TPi_February 2010 - Issue 126

PRELUDE
The year was 2000 and your fave industry mag’s (original) logo graced Oasis’ screens at Wembley Stadium.
DROWNING IN A SEA OF SPLODGE
Since we hosted our very ﬁrst TPi Awards in 2002, my Januarys have always been
the same Groundhog Months of long days and late nights, ﬁlled with self-imposed
duties ranging from ceremony scripting and souvenir brochure writing, to editing
music clips and video footage, and the mind-numbing collation of photography, not
to mention the gathering together of corporate logos.
Somewhere in between I have to factor in a lunch brieﬁng with the host, attend
one or more production meetings, design and order the award trophies, attempt to
be as polite as possible when people call me to request a good table position... oh,
and put TPi’s February issue to bed.
It’s a job that is only suitable for either a truly insane person or a control freak who
embraces all of it with extreme fervour. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.
The great thing about all of this is that it’s one of the few times of the year when
we, as a team, get to really appreciate at least a fraction of what TPi covers every
month — the production of live events.
By the time you read this issue, the TPi Awards
2010 would have been and gone. The vertical “The TPi Awards
lumps of laser-etched glass will be perched on
many a mantlepiece, the hangovers will have
is always a huge
subsided, the hotel maids will have debated
team effort...”
what exactly did go on in Room 101, and I’ll have
breathed a large sigh of relief... until the next time.
Of course, the TPi Awards is always a huge team effort. Ben Chadwick, our
events manager, is to be congratulated for handling the table bookings, keeping our
guests informed, liaising with our valued sponsors, choosing the menu and generally
dealing with the Novotel London West management over all issues connected with
the venue. Joel Perry, Rachel Esson and Ric Ashton also contributed to guest relations
and numerous key aspects of the evening vibe.
James Cobb, our production manager, led a stellar A-Team of crew and suppliers
— all of whom will be warmly acknowledged in the comprehensive TPi Awards
production report and winners’ gallery that will follow in next month’s issue.
This month’s cover feature deals with another truly amazing Cirque du Soleil
production that ofﬁcially opens within a few days of this issue hitting your doormat. In
December, Diana Scrimgeour spent most of a week in Las Vegas with the production
team of Viva Elvis and sampled an early preview. TPi is delighted to be the ﬁrst
industry magazine to feature this exciting show and Diana’s exclusive coverage will
be spread across two editions... in breathtaking detail.
Mark Cunningham
Editor-in-Chief
TPi FEBRUARY 2010 • 03
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