Six months into the year and Vbase is already winning awards and hosting large scale events, and it looks like things will stay the same well into 2011.

One of the biggest conferences to star on Vbase’s stage recently was the Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine’s annual scientific meeting. The event attracted more than 1300 to Christchurch in early May and was attended by speakers from the UK. The conference required more than 30 meeting rooms and a multitude of changes throughout each day of the five day event.
There was also a health care industry exhibition component to the event which included standard exhibition booths, as well as medical designed exhibition builds that were shipped from Australia and built on site by Display Works.

Conference Innovators PCO Rachel Cook said the event was an all round success.

“Vbase were able to respond quickly to the numerous demands that were placed on them at short notice and the conference delivery was second to none,” she said.

“Vbase delivered an exceptional experience and we felt as a PCO we were extremely well supported in providing an event of the highest standard.”

Vbase has already been inundated with bookings well into 2012.

Crowned cuisine
The Vbase’s executive chef Andy Gibb was recently part of the New Zealand Culinary Team that competed in an international cuisine challenge. The NZ culinary team was selected from New Zealand’s finest, and were crowned winners in two sections at the Food and Hotel Asia Culinary Challenge held in Singapore in April. The team returned home with a gold medal for the live cook off and a silver medal on the cold table.
For more information about Vbase’s event space go to www.vbase.co.nz.


























WHAT YOU DID: Vbase and Crowne Plaza Christchurch, in conjunction with Air New Zealand, worked together in creating a unique offer in the marketplace to attract additional conference business to Christchurch through 2014 when a conference is booked any time during 2010. The promotion was launched in a highly creative, and meticulously planned promotional campaign which culminated in a “Breakfast in Wonderland” themed event at both the Intercontinental in Wellington and the Crowne Plaza in Auckland during mid-March.

SPECIAL TOUCHES: In November, we emailed invitees to the events in Wellington and Christchurch a “Save the Date” – just a colourful March calendar with a magnifying glass over the enlarged event date itself – nothing else. In January, we posted a hard copy teaser to invitees – a large ‘Queen of Hearts’ card with a message on the back which decreased considerably in text size. A magnifying glass was also provided in the teaser envelope. February saw hard copy invitations sent in the shape of multi-coloured tea cups with the invitation words on the back rhyming, and of course in theme. Just prior to each event date, an electronic reminder was sent to all people who RSVP’d with Rabbit holding a giant pocket watch saying “Don’t be Late”. At the events themselves, theming company Event Impressions created a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party that was unforgettable. Upon entering each venue guests were greeted by the characters of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber (the Christchurch based “Outwits”) and then disappeared down a black hole (corridor) where you found Alice’s blue dress and potion bottle on the floor before looking up and seeing a spectacular tea party display with brightly coloured chair covers, eclectic table settings using flowers, old floral china, chandeliers, candelabras and a huge backdrop of giant mushrooms and plants making you feel like a miniature standing in the room. Post events, Cheshire Cat ‘thank you’ cards with rhyming words of sentiment were also sent out to attendees.

CHALLENGES: We spent days trying to find the right visual for the joint offer promotional pieces and coincidentally ended up using an image of a Christchurch girl who looks a bit like a modern day Alice in Wonderland!



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