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[sliceeventsposts]

LONDON COCKTAIL WEEK

Wave goodbye to ‘Go Sober for October’, or at least postpone it for a week, this week’s agenda will be too good to miss out on.

Within Slice we produce and manage an array of different events, but we can confidently say most contain some form of alcoholic beverage or bespoke bar with mixologists. For this reason alone, we are keeping a keen eye on all the events popping up this week for London Cocktail Week (LCW). This year will be the eighth time the festival has taken place in venues around London and we are excited to witness what it has in store and the trends in cocktails that will undoubtedly emerge.

This year LCW have created a free mobile app in which you can buy and download tickets as well as have the guidebook to over 250 events happening throughout London. We have mapped out what we have on our agenda for the week, but if you wanted to try your hand at any of the other events you can download the Drinkup.London app to your smart phone.

What we are up to:

Monday 2nd October:

What? The official LCW opening party

Why? LCW is opening with a bang at Oriole Bar, expect a delicious welcome cocktail on arrival and look forward to a night of entertainment from Eric Razoni’s Trio and Missy Fatale.

Where? The Oriole Bar, EC1A 9LH

When? 2nd October, 6pm- late

 Tuesday 3rd October:

What? Schweppes Alchemy Bar

Why? Explore the Schweppes Alchemy Bar and experience the 250 years of expertise come to life in Jacob Schweppe’s own laboratory. You will imbibe unconventional flavour pairings and see scientific creations from the best in the cocktail business.

Where? 21 Slingsby Place, WC2E 9AB

When? 2nd – 8th October, 1pm- 11pm

 Wednesday 4th October:

What? Abelforth’s Underground

Why? Abelforth are showcasing their craft spirits by opening a subterranean day to night bar. Reply to emails while sipping on a coffee and enjoying the free wifi during the day, while at night you can enjoy a wide array of games and signature serves.

Where? 82a Basement, commercial street, E1

When? 3rd – 8th October, 11am – 11pm

Thursday 5th October:

What? The Cocktail Village

Why? The Cocktail village sees in its third year at Spitalfields market. Wind through the warren of numerous pop-up cocktail bars, immersive experiences and food vendors.

Where? Old Spitalfields Market, E1 6EW

When? 3rd – 6th October, 12pm– 4.30pm

 Friday 6th October:

What? The Blend by Chivas Regal

Why? Join Chivas Regal in their one of a kind whiskey bar. Learn what it takes to be a master blender and how each Chivas Regal whiskey is ‘Blended’ to create its signature taste, you will also get the chance to create your own blend to take home with you.

Where? 133 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG

When? 2nd – 8th October, Mon-Fri 5pm- 10pm Sat-Sun 2pm- 10pm

 Saturday 7th October:

What? Jägerbrunch

Why? Let’s face it, you were planning on going to brunch anyway, so why not head down to Jägermeister’s Brunch time spread. Inspired by its German heritage you will see Jäger cocktails and a special feast created by Chef Dale Evans.

Where? Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen, N1 6NU

When? 7th October, 10am – 12pm

 Sunday 8th October:

What? Trash Tiki: Anti Waste Punk Pop-up

Why? End the week on an environmental high at the Trash Tiki Bar. The globally run pop up functions from the waste food and drink that vendors from the LCW village donate.

Where? Nelsons Head Basement, 32 Horatio Street, E2 7SB

When? 3rd – 8th October, 5pm – 11.30pm

[sliceeventsposts]

Remembering our roots

We have a new blog up on Event Magazine!

Dan Keene, managing partner of agency Slice, on why the experiences at SXSW and AWE missed the mark.

http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/blog-remembering-roots/event-technology/article/1429011 

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Food and Drink Brands – are you really cutting the mustard?

Welcome to the ‘next generation in flavour’ is the front-page tag line on the Eat and Drink festivals website.

As an excitable home cook and an obsessive foodie, I was delighted to be going to what promised to be “a unique live experience, celebrating the exciting trends in modern cuisine, mixology and street food.”

And what the experience delivered sadly was nothing unique, experiential or exciting…

Being from the live events industry, and working with clients who are soon to be attending the London Coffee Festival with a bespoke experience aimed at delivering a unique tasting encounter for visitors, my colleague and I were looking for real inspiration and perhaps some new ideas on how to engage consumers from this seemingly top industry event.

Sadly, the most engagement on offer seemed to be Viakal’s partnership with Waitrose and the opportunity, if you give them your email address, to win £200 of Waitrose vouchers, or Zoopla’s ‘come to our stand with this code for an opportunity to win £5000’.

