The Showground Launch Event was held on March 26th 2018 at Doltone House Hyde Park and was attended by 100 invite-only guests.
The Showground launch event was planned and executed by the Hugo Halliday team in less than one month, as part of an urgent client project which also included branding and website development.
The Showground needed to hold a high-end launch event to facilitate garnering support for, and an understanding of, their planning proposal. Attendees included The Hon. Anthony Roberts MP (NSW Minister for Planning); architects, planners and consultants involved in the planning; community members from the Castle Hill area; local Castle Hill business owners; key essential service worker association representatives (polices, nurses, teachers etc.); key current and potential investors; community housing representatives; strategic business partners; and the media.
The Showground launch event was focused around two pivotal announcements:
- ONE: That the total value of the proposed development is currently worth over $3 Billion, an exceptional amount to be bolstered into the local economy.
- TWO: That 20% of all dwellings in The Showground will be dedicated to affordable housing for first home buyers and key essential service workers, and transitional housing for NDIS recipients and victims of domestic violence. This is the single largest dedication ever made by a private developer in NSW.
In order to make the event impactful, the Hugo Halliday team needed to:
- Find a centrally-located venue suitable to the high-end nature of the development and launch (and also one that was available at such short notice)
- Assist with sourcing the contact details for identified guests of importance
- Design and send out an invitation which didn’t reveal the branding or give too much information away, but was enticing enough to get people to attend
- Design, copy write, organise the printing of, and fold+pack a presentation folder kit for each attendee with information about the proposal (presentation folder, Dl trifold brochure, business card, media kit)
- Design and print collateral to showcase around the room the architect 3D renders, brand and key development features
- Storyboard, copy write, direct and project manage the development of an overview video to be played at the event to give attendees a quick understanding about the proposal
- Source and brief event contractors (videography, venue and photography)
- Put together a media alert and a kit to send to the media to persuade them to cover the development launch (upload and manage the media centre on The Showground website)
- Liaise with the media as the media point of contact and follow up on story coverage
- Undertake on-the-day management of the event, including bump in and out, contractor briefings, registration and PowerPoint management
- Manage social media channels (during and post event)
- Write speech notes for the speakers and put together a PowerPoint presentation
- Undertake general event planning duties such as a risk analysis, evacuation plan, run sheet development etc.
- Interview attendees post-formalities for a same-day-edit recap video
All of this was done in-conjunction with developing a website and brand for The Showground…in just one month.
Media obtained about the launch included:
- Channel Nine 6pm News
- Channel Seven 6pm News
- The Urban Developer
- The Financial Review
- The Hills Shire Times and the Daily Telegraph
- Rouse Hill Times
Measures of success
The Showground launch event met all its measures of success in that:
- Key people were in attendance at the event, and numbers were met
- The launch garnered prime time news coverage and opened up doors for further coverage
- Interest has grown in the development from all stakeholder groups
- The client has been able to get their message about there about what exactly their proposal entails
