Friday March 05, 2004

On 24th February 2004, over 100 organisations teamed up to carry off the most amazing event the hospitality and catering industry has ever seen - BallArena.

The concept was the brainchild of Arena Director, Tammy Mariaux, who found the industry frustratingly fragmented, with no one voice and no minister to represent them. Tammy decided they needed an event to allow them to work together and showcase the industry. Her objectives for BallArena were:

• To produce the biggest team-building event the industry has ever seen to help show that they could all work together
• To increase government support of industry issues
• To make education aware of what the industry has to offer by producing an amazing showcase
• To raise the profile of all the partners involved by showcasing their people, products or services
• To raise funds for the two main industry charities - Hospitality Action and Springboard

Says Tammy Mariaux : "We had a look at what appeared in the calendar and realised that Hotelympia was moving to ExCeL London in 2004 and this offered us just about everything we were looking for - operators and the supply chain altogether in one place and ExCeL London was the ideal venue. What we loved about ExCeL London, was that all our dreams could become a reality. ExCeL London is built so your event can expand as all the halls are interlinked, and by the power of technology walls disappear and your space becomes larger. We wanted to have zones, areas that the guests would only become aware of minutes before they used them and without having to move, as you would at other venues. ExCeL London's space allowed us to do exactly that.

Companies across the industry joined together to create each area, from the kitchen, banqueting, bus boys, alcohol to canapés and entertainers. It involved 600 members of staff over the one night to look after 1,500 guests. For example, the three giants of contract catering - ARAMARK, Compass and Sodexho, all joined together in the kitchen under the direction of Peter Hazzard from Sodexho; banqueting and bus boys were brought together from The Savoy, The Dorchester, Four Seasons, The Grosvenor House, Hilton park Lane, The House of Commons and many more, all under the direction of front of house man, Lionel Benjamin from The Savoy.

The whole event was co-ordinated by Charles Boyd from Chester Boyd. He had to co-ordinate hundreds of staff who had never worked together before with an operational management team who had never met, work with students who had little or no experience and had to achieve this with little or no cost.

BallArena was divided into 4 zones, a water feature, dance floor and stage. The four colours from the BallArena logo were used so that guests knew where to find their tables. Eight-metre high walls of water were at the far end of the room, the colours and projections onto the water features provided an amazing backdrop.

The big zone 'wow' happened at the end of dinner. With the eating zone in complete darkness a spectacular laser show was projected onto the walls of the water. After the show, the walls of water dropped to reveal the breakout zone - fountains, a bridge and beyond the mist, a massive dance floor and a band.

Another of the black walls also dropped to reveal a 20-metre bar, complete with 15 TGI Friday's mixologists. Another flash of light then revealed the entrance to the boulevard and the smooth zone - jazz band, soft seating, cocktail bar, coffee bars and casino tables. This ground-breaking event and two years of hard work came to an end in the early hours with the opening of the kitchens where a team had cooked bacon butties, tea and coffee to go.

Not only was the evening a success but an amazing £92,000 was raised for their two industry charities - Hospitality Action and Springboard UK.

Testimonials

"What a fantastic effort to bring together a team from across the different sectors of the industry and deliver an evening of ExCeL Londonlent food and entertainment. The evening was a credit to all involved and the industry should be proud of what it delivered." Christopher Faulkner - Sage Green

"Ballarena was an exemplary display by the Hospitality and Leisure Industry, pulling a myriad of resources together whilst raising a considerable amount for charity and having so much fun at the same time." Lionel Benjamin - Director of Operation - Hilton London Metropole

"Ballarena is an experience that will stay with me through my career, I was so pleased to be involved." Rebecca Todd - The Savoy

"The students really enjoyed the evening - it has really made the students have a positive approach to the industry and they are keen to do more." - Redbridge College

"What a fantastic event. The students are very much on a high today and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience." - Havering College

"..a fantastically successful exercise in industry collaboration."Andrew Merrett - ARAMARK

"Thank you for asking me to participate in Ballarena, it was an unforgettable night." James Tasker -The Dorchester