Yes the foodie stations displayed their products neatly and reflected their brand style with some simple dressing, but other than sampling drinks from plastic shot glasses or chutneys from plain crackers, there was nothing to do other than pay top prices for food that is readily available in street markets all over London. In an age of all the sharable content around, we struggled to find anything worth sharing.

Our solution at the London Coffee Festival which goes live on 6th April at The Old Truman Brewery invites guests to step into Tate & Lyle’s exclusive experience where indulgence blends with innovation. Guests can rediscover coffee by immersing themselves in three moments with each of their individual syrup flavours. This solution provokes the senses to ensure visitors left emotionally charged and ready to share...

The experience involves mist orbs that allow guests to inhale the syrup flavours. Each orb is paired with wireless headphones playing sensory enhancing audio and a bespoke flavoured piece of artisan fudge to compliment the syrup flavour.

There was nothing that came close to immersion or experience at this festival. I’m sure some of the small local producers don’t have big or even small budgets to invest in something like what we are delivering for Tate and Lyle, there were certainly brands that could have delivered some clever experiential pieces that would have lifted the experience for consumers and thus, ended up with queues of people to desperate to sample their produce, created a shareable moment and an experience people would be talking about long after the festival was over.

The Eat & Drink Festival may give a platform for brands to showcase their product, but if they are wanting to get a real return on investment, a little more creative thinking around how people experience their products would go a long way.

Simply put, a foodie nirvana, it was certainly not.

Photo - Slice’s activation for Tate & Lyle at the London Coffee Festival

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How can I be bold for change?

Beth Ward, Senior Creative Producer, discusses the significance of Slice’s latest event for This Girl Can on International Women’s Day.

This morning I hopped on the 38 bus to travel to work as I do every morning. But today the journey was special, today a woman was driving. It shouldn’t have really taken me by surprise, women can drive and women like driving, some like driving buses or taxis or lorries and some do it for a living, but I’ll admit that it did. There I was guilty of reinforcing gender bias before 8am.  

On the morning of International Women’s Day I couldn’t let the serendipity and the significance of the moment pass me by, so I chatted to Barbara about her life as a bus driver in London. Barbara is one of 12 women who work out of her depot in comparison to over 300 male employees. She loves her job and says people are always surprised when they see her driving. Barbara mentioned that the company don’t actively recruit women for the role as such but they welcome them when they apply. When I ask her about how many women there were at management or board level she laughs  ‘oh only men, it’s always men in management jobs at all companies isn’t it?’

Barbara’s assumption is one of the main reasons this very day exists. I am lucky enough to work for a company where gender equality is a priority. Engine is proud to have a 50/50 split at executive board level and has pledged to replicate this across all levels by 2020. Engine are not only joining in with the conversation about women but leading it too. Today Engine released a report based on 12 months of research about 21st Century Women and why brands need to know them better.

And its not only at a corporate level – in the last few weeks, Slice had the privilege to work with Mischief PR on the launch event of the second This Girl Can TVC. The ad, featuring women from all over the country getting stuck into their sport of choice to a soundtrack of Maya Angelou reciting her poem Phenomenal women, moved the audience to tears. What I love about the campaign is that these women aren’t selling us a product. They are inspiring us to join them, because we are them. We relate to them because we have the same insecurities and responsibilities but we have the same strength and potential too if only we are bold enough to use it.  

So what does #beboldforchange actually mean? What happens tomorrow when the flames of today’s celebrations and confrontations die down? It is certainly true that we all want change, but it is sometimes difficult to know just where to start. Here are a few ideas inspired by some of the trailblazers leading us towards a more inclusive world for all.

Buy this beautiful new illustrated book featuring the true life stories of 100 heroic women and gift it to a child to inspire them when they are thinking about their future.

Donate funds or volunteer your time with a charity who are trying to break down the barriers of gender equality and diversity. The Girl Effect,  Womenkind and Womens Aid are all doing amazing things.

Ask questions and shake things up. Are women equally represented in your work place? Does your workplace have a visible policy on equality and diversity? If not, why not? Talk to your HR department about setting up a forum to make sure these issues are discussed and addressed. Can you start a mentoring scheme to help those just starting out in their careers. 

  Find some positive role models in your field. The Dots interviewed 15 pioneering female leaders in creative industries who in turn each talked about 10 women who they believe will redefine their industries in the future. Who are the leaders and the ones to watch in your field? Find them, learn from them, write to them, are you one of them?

VOTE. Who is your local MP? Is closing the gender gap important to them? It might influence how you vote in your next local election.

Watch The Maya Anngelou film.

Sign up to get daily female focused content sent directly to your inbox from the talented team of writers at The Pool.

