.
Food stations were open to guests shortly after the speech, and the window blinds began to close. The projection mapping started, and guests enjoyed the different scenes of elephants in Africa. After 30 minutes the projection scene swapped to the ocean, and guests were immersed with all four walls at sea, featuring a beautiful North Atlantic White Whale.
An announcement followed, asking guests to make their way to the Princess Anne Theatre for the awards ceremony. Freshly made popcorn was served for guests to enjoy as they settled down to view a preview of an unseen Amazon documentary trailer that IFAW are featuring in. The ceremony consisted of nine awards which was hosted by the wonderful Hamza Yassin; the wildlife photographer and winner of Strictly Come Dancing.
Guests made their way back to the Ray Dolby Room after the ceremony for desserts and drinks. Guests had the opportunity to capture memories at the photobooth and caught up with the winners, especially Davey the Spaniel, who was very popular!
The evening ended with a lot of happy guests and long-lasting memories.
Results:
“Thank you so much for all the hard work that you and your team put into last night’s event, and your endless patience with our questions and demands…feedback from the board and executive team in this morning’s debrief session was overwhelmingly positive. There were some specific callouts to your team and both the organization and flow of the event.”
“I also want to pass on my thanks to everyone at Story – you guys were amazing on the night and really found us the perfect venue. Thanks so much for all the help – was such a pleasure!” IFAW Clients
Photos: Matt Veal / ©️ IFAW
If you are planning to host your awards gala then please reach out to the team at Story here.
