The Travel Marketing Awards may look effortless once the doors open, but a huge amount of work goes into bringing the event to life.
To show what happens before the first guests arrive, Ashley Colven, Senior Event Manager at Dellar Davies, takes us behind the scenes with an hour-by-hour account of the day, from the first preparations to the final checks.
Preparing for the Travel Marketing Awards
8am
Production team onsite to check the technical set-up and prepare for the day ahead. They’ve already put in three hours the night before to make sure the staging and set are ready for rehearsals later.
10am
The logistics team arrives. First job: meet with the hotel and run through all the final details.
11am
Logistics team meeting to confirm the plan of action. Six hours to bring the event to life!
12pm
Team lunch. A much-needed refuel, plus emergency chocolate to keep energy levels up…
1pm
Checking every table has the right number of seats. It’s underestimated how important this is!
Then, unpacking the awards and setting them up on stage in exactly the right order. No one wants to hand out the wrong trophy.
Runner-up certificates go into frames, with table numbers added to the back so the team can hand them out easily during the evening.
2pm
Gifts and programmes out. Sponsor branding and signage into position. It’s starting to look like an awards ceremony!
3pm
Dress rehearsals with our presenter, Anton Du Beke, begin. A chance to test the sound, run through the timings and hear a few of his jokes before the guests arrive!
4pm
Quick team change. From set-up clothes to show-ready in around 15 minutes. We’ve mastered this over the years.
5pm
Now it’s the speakers’ turn to practise with the autocue. Checking their speeches display correctly, the timings work and the screen is at the right height for everyone.
6pm
Ready for the early arrivals. There are always a few!
6.30pm
Drinks reception begins. Guests catch up while we welcome arrivals, answer questions and point everyone in the right direction.
7pm
Ballroom doors open for the big room reveal – I love this moment! Time to help guests find their seats…
7.30pm
It’s show time! ☆
11.15pm
The awards have just wrapped up, and we made it through without any major hiccups!
1am
The final guests have left and the logistics team can finally call it a night.
The production team, however, still have work to do. They begin the de-rig, packing down the staging, set and technical equipment ready for the final load-out the next morning.
8am — The Next Day
The production team is back onsite to load the kit onto the truck.
Because of local noise restrictions, they aren’t allowed to complete the load-out overnight, which means The Travel Marketing Awards actually span three days — from the first set-up the night before, through the awards themselves, to the final load-out the following morning!
What It Takes to Bring the Awards to Life
It’s easy to think of The Travel Marketing Awards as one evening, but Ashley’s timeline shows just how much happens around it. In reality, the work spans three days — from the first set-up the night before to the final load-out the following morning.
A huge thank you to Ashley and the wider Dellar Davies team for their hard work for the event, and for letting us take a look behind the scenes.