For more ways to get informed and get involved go to the campaign website www.internationalwomensday.com/

[sliceeventsposts]

Ten ways to drive social interaction at brand experiences

Our latest blog is up on Event Magazine... 

Slice's managing director Alec Braun offers his top ten tips to help brand experiences live beyond four walls without breaking the budget.

http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/blog-ten-ways-drive-social-interaction-brand-experiences/event-technology/article/1403961

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Now, more than ever, we need to communicate with our staff, customers and stakeholders in transparent ways to make sure key messages are remembered and acted upon. Here are Slice’s top 10 tips for creating truly engaging business events without breaking the budget. 1. Location, Location, Location

Hotel conference and ballrooms are dull. Provoke your audiences to think differently by holding your business session in a traditional cinema or showcase your new products in an art gallery. These type of venues are often competitive on price and have dedicated teams to service corporate clients.

2. Great Expectations

Events start long before the doors open. Engage your audiences early with functional save the dates that add events straight to their online calendars. Follow these up with physical invitations that drive curiosity and create real buzz around the office.

3. Edge of Your Seat

No one likes watching the back of someone’s head. Change perceptions simply by shifting the furniture. Trial plenary and breakout sessions in classroom, cabaret and even boxing-ring formats for more open discussions.

4. Check your Tech

Don’t use technology just for the sake of it. Somebody’s son may have got a VR headset for Christmas but that doesn’t mean it’s right for a business session. Work out what you want to communicate first and then think about how to do it. We used moving wallpaper for a Santander summit to complement content on the main screen and inspire conversations during coffee breaks.

5. Light Touches

Technology isn’t everything. Add specific calls to action on the smallest of touch-points for maximum effect. Questions at the bottom of coffee cups, subtle messaging through the use of different colours in rooms and intriguing prints in unexpected places will encourage your audience to share their moments.

6. SuperPower PowerPoint

We’re not going to say don’t use PowerPoint but ensure it has real impact with these simple rules; don’t go smaller than font size 14, keep each slide to three key points, use pictures rather than copy and remember Slice knows exceptional PowerPoint designers who can inject extra life into your presentation through design and animation with minimal investment.

7. Think on your feet

There are four types of learning. Your seated audience will have exhausted the first three: sight, sound and reading & writing. Get them up and exploring content in a walk-through experience to engage the fourth and equally important style.

8. Say No to Networking

Even the word ‘networking’ sounds tedious. Take inspiration from the recent explosion in dating culture to foster relationships between audiences who don’t yet know each other. From speed dating to safari suppers, motivating and stimulating conversation is much more effective than mandating it.

9. Talk to the Unattending

Printing a large hashtag on a wall doesn’t count as social. Reach a far wider audience than those lucky enough to attend by giving them the tools to share the content themselves. From a simple business message shared in bite size chunks to branded content instantly available in hyper-shareable formats such as infographics or animated GIFS will ensure the cascading of key information.

10. Measure for Measure

Pre and post event surveys can interrupt a well crafted event experience. Install voting bins for audiences to drop their empty coffee cups into and gather opinion, or harness iBeacons to track, in real-time, where audiences are and what they want to know.

Let’s put an end to dry business events. Corporate events have the potential to inspire audiences to remember, share and importantly act upon the messages they’ve experienced in truly brave and creative ways. Remember delegates are consumers too when they take their ties off...

[sliceeventsposts]

Check Your Tech

Dan Keene, client services director at Slice, discusses how we can harness inspiration from the latest technology trends.

Our latest blog is now up on Event Magazine. 

http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/blog-check-tech/event-technology/article/1393955

[sliceeventsposts]

From 360-degree video tech to the world’s first digitally transformable sofa - here’s what inspired us last week

On a Friday afternoon we all like to regroup with a beer (or two) and in a similar ‘show and tell’ style you had at school, discuss ‘What’s Hot’ from that week. It could be anything from a cool piece of tech, a standout experiential activation or an alternative venue.

While we have freedom to bring anything to the table, event focused or not, the aim of the meeting is to prompt a discussion around how we could make ‘What’s Hot’ beneficial or relevant for our clients. Obviously not everything is, but when you take the time to drill down why something is ‘hot’ it can help us understand how it could be used to solve real-life business issues.

Facebook first rolled out 360-degree videos on our news feed last September. This was exciting news, making immersive video content more accessible for the masses. Earlier this year The Drum reported that over 1 million 360 videos are consumed every day.

Here at Slice we’re big fans of Game of Thrones, so when we saw the 360 video of the opening sequence last week it made us sit up and take notice. And we weren’t the only ones - Zuckerberg said in a post on Friday that it was Facebook’s most-viewed 360 video, with over 5.3 million views in 24-hours.

