Blessings from above
Triodos Bank’s opening ceremony takes place at Frankfurt’s Jugend-Kultur-Kirche St. Peter with satis&fy providing creative and technical services
Europe’s leading sustainable bank celebrated its German debut on December 2. Triodos Bank, based in the Netherlands, was officially presented to the public in a ceremony held at the Jugend-Kultur-Kirche St. Peter in Frankfurt am Main, a leading financial marketplace. Karben-based satis&fy AG Deutschland (satis&fy) helped these sustainable banking specialist orchestrate an event with more than 300 invited guests. The production company not only provided lighting, audio, and video equipment as well as trusses; it also constructed the stage, designed graphic artworks, and supplied the furnishings and fittings for this extraordinary venue. The event was planned and executed in close cooperation with the Frankfurt-based agency H.O.R.S.T.
A dash of color
The speaker platform was a stage twelve meters wide, three meters deep, and 40 centimeters high. The elliptic stage elements were prefabricated in the company workshops at Karben and assembled on site. The event engineering specialist added a dash of color with a light green, environmentally-friendly carpet made of renewable materials. The company regularly returns these to the producer for reuse. The same carpet was laid out in the hall and adjacent lounge area. A 35-square-meter wall provided a backdrop for the stage. Centered on this wall was a 4.14-by-2.20 meter screen for images in 16:9 format delivered by a Panasonic DLP/DMD video projector. satis&fy used conventional lighting to illuminate the conference platform and speakers, which included Michael Best from ARD Börsenstudio and the consumer researcher Professor Simonetta Carbonaro. The hall, foyer, lounge, and catering area were bathed in color using power-saving LED lamps.
Projections on a glass partition
A Watchout presentation was projected onto a 625 square-meter-glass wall to create a very special visual highlight. The wall separates the church’s interior from the administration and seminar tracts, while allowing light to pass through. Two 10,000 ANSI lumen projectors were placed to the right and left of the conference platform to beam video content onto a surface with a total area of 126 square meters. satis&fy project color scenes sourced from the plant and animal world to set the mood and create subtle effects that conjure an atmosphere well-suited to Triodos’ elegantly restrained presentation. The company also projected the image of an over-sized globe onto a bricked-up window of the church, underscoring the sustainability theme with another striking visual.
Ancillary set designs
Equipment and décor from satis&fy also featured prominently on secondary stages. For example, satis&fy created another eye-catching visual using gauze banners, a portable screen, and ingenious stage lighting to shroud a musician who was waiting to perform in the nave. Guests saw only the musician’s shadow during the event. The Karben-based enterprise was also tasked to produce graphic artworks on various media, including foil cutouts, 3D logos, posters, and banners, as well as furnish event areas with six white armchairs for speakers, various bistro, buffet, and bridge tables, and bar stools.
Think quick, act fast
There were many obstacles for the production company to overcome – some of a logistical nature, others having to do with structural concerns. It all started when Triodos Bank received 150 more confirmations than originally expected. To accommodate the extra visitors, satis&fy pitched a tent outside and equipped it with video gear. The need to project diagonally across the hall posed a structural challenge for the production company. satis&fy project manager Dominik Piorr describes the problem thusly: “There was hardly any room to set equipment on the floor because of the close seating in the church’s interior. What’s more, the church’s floor could only bear a light load. So we had to fly most of the equipment." Distributing the load equally among the available pick-points required considerable calculations and compelled the company to use mostly lightweight components. The work was also complicated by the limited time available for setup, which is why the crew worked mainly at night.
Sustainability – a tie that binds
Triodos Bank, which has operated in the Netherlands since 1980 and has now branched out into Germany, first encountered satis&fy at the KarmaKonsumKonferenz in Frankfurt last summer. satis&fy is one of the event’s sponsors. The people who pioneered sustainability in banking were delighted to meet the people who pioneered sustainability in the events industry. satis&fy made a commitment long ago to put sustainable practices into action in the event industry and use more environmentally-friendly materials.
satis&fy AG Deutschland has earned a top spot among European providers of event technology with its ability deliver a one-stop solution. This end-to-end offering encompasses lighting, audio, video, presentation, and stagecraft technology and services. The production company also constructs exhibition stands, and offers set, graphic, and 3D animation design services, as well as furniture rentals. Its equipment and materials pool is one of Europe’s largest. The event service provider’s holistic approach and full-service offering, all from a sole source, are among its greatest strengths. Headquartered in Karben, the enterprise employs more than 240 people. It maintains further branches in the Westphalian town of Werne and, since 2006, in Berlin. A subsidiary company operates in the Netherlands.
For more information, contact:
Katrin Fougeray
marketing & communications
phone: +49 (0)6039/9120-983
e-mail: KatrinFougeray@satis-fy.com
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