McLaren in Valencia

McLaren
To the maximum in the world wide presentation in Valencia

Fernando Alonso, world’s racing idol; 1,000 guests such as business persons, politicians, celebrities from the racing world, football players; 20,000 fans; an estimated cost of 1,200,000 euros by the Valencian’s City Council, more than 330 agents among whom were local, district and national police,… An event with a large presence and impact in the city of Valencia. An event which many can call the Event of the Year: the presentation of the pilots, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, which took place on the 15th of January in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias de Valencia. Pedro Martínez de la Rosa and Gary Paffett, third and fourth pilots respectively, were joined by Alonso and Hamilton completing the line-up.The event included an exhibition in a 3.5 kilometre route on the El Saler highway, show and a private dinner.
Just the logistics were impressive. A tent constructed by De Boer between the Umbracle and the Hemisfèric of the Ciudad de las Ciencias y de las Artes was the main stage of the event. Under the tent was a 2,200 sqm dining area with walls and a glass floor.
There were no seats but six 35sqm giant projection screens (two in the gardens and one in each of the four corners) so as not to lose any detail of the exhibition and the public can easily view the event. 7.5 kilometres of barriers, 4.5 kilometres of fences, 80,000 watts of sound, 56 towers of light, twelve television cameras and more than 12 kilometres of cables were used to ensure a complete coverage of the event.

For the occasion, Cirque du Soleil presented a spectacular show with music, special effects, flames, projections and lighting, which ended with a pyromusic show (50 kilo of fireworks). More than 300 persons were involved in the production. During the show, the MP4-22 car that Alonso and Hamilton will be driving inthe Formula 1 championship were presented.
The VIPs were invited to a private dinner: a menu with crab salad, duck confit and chocolate mousse prepared by Absolut Taste. During the dinner, Spanish wine and German mineral water were served. An error that we noticed in the catering organisation was the delay in serving the dinner: there were tables who were just starting the first dish while others were already having their dessert.
Mercedes and Vodafone were the two main sponsors. Its implication was present throughout the event: on the main stage was a Mercedes car, and Alonso greeted the crowd from a convertible Mercedes.
The lucky draw of the event was conducted by Alonso who called two of the 1,000 last generation mobile phones which were givcen to all the guests personalised with a logo. The prize: a Class A and a Class C Mercedes. Vodafone, the new sponsor and official partner of the and racing team launched three exclusive edition of the Samsung and Sharp mobile phones in support of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.In conclusion, an event that truly made its mark. Pascal Jorritsma, General Director of De Boer, gave us more details on the set up.

What were the main challenges in the setup and how did you manage them?
One of the main challenges was to adapt to the spectacular design of the venue by Santiago Calatrava. Another was to build the tent on the terrace. We adapted the bar on the terrace with the design of the venue, making the structure blends with the building, making it part of the environment.
Another challenge was the construction of the Hospitality Area, which was “floating” on the water. We had to be really careful not to damage the place. And to complement our structure to the venue, we installed glass panels that surrounded the entire dining area to allow views on the Hemisfèric.

How many staff and days were required to setup and tear down all the logistics?
We had two weeks to construct everything and another two weeks t otear down with the help of 70 workers.

Apart from the Delta tent, De Boer also manager various support structures as well as the weclome area, kitchen, stages for the cars and for the Cirque du Soleil show, scaffoldings for the video and television cameras, a huge platform (4,500sqm) above the water, decorations with candles, table linens, lined panels, carpets, furniture, electrical and heating installation in all the areas, luxurious toilets and infrastructures to refine the water. This event was Publisher in issue 9 of the eventos Magazine, the referente publication for event professionals. In eventoplus, we only Publisher a selection of articles from the eventos Magazine.

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