So that’s what kicked off our ‘What’s Hot’ chat last week – 360-degree video technology.

Facebook Surround360

Facebook announced its plans to release designs for a high-end video capture system on GitHub, a site for open source projects. Shaped a bit like a UFO, the 17-lens 3D VR camera will be available in the summer for manufacturers and hobbyists to use its designs to build cameras of their own. With Facebook’s reach this will undoubtedly add to the growth of 360-degree video content creation.

Expedia’s Dream Adventures

Expedia teamed up with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis Tennessee to take the children on their dream adventure. Many of the children are not able to leave the hospital for months or years at a time, unable to travel or see the world, so Expedia brought it to them.

Using 360-camera technology and an experiential studio built inside the hospital, the children were ‘transported’ to places including Cordoba and Talampaya Park in Argentina, Monkey Jungle in Florida and the Great Maya Reef in Mexico. Expedia employees brought the adventure to them in real time so the children could interact with their guides, ask questions and explore as if they were there in person.

All the children’s reactions were captured in an incredibly inspiring video. If you watch one thing today make it this:

A great example of how you can use experiential & technology such as 360 video capture to bring a smile to those who need it most.

Here’s what else caught our eye last week:

World Drone Prix

A million dollar drone race took place in Dubai for the first time. The first major drone race event had 150 teams from across the world. You’ll see from the video the racecourse looks pretty epic – and to top it off the prize was $250k – sign us up!

Lift Bit

There’s literally an app for everything. Lift Bit is the world’s first digitally transformable sofa – yep that’s right, you can control the design of the sofa from your smartphone or tablet. Quite handy if you need a flexible event environment we thought.

Porsche hologram print ad

Included in Fast Company’s April issue, this ad from Porsche included a prism to assemble and drop on top of your smartphone. When you press play on the video the new Porsche 911 appears as a hologram. We got pretty excited about the idea of using this for event invites…

Check out this video to see the hologram in action:

And finally, some artistic inspiration…

This giant mural that spans 50 buildings in Cairo has an inspiring message "If one wants to see the light of the sun, he must wipe his eyes." When you stand on a nearby hill the quote in Arabic is there to represent perception – asking people to see past the area’s somewhat messy and rundown appearance.

It was quite an impressive project – read all about how the artist created it here: http://uk.businessinsider.com/artist-el-seed-giant-mural-cairo-2016-3

That’s it for this week - stay tuned for our blog updates or follow us @slice_tweets to find out what’s inspiring us, whether it be technology, art, products or experiences, at Slice we believe we can harvest inspiration from anywhere.

Sophie Ryan, Marketing Manager at Slice

[sliceeventsposts]

From cocktail making robots to interactive table tops, here’s what we loved from SXSW last week

Every Friday afternoon we all regroup with a beer (or two) and in a similar ‘show and tell’ style you had at school, discuss ‘What’s Hot’ from that week. It could be anything from a cool piece of tech, a standout experiential activation or an alternative venue.

While we have freedom to bring anything to the table, event focused or not, the aim of the meeting is to prompt a discussion around how we could make ‘What’s Hot’ beneficial or relevant for our clients. Obviously not everything is, but when you take the time to drill down why something is ‘hot’ it can help us understand how it could be used to solve real-life business issues.

Last week we were spoilt for choice when it came to inspiration – SXSW unsurprisingly played a huge part it our Friday afternoon ‘What’s Hot’ run down. From cocktail making robots to a projector that turns tables into an interactive display, here’s what we loved from SXSW last week.

IBM’s Cognitive Studio

So popular people were queuing around the block, this immersive experience was Artificial Intelligence at its best, showcasing solutions and capabilities using IBM Watson services and the IBM Bluemix platform.

Guests were then given ‘smart’ sensor tags to use at the different demo areas to tailor their experiences. Guests could use the tag to link up their Twitter bios that Chef Watson (a robot) then used to craft personalised cocktails.

You could even play rock, paper, scissors with Marvin (another robot), but with his use of Apache Spark and Bluemix to make predictive moves based on historic data, the bot was hard to beat.

Check out this video if you want to explore inside the studio: 

Gatorade Fuel Lab

Used to show some of the prototypes Gatorade is working on, the pop-up at SXSW demonstrated that the sports drink is, surprisingly, at the forefront of innovation and technology. The gadgets included a smart cap for personalised water bottles that let you know when you need to hydrate and a skin patch that analyses your sweat and replays the data to Gatorade to create a bespoke drink formula made up of a certain amount of calories, electrolytes and sodium.

Sony's Future Lab Interactive Table Top

Another impressive prototype from SXSW was Sony’s projector that turns any flat surface into an interactive display.

