Birmingham City Council – Chamberlain Awards
Awards Ceremony Production in One of Birmingham’s Most Iconic Venues
The Chamberlain Awards were created by Birmingham City Council to recognise employees who had made an exceptional contribution to the organisation and the people of Birmingham.
For Comtec, this became a long-standing client relationship, providing the creative and technical production required to transform the prestigious surroundings of Birmingham Town Hall into a professional awards environment.
The challenge was unusual.
Rather than imposing a conventional conference set onto a historic room, the production had to work with the architecture of the venue while still delivering the impact expected from a major awards ceremony.
The Challenge
Historic venues can create some of the most impressive settings for live events but they also present significant production challenges.
For the Chamberlain Awards, the stage, set, lighting, sound and projection systems all needed to complement the ornate design of Birmingham Town Hall’s main ballroom.
Projection distances were substantial, conventional rigging positions were limited and the technical infrastructure had to be introduced without allowing the production equipment to overwhelm the character of the room.
At the same time, the event needed to feel like a genuine celebration for Birmingham City Council employees, senior officers, members and sponsors.
The Comtec Solution
Rather than treating the venue as a restriction, Comtec designed the production around the room.
A bespoke ground-support system was developed to integrate with the venue’s architectural features and marble pillars.
High-powered laser projection enabled large-format HD imagery to be produced from distances of more than 30 metres, while intelligent show lighting and professional audio were incorporated into the overall production environment.
Power for the production was brought into the venue externally and distributed throughout the ballroom to support the technical systems.
Comtec’s production responsibilities included:
- Awards ceremony production
- Set and stage design
- Large-format HD projection
- Intelligent show lighting
- Professional audio
- Technical infrastructure and power distribution
- Production engineering
Live show support
The objective wasn’t simply to fill the room with equipment.
It was to create an awards production that belonged in the venue.
Project Overview
Client: Birmingham City Council
Event: Chamberlain Awards
Venue: Birmingham Town Hall
Event Type: Staff Recognition / Awards Ceremony
Comtec Role: Creative & Technical Event Production
Production: Set, staging, HD projection, intelligent lighting, professional audio, technical infrastructure and live production
Relationship: Multi-year production partnership
Improving the Event Year After Year
A long-term client relationship creates another opportunity.
Instead of starting again every year, the production team can learn from the previous event and continue developing the experience.
Comtec worked with Birmingham City Council over a number of years, continually looking for ways to improve the production while maintaining the value-for-money requirements expected by a local authority.
That combination of creative thinking, technical delivery and commercial awareness became an important part of the relationship.
The Result
The Chamberlain Awards became another example of Comtec’s ability to deliver technically demanding awards productions while allowing the client to concentrate on the event itself.
But rather than us making that claim, the client’s own words probably say it better.
What the Client Said
“Birmingham City Council have used Comtec Live for the past 5 years, and every single year, the service and professionalism that Neil, Michele and the team bring is simply exceptional.”
Blaine Steede also highlighted Comtec’s forward thinking, innovative ideas, competitiveness and ability to take away the headache of the media and digital production, before recommending Comtec for awards and media events.
Blaine Steede
Senior Job Evaluation & Research Officer
Birmingham City Council
Planning an Awards Ceremony?
Awards events need more than a stage and a screen.
The production needs to create anticipation, recognise the people being celebrated and give the entire evening a sense of occasion — while working within the practical realities of the venue and budget.
From creative design and staging through to sound, lighting, video, graphics and live show production, Comtec brings the different elements together under one experienced production team.