GAA GPA All Stars Awards

With 367,370 television viewers (29.94% of the national viewing public for that time slot), the production of the awards ceremony met the expectations of both the clients and RTE as it was well received by the guests in the Auditorium and the TV audience at home.

Delegates: 1,300
Client: Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA)
Event: GAA GPA All Stars Awards
Type: Banquet
Date: October 2011
Days: 1

Brief

The GAA and the GPA were coming together for the first time to host a joint awards ceremony for 1,300 guests, which would reflect a strengthening of the relationship between both bodies. The black-tie events had previously been held in a single function room in a local hotel with the televised award ceremony first followed by a gala dinner. With this new joint event, the clients had an opportunity to rethink the format and find a better way to present the show to their guests and to a live TV audience with a short 8-week deadline.

Solution

The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) was chosen as the venue for this new event as it offered a variety of spaces, including a suitable entrance for a VIP red-carpet arrivals press call. In addition, The CCD’s technical team was also contracted to produce the show and work directly with the event broadcast partner, RTE, Ireland’s national TV station, to air the show live. The 2,000-seat Auditorium was selected to host the main awards ceremony and the Forum space was booked for the gala dinner for 1,300 guests following the awards show. The CCD’s technical team developed the concept and commissioned its design partner, Nine Yards, to build the set, which included video walls, a stage for live performances and a tunnel design based on the tunnel in Dublin’s Croke Park Stadium, the home of Gaelic games.

The event build took four days and the team, delivering the live show on the night, included 45 broadcast crew from RTE and 15 technicians from CCD Technical. In addition, CCD Hosts were instrumental on the night in moving the 1,300 guests from the Auditorium on levels 3, 4 and 5 down to the Forum on the ground level for the banquet and entertainment.

Results

The event went off without a hitch and the clients were delighted with the outcome. With 367,370 television viewers or 29.94% of the national viewing public for that time slot, the production of the awards ceremony met the expectations of both the clients and RTE as it was well received by both the guests in the Auditorium and the TV audience at home.

“The CCD team created a fantastic set design and production, which looked even better on TV than in real life. It was a pleasure working with such a professional and creative team.” Siobhan Earley, Gaelic Players Association