You’ll see from this video that the prototype was programmed to read a copy of Alice in Wonderland. When the book opens all the illustrations are animated and can be dragged off the page and then used to interact with nearby objects.

Swag Exchange

This was Hershey’s first ever SXSW activation and, with people blatantly fed up with the useless swag you get given at these types of festivals, it was a popular one.

People could trade in their unwanted swag for something better. They used an algorithm that took into account the most commonly traded items each day and which set a premium for the rarest items. So for example, one guy swapped a rare cardboard drink coaster for a Bose speaker system…not a bad swap at all!

Silence the Regime

Spotted by our friends at WCRS, there’s not much else to add other than bravo… we loved this initiative.  

McDonald’s VR game

This VR experience put the user inside a Happy Meal Box, turned white canvas. With various painting apparatus you could basically make as much mess as you want (but I think that’s about it...)

Out of all the VR experiences at SXSW I can’t imagine this was the most inspiring, but what we did love is that afterwards a GIF is created of you playing and reacting to the game. Some of the reactions of the Slice team playing with INITION’s VR experiences a couple weeks ago were priceless – even more so if we had the chance to turn them into a GIF.

And then finally, it seems like the biggest winner of SXSW was Snapchat. Despite the app not really having a branded presence it gained more impressions on Twitter than any other brand. It was a hot topic on many of the panel discussions and this year was the first time users could see advertisers’ sponsored geofilters. Brands such as Spotify, Samsung and Mashable all jumped on Snapchat’s promoted ads this year.

Stay tuned for our blog updates or follow us @slice_tweets to find out what’s inspiring us, whether it be technology, art, products or experiences, at Slice we believe we can harvest inspiration from anywhere.

Sophie Ryan, Marketing Manager at Slice

[sliceeventsposts]

Limitless VR, rescue drones & smart plastic - here’s what inspired us last week

Every Friday afternoon we all regroup with a beer (or two) and in a similar ‘show and tell’ style you had at school, discuss ‘What’s Hot’ from that week. It could be anything from a cool piece of tech, a standout experiential activation or an alternative venue.

While we have freedom to bring anything to the table, event focused or not, the aim of the meeting is to prompt a discussion around how we could make ‘What’s Hot’ beneficial or relevant for our clients. Obviously not everything is, but when you take the time to drill down why something is ‘hot’ it can help us understand how it could be used to solve real-life business issues.

Last Thursday INITION were kind enough to show us round their demo room in East London. Like kids in a toyshop, we tried all the different Virtual Reality experiences, ranging from a Hendrick’s Gin multi-sensory drinking voyage to a 360 degree look into London Philharmonic Orchestra playing at Royal Festival Hall, battling robots and sitting front seat in the latest Range Rover.

So it’s no surprise that we kicked off last week’s discussion with the ultimate Virtual Reality experience, The Void.

Pushing the boundaries of VR, The Void offers a completely immersive experience without limits. Their technology allows the user to see, move and feel the dimensions of the digital experience in a completely realistic way. As they put it on their website, ‘The Void will let you live an adventure’.

We hope their experience centres come to London soon.

Watch this video and you will too. 

But the chat wasn’t all VR. Here’s what else caught our eye last week:

Rescue Drones

Every year in Switzerland emergency centres respond to around 1,000 call outs for lost and injured hikers. It can often take hours and significant manpower to locate lost mountaineers. New software for quadcopter drones is making the hunt quicker and easier. It’s hoped that these drones can join the human search meaning a greater area is covered in a shorter space of time. They can also be used to check hazardous trails, minimising the risk to rescuers, with the potential to help find human survivors in disaster zones around the world.

Super Polymer – ‘Shape Memory plastic’

A new type of ‘super polymer’ (plastic) can lift 1,000 times its own weight and be programmed to hold a temporary shape. The material has the potential to transform the healthcare and clothing industries with applications such as artificial skin, body-heat assisted medical dispensers, and self-fitting apparel. 

Can’t get your head around it? Read more about the smart plastic here. 

AMYGDALA

An installation by fuse*, a studio that operates in the field of digital arts and design, listens and interprets thoughts shared via social media. In real-time AMYGDALA analyses thousands of tweets, interpreting the emotional state and sentiment of a given audience, turning the collective emotion into a visual representation.

Watch AMYGDALA in action here. 

Pharmacy 2

Last week Damien Hirst announced the launch of his art-themed restaurant, Pharmacy 2. A collaboration with Mark Hix, the restaurant is a creative exploration of medical culture which sits alongside his Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall.

The restaurant opens this week and has gone top of the Slice ‘To Do list.

