Discovery Graduation Ceremony

14 May 2012

  The very first Discovery Graduation Ceremony 2012 was held recently at Vodaworld at Vodadome, Midrand, meticulously put together by renowned events company, Edith Unlimited.  

Edith Venter, a long time client and owner of Edith Unlimited, who is known for her charity and high profile events, asked MJ Event Gear to provide the full technical. The in-house occasion was attended by 260 people and awarded Discovery staff who had completed various forms of training.

  “The event went wonderfully smooth,” said Theo Rood, Production Manager from MJ Event Gear, who as part of his pre-production work also tested the venues’ LED pillars and projectors prior to set-up to avoid any unforeseen hiccups.

The venue, tables and chairs were draped in white and looked stunning as Robe 600 LED fixtures washed them in colour. “Edith Unlimited rely completely on our creativity when it comes to lighting design,” said Theo. “The brief was to change the lighting colours to enhance the video footage projected onto screens.”

  The lighting included 24 x Robe 600 LED Washes, 6 x MMXs positioned next to the centre screen and used to create a textured back-drop, and 12 x Thomas Pixel Pars. MJ’s Head Lighting Designer – Francois van der Merwe, ran the show on a grandma and the venues’ Anolis pillars positioned on the perimeter of the room, also changed tones to compliment the gig.      

The show incorporated 16 x 9 format footage and camera work, projected by a Barco 14k HD Projector onto a 8m x 4.5m centre screen.

In congratulating the MJ team, Edith Venter said, “A big thank you for all the help and input you gave to make the Discovery Graduation a success.  At times it was a little tricky but I do believe that everyone wanted this to work and what was created last night could only be achieved with total team work. It was a pleasure working with all of you and we hope to do so again in the future.”

  These words were reiterated by Claire Du Plessis, Leadership and Learning Specialist at Discovery People. “…. because our standard of excellence is so high,  I would like to thank you for not only meeting those standards, but exceeding them! It was a fantastic event, and I have only had great feedback.”  

The jazz and neo-soul sounds of Ternielle Nelson, newcomer to the South African music scene, added a breathtaking element to round off this really stunning production. Well done to all involved.