BLITZ VISION HELPS CHRISTMAS COME EARLY

BLITZ Vision recently held a major contract to stage W H Smith’s Christmas audio and visual (AV) merchandise showcase for their store managers.
West Media Events produced the events and appointed Blitz Vision and T P Sound Services to jointly stage the show. The weeklong event featured an interactive tunnel and video system and a traditional carousel complete with music.
Simon Cattell of West Media Events said: “W H Smiths objective was to inspire and encourage all of its mangers to be familiar with and promote its Christmas stock. This meant a lively atmosphere and a sense of energy was imperative. Despite the venue at Swindon being little more than an empty plane hanger Blitz’s AV expertise helped create an exhilarating and fun experience.”
The event was split into five different areas: the main auditorium, dining area, a sound tunnel that led to the reveal holding and the fairground. Blitz needed to have at least three areas running at one time and so created a central point for the AV effects. Mark Walker of Blitz Vision said: “When the W H Smith personnel arrived, groups of 60 were taken down a tunnel of vision and sound to the reveal holding area. Here we staged a crescendo of loud music, smoke, video and uncovered the fairground attraction and the ornate, musical carousel. This created the desired look of both shock and amazement on people’s faces.”
For W H Smith’s management presentation, Blitz supplied two Barco 6300 projectors with a special ratio lens to overcome the size restrictions between screen and the point of projection. An ‘Analog Way Smartcut’ allowed Blitz to synchronously switch between different inputs for the main presentation in the auditorium, which included Beta SP, PowerPoint presentation; VHS, DVD and live camera.
For the information Zone, which informed personnel about the different goods, Blitz provided a square truss holding 12 x 21’ monitors fed in groups of six by two synchronised Pioneer DVD players. T P Sound services helped West Media with all the audio requirements in each area of the venue and even provided the music for the carousel.