‘World's first' bendy smartphone

Canadian researchers have developed what they claim is the world's first flexible smartphone. Not only will it be a lot more resistant, but there will be some cool ways of navigating certain apps. For example, when reading a book you will be able to bend the phone to change the pages. A vibrating unit embedded in the phone also provides haptic feedback so you can feel the 'pages' flipping past.

What to know more? Have a watch of this video. 

As you can see it’s a real mix of things that have caught our eye over the past week. Stay tuned for our run down of what’s inspiring us, whether it be technology, art, products or experiences, at Slice we believe we can harvest inspiration from anywhere.

Sophie Ryan, Marketing Manager at Slice

[sliceeventsposts]

An experience to talk about.

We’re not just about sharing views on the changing live event industry, sometimes we want to practice what we preach and give the Slice team a chance to share their own experiences. So this month we hand over to Alice Westwood, our designer responsible for all of our 3D and environmental design, to tell us about her recent Motoscape Rally trip.

7 months ago three friends and I decided we wanted to go travelling. Having met at university and now all living within 10 miles of each other in East London we christened the group the ‘East Four’ and set about working out which international adventure to embark upon. The Motoscape Rally immediately stood out as a driving experience from London to Venice in just 5 days so we signed up with the aim of raising money for Cancer UK as well as experiencing the trip along with 48 other teams…

Day 1: London to St Omer - 213KM

It all started with a 03:00 alarm.

My suitcase was packed with the usual essentials; extension cable, fluorescent jacket, mechanics jumpsuit and first aid kit. I grabbed my passport and left down Stratford high street to meet the rest of the team and the car. Herbie (yes we named him) was duly decorated with the tackiest birthday banners we could find and we set off for Dover and on our way to the drive of a lifetime.

Our enthusiasm meant we arrived at the ferry port so early that we weaved into Calais before 09:00 nearly 2 hours ahead of schedule. From there we slowed things down a little and headed off, somewhat precariously on the wrong side of the road, to St Omer in the north of France to meet the rest of the registered teams.

Herbie enjoying the view on the Timmelsjoch Pass

2: St Omer to Koblenz - 468KM

Once at St Omer, daily starts went back to the slightly more favourable 07:00.

We quickly left France behind us and headed to Ypres in Belgium and from there across the German border to the Nurburgring. We were slightly too late to the former formula 1 racetrack, famous for the crash of Niki Lauder in 1976, to test our cornering skills as a detour trying to find the Ardennes Forest meant we lost some time. But, this proved a blessing in disguise as at least one other team cooked their brakes on their first lap of the track.

From there we headed to Koblenz along 5 hours of Autobahn as several Europeans sped passed us taking full advantage of the distinct lack of any speed limit. We, however, were perfectly happy tooting along at half the speed in our beloved Herbie.

We arrived at our hotel at 21:00 and were greeted by Helgar, the Hotel Manager, who swiftly booked us straight out in a taxi bound for a wine festival in the neighbouring town of Winningen. Much wine, followed by a firework show like no other, meant we all left in complete awe, promising to return every year at the same time. Every explosion and bang echoed through the idyllic valley with each colourful burst reflected in the winding river Moselle. Compulsory chocolate crepes and a taxi back to the hotel at the end of the nightsaw more than one of the ‘East Four’ promising to become a German Frauline such was our collective love for this corner of Europe.

In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres

Day 3: Koblenz to Garmisch-Partenkirchen - 539KM

The odd miss communication and slight tension between the four of us had to be approached much like the country roads of deepest Germany.

By day 3, the early starts, 10+ hours a day of driving and relentless ‘companionship’ were starting to take their toll. We drove through the Black forest and up the mountains to Hohenschwangau castle, rumoured to be the inspiration for Disney when designing the famous Castle in the logo, with me at the wheel.

As the approach got slowly steeper, with the roads ever decreasing in size, I was forced to dodge what appeared to be hundreds of tourists on our way to the top. Finally there, we attempted to park directly outside the front gate as though we were some returning carriage of cartoon princesses. This dream was quickly shattered and we were instructed to leave, forced to hide Herbie behind a local information centre But, even there, our plan was further foiled as an angry security guard found us and promptly forced the four of us back down the mountain, bumper to bumper with his vehicle the entire way, finally pushing us into a car park at the bottom. We were then made to walk all the way back up to the castle on foot.

However, after watching the sunset over the castle grounds with golden light rippling over the beautiful surroundings we forgave the villainous security guard and slowly made our way to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Sunset at Hohenschwangau Lake

Day 4: Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Trento – 230KM

The day we had all been dreading.

