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Stageco USA opened a new office
in Nashville this spring, headed up by Jeremy Shand.
This new location addresses the need for a base for sales,
warehousing along with research and development operations, and Stageco
has rented the Nashville location for three years – with the
option to continue longer.
By the end of the current season, Stageco is hoping to have three
employees installed there, including a salesperson and a warehouse
operator.
“Nashville is a music city,” says Stageco’s
Tom Bilsen. “Moving further South from the former base
in Baltimore gives us the opportunity to be close to Miami and South
Eastern USA, where the summer season is much longer.
But we’re still close to the North East - New York, Washington
and Chicago, which host the biggest gigs in the USA.” |
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When you’ve got over half
a million spectators and millions of TV viewers to cater for you need
everything to be spot on.
When it comes to staging and event scaffolding the organiser of the
Belgian cycle rally Ronde van Vlaanderen keep everything on track
by bringing in Stageco for its structural requirements. For the last
15 years the Company has built several structures for the event starting
in Bruges to arrive in Meerbeke.
At the start there’s a stage used to announce the cycle races
while at the finish it builds grandstands for the media and other
organizations, as well as the stage for the presentation ceremony.
As Wim Maas, sales and project manager for Stageco Belgium,
explains “It’s a big project but not like a rock
stage. It’s more of a presentation podium.” Stageco works
with production company, Pinguin Productions to ensure that the structures
meet all the organisers’ needs.
“It’s a three day build, with two days to take down using
two crews of 12 people,” he says. “Although, for the last
five years, there haven’t been too many changes to the staging
plan, you have to stay on your toes as there’s always the possibility
that something may have to change.
Cycling is one of Europe’s most popular spectator sports, and
we’re proud that Stageco are part of the team charged with taking
care of the viewers.” |
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Corporate clients in Stageco’s
home country of Belgium can expect a more comprehensive service as
expertise and stock have been increased following the purchase of
the smaller Belgian staging company, All-stage, last year.
All-stage has built a strong reputation in the Belgian corporate market
for delivering well finished staging solutions. In bringing them into
the Stageco fold, it was felt that their attitude matched Stageco’s
global approach, where they are renowned for attention to detail and
a ‘can do’ attitude.
The former rival was based just 15 minutes away from Stageco’s
base in Tildonk, but with its premises rental due to run out soon
it has been decided to fully merge the two operations in a two-part
process.
Firstly, All-stage staff and stock was moved to Stageco’s main
premises in April.
“We had no reason for keeping two offices within 10
kilometres of each other,” says Tom Bilsen. “We
will operate the two brands along-side each other for the time being,
with clients benefiting from the cost and efficiency savings being
under one roof, when we have completed that process we will rebrand,
so by the end of 2007 we will have created a separate Stageco division
for the Belgian market.
This will be dedicated to serving the only Belgian market, whilst
our other division in the companies head office will continue servicing
the major festivals and tours in Europe and the UK.”
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With its population of 80 million
people, its Western-facing ambitions, with a large and increasingly
self-confident youth market, Turkey seems to be a highly promising
market for the live music sector at the moment.
In recognition of this, the Stageco Group has set up a partnership
in Turkey with its Rock n Coke contacts. The new company, called
Stageco Türkiye Ltd, will serve the entire Balkan region.
Stageco has already exported steelwork as part of the initial injection
of capital to the Istanbul office; the first stage is now available
and the rental stock will grow in the next two years. A sales team
is also being put in place.
“The office will have its own local management and
sales,” says Tom Bilsen. “We believe the potential
for growth in Turkey is relatively larger than it is in Europe as
it has a young population which is embracing new technology such
as mobile phones and the internet.
There are a lot of events taking place in the country and a real
need for infrastructure.”
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Koniginnedag, the birthday of Beatrix,
Queen of the Netherlands, is the day when the head of state traditionally
sets out the policies proposed by her government for the next year.
This being Holland, the speech is accompanied not just by pomp and
circumstance but by a number of concerts in Amsterdam and the Hague.
Stageco Holland was entrusted with the Amsterdam series of concerts
and on 30 April this year, setting up four stages throughout the city.
The largest was the Radio 538 stage that served an audience of 120,000
people over the whole day, while the entire set up was experienced
by about one million Amsterdam folk and city visitors.
"It's the start of our outdoor season so it's always
an exciting event says managing director of Stageco Holland Eddie
Slotboom. “Although we were very busy over the winter
(from October to February) with indoor and TV shows, this is one of
the peaks of our year and a lot of trucks were out at the time."
The main Radio 538 stage consisted of Stageco's Mini Arch system with
a transparent roof while the other areas used Stageco’s indoor
stage systems. |
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At the premiere of the movie
‘Wild Hogs’ in Munich, Stageco Germany accomplished
a small but technically challenging feat, where timing was all important.
The opening was staged at Munich’s central Mathäser Cinema
and a temporary bridge was needed to give access to the event. Given
the project’s busy city centre location, the bridge and stairs
had to be preassembled in a side road using 1,400 truss type and
750 tower type before being hoisted onto corner posts at night.
Stageco’s project leader, Manfred Porschnitzer, worked with
the clients Artjoy Eventmanagement to ensure a smooth build.
The team had 24 hours to construct the bridge and only five hours
to crane it into place as the power supply of the tram system had
to be cut off to allow the structure to be put in place.
After very careful planning the operation everything went off without
a hitch, the bridge was ready for the VIP guests and Munich’s
traffic was able to flow freely the next morning.
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Stageco Germany headed South this
May for a stage-building project with a difference. The Teatro Verde
is one of Italy’s cultural jewels, a unique open air venue,
fringed with poplars and set on the historic Isola San Giorgio Maggiore,
in the middle of the Venice lagoon.
The island’s administrators, The Giorgio Cini Foundation, invited
the German promoter World Entertainment to stage a season of performances
of Johann Strauss’s operetta ‘A Night in Venice’.
The concerts started in mid May and will run five nights a week until
30 September.
Initially the clients had specified purchasing one of Stageco’s
Jamboree stages, but later they adapted the roof structure for artistic
and practical reasons. Instead of buying the stage outright, the client
opted to take it on long-term hire.
According to Stageco’s project manager Werner Herbst
“The fact that the theatre was on an island and in
a sensitive location meant we were unable to use heavy machinery and
had to work carefully, being particularly mindful of the environment.
As a result we had to deploy additional highly qualified crew, so
there were about 20 people working on the construction.”
The structure’s transparent roof, wooden stage floor and art
deco frame is proving the ideal complement for Strauss’s paean
to Venice, as many thousands of satisfied concert-goers this summer
will agree.
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