BRIEFING
Blue Parrot will brings its elephants to the EICC on March 18
ANIMAL MAGIC
Everyone loves animals. Te internet is proof of that alone, but it’s not just online cat GIFs that have the ability to captivate an audience. A small company from East Kilbride is trumpeting its success in the events business with their incredibly realistic, life-
sized collection of animals, one of which is soon to be suspended from the ceiling of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. A bright colourful elephant,
like the one pictured above, will transport delegates at the inau- gural EventIt show to the exotic savannahs of southern Africa, or something like that. Blue Parrot is perhaps an apt name for the firm which, believe
it not, started life nine years ago as a linen company but is now bringing good, clean fun to the experiential and events marketing sector; they have even paraded their elephant at Google’s office in Ireland, and designed the speak- ing platform for the BAFTAs. Stephanie McInnaly, a sales
executive for the firm and events management graduate from the University of the West of
Scotland, said: “We started doing the animals about a year-and- a-half ago as part of the Prop Me Up brand, which is Ireland’s largest prop hire company. Tey are all custom-built, and it’s part of a ‘magical madness’ concept. Google in Ireland was an amaz- ing client to work for but we also do private work as well; we’ve even had a bride who wanted a 12ft giraffe at her wedding.”
EVENTS FUNDING ROUND ANNOUNCED
Thirteen successful grant applications have been made as part of a national funding programme to support the development of regional events. EventScotland will invest in a
number of events in the coming months, which will take place in 10 of Scotland’s local authority areas. The funding will be used to grow
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
It all started when they created an enchanted forest of trees for an event to mark the Russian Olympic team’s participation at London 2012. Now, such was the impact of the novel installation at St James’s Palace, Leicester-based firm Eventologists, a mercurial band of events special effects wizards, has created a separate arm of the company, dedicated solely to arboreal artistry. “The trees kind of took over our lives,” says Managing Director Sital
Chandarana. “They are very impactful and immersive; people just love to come up and touch them as they feel so real.” The company will install a total of 24 trees at the EventIt show at the EICC on March 18.
attendances and improve specta- tor experience, supporting the strategic development of events outside Edinburgh and Glasgow. Driving domestic tourism, de-
livering economic impact for local communities and media value for Scotland are key objectives. Anna Day, manager of UNESCO
City of Design Dundee and Dundee Design Festival, one of the 13 events supported, said: “The fund- ing has allowed the first Dundee Design Festival to take place, a
step forward for the city which is the only UNESCO City of Design in the UK. The festival will highlight design excellence in Dundee, Scot- land and internationally.” Neil Mackay, community director
of Oban Live, added: “The support from EventScotland is invaluable not only in assisting the launch of Oban Live but, more specifically, in helping create an infrastructure that will allow more vendors and businesses to trade and benefit from this new event.” Adding to activity programmes,
extending the public relations/mar- keting capabilities of events and improving the food and drink offer are among the enhancements to be made through combined fund- ing of more than £150,000. See Calendar p46 and for a full
list of funded events visit www.
eventscotland.org
6 | EVENTSBASE | MARCH 2016
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