While this was the shortest day of the whole trip (a mere 3 hour drive from Germany through the Austrian mountain passes into Italy) the roads were steep and winding. Now, I have a fear of both steep and winding roads demonstrated by a recent panic attack on a similar carriageway in Devon. This particular mountain pass offered 12 hairpin bends, on a 10% incline and all with no barriers. So, needless to say I did not drive the Timmelsjoch pass and handed the wheel to one of the others.

Two of the four shared the massive 2500 metre climb up to the top of the mountain where we were rewarded with some of the most breath-taking views we’d ever seen. We proceeded to buy up every single postcard form the local kiosk in an attempt to capture the moment.

On our way back down to Trento a landslide meant the Italian half of the mountain was closed. We had to drive the long way round and added a painful 3-hour detour to our final destination.

Timmelsjoch pass museum at the peak of the north Tyrolean Mountains, Austria

Day 5: Trento to Venice - 215KM

Exhaustion had started to set in.

We were all tired and getting weary from the trip and Trento felt like a natural stopping point. From there were drove round a very grey and overcast Lake Garda, stopping for a good hour or so to stretch our legs along the lakeside, before moving on to the last stop of Venice.

Remembering back to the speed of the Autobanhs in Germany, the Italians also proved that they like to drive at speed with certain vehicles passing us at almost 120 MPH on our way into the city.

We did, however, manage to arrive safely to our final hotel and, having checked in, got ready and made our way to a local restaurant where the final dinner took place. We saw each of the teams we had met with several days before and listened to speeches from the event organisers before celebrating the incredible time we had all spent together.

Lake Garda, Venice

In conclusion, each of the ‘East Four’ saw scenery and experienced places and moments we may never see or do again. To do all of this this alongside friends (not just ones I started with but the new ones made along the way) was the very best thing about the whole trip. From early starts to stroppy guards and everything in-between, the Motoscape journey is one that will stay with me forever and, if you are considering embarking on a similar adventure I would urge you to do it by car and do it with friends.

You really will come back renewed, refreshed and ready to talk about your experience.

www.Theeastfour.co.uk

https://www.justgiving.com/eastfour

[sliceeventsposts]

Our latest blog from Alec Braun is now up on Event Magazine.

[sliceeventsposts]

The Alternative Election Campaign – A Vote of Thanks

Do you live in a cave?

Great, then you know there was a general election recently. 

From Ed Miliband getting snapped coming out of Russell Brand’s house, to Nicola Sturgeon being compared to a Krankie, things have been hotting up around this particular election for some time.

There is a big problem though - in the last General Election less than half of 18 – 24 year olds voted, just 44% to be exact. We’re convinced this audience do care about the outcome and how it will impact their future they are just not engaged in the physical act of voting.

When communicated to in convincing ways, this audience are as considered and as conscious as anyone. Take the ice-bucket challenge - at the time the whole world was taking part in an experience that formed the basis for a massive social conversation and a rallying cry to support a cause.

Similarly the #Milifandom movement on Twitter was started by a group of young enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Miliband and has quickly grown into a national display of creativity with photo-shopped images of Ed on David Beckham’s body now appearing everywhere. This expression of opinion is still going strong and, rightly so, has reminded politicians they can’t ignore this younger audience.

BBC3’s Rick Edwards, who has been trying to encourage more young people into politics with his book ‘None of the Above’, claims that the people he’s been speaking to don’t even know the difference between the political parties, what they are offering or how policies will actually make a difference to them.

So how can this be addressed? If campaigns are ultimately dull, outdated and there’s no room for creativity, how are parties going to appeal to this important audience who will share their view if engaged in the right way. 

Our view is that when campaigning for a General Election what’s stopping political parties thinking like experience brands?

Voters are consumers when they step away from the ballot box and, after all, the act of voting is itself experiential - you have to physically get up and do it. 

So rather than inundating younger audiences with heavy manifestos and indistinguishable policy promises what if the parties focused on rewarding the very act of voting?

A pay-by-action campaign that saw political parties actively encouraging people to vote in exchange for free tickets to gigs, performances and shows really would get noticed. Taking the moment of having your voice heard and ‘trading it’ for a chance to hear other voices.  Welcome to the world’s first ‘Vote of Thanks’ campaign where by simply casting opinion you receive unique rewards. 

Examples like the Ice Bucket Challenge and #Milifandom illustrate that young people are willing to act they just need the right provocation. By providing them with something to brag about on their social channels and by doing something in the real world that gets rewarded this audience will be far more open to listening to the wider political conversation. 

So, that’s our belief, with so much focus on TV debates and party political broadcasts it’s time to rally an audience around live experiences and inspire them to share their reactions online.

After all, it’s not just about securing votes and seats – it’s about exciting younger audiences to want to get involved. Do that first and they’re far more likely to listen to everything else you have to say…

 Alec Braun, Slice

[sliceeventsposts]

Thinking tielessly – Protecting both B2B and B2C

There has been a lot of talk in the industry about using the same approach for both B2B and B2C audiences. After all, a great experience is compelling whether you’re wearing a suit or not, right?

We don't agree.

While we appreciate that business audiences are consumers when they go home and take their ties off, there are learnings that should be taken from successful brand experiences for both approaches. From our background in delivering both engaging business sessions and interruptive consumer campaigns we’ve compiled our top three take-outs…

 1.     Content vs Context

B2B audiences are typically more open to the consumption of relevant messaging while B2C audiences aren’t. Content really is king for the B2B experience but has to be delivered in a memorable and compelling way. However, for B2C experiences the focus should be on context and the creation of a series of high impact moments that reveal something about the brand or product that they didn’t already know.

 2.     Rational vs Emotional

While experiences for both audiences should be brave and thought-provoking, the intended output for B2B audiences requires a logical process and very specific set of actions. B2C audiences, on the other hand, are far more likely to be driven by desire and perception among their peers, and therefore require a far more affecting hook to focus their attention.

 3.     Time vs Speed

B2B experiences must include adequate opportunity for the audience to digest messaging, discuss reactions, share ideas and network with colleagues. Ask any c-suite leader why they attend internal sessions and the response is often ‘so that I can talk to my colleagues face-to-face.’ B2C experiences, on the contrary, need short, sharp bursts of hyper-engaging content delivered quickly as they are essentially interrupting the consumer’s journey.  

Take, for example, Pepsi Max’s recent ‘Cherry Rooms’ pop up. As part of the Pepsi Max Cherry campaign, experience promised to take visitors on a ‘gastronomic adventure’ that challenged and unlocked their sense of taste. The nature of the experience resonated with consumers as it completely involved them in the brand. Different zones including the ‘Pepsi Max Cherry Rain Room’ or the ‘Edible beauty’ workshops were great examples of how a brand needs to engage consumers through high impact moments that drive excitement and provoke sharing.

As we’ve suggested, B2B audiences need content to be far more targeted and relevant to their business needs. We recently had the task of bringing to life a number of different on-stage presentations at the Santander SME Summit. To compliment the traditional screen content we took inspiration from the subjects being discussed and created a gently moving, dynamic projection sequence that flowed across one side of the conference space. Not intended to detract from the focus on stage, we continued to project the moving landscapes during the scheduled breaks ensuring the key messages stayed front of mind.

In conclusion, both audiences need great creative experiences delivered flawlessly, don’t just lump the approaches together just because it’s fashionable.

In fact, we’re going one step further, as the marketing landscape becomes more ‘mashed-up’ we’re urging brands not to apply the same thought processes to their audiences.

Focus on the what, when and how to deliver your message and both the B2B and B2C audiences will be more likely to talk about you, whether they’re wearing their ties or not.

Alec Braun, Slice 

[sliceeventsposts]

The Unattending – the forgotten audience of live events

As we approach three years since Tom and I took over Slice, we've seen a huge change in the live event world. While flawless delivery is still every client’s key requirement, the scope of what our channel can achieve has exploded.

 We, along with almost every other live event agency, have previously talked about the required chronology of a brand experience. The need for a dialogue with the audience in a pre-event campaign, an incredible experience at an event and then the facilitation of a continued conversation afterwards. Three very clear chapters: pre, during and post that have formed the basis of every single customer journey slide, in every pitch document, ever.

 But, what if this chronology was entirely the wrong starting point? What if great experiences weren't just about those who are attending and when/how we engage them but about those who can’t make it? Here at Slice we call these people the unattending and believe they’re fast becoming the most important audience for successful brand experiences.

 So how do we reach the unattending if we never actually get to meet them?

 Take last night’s Brit Awards for example. YouTube live streamed the event outside of the UK, Twitter users voted for the British Artist Video award online and ITV created a brand new Facebook app where viewers posted messages of support and had their views featured on-air.

 This very clearly demonstrates that simply facilitating sharing is no longer enough – we need to actively provoke it. The ‘experience’ outside of the walls of the O2 is now as important as what goes inside it and it is this shift that means social is no longer an extension of a successful brand experience, it is integral to its very design.

 Slice believes that reaching this unattending audience must now be a key priority for any live experience. We’re asking clients not to start their thinking by focusing on who’s coming and how to excite them but to consider who isn’t going to be there and how we can immerse them in something equally as engaging. If we can twist the very basis on which the live event industry is based we believe we can deliver incredibly powerful experiences that audiences will not have seen before.

 That’s exciting and why we create experiences people talk about.

 Here’s to the unattending!

 Alec Braun, Slice