Showforce and Imagination on board with Jaguar Land Rover

When creative agency Imagination was asked to deliver Jaguar Land Rover’s Global Dealer Conference this March, leading crewing company Showforce was only too happy to lend their support. The impressive event was held aboard the exclusive, six star, cruise ship the Crystal Symphony, where the invited guests enjoyed a luxury trip from Miami to the Bahamas.

The four-day conference was designed to deliver the latest company messages to a global network of over 400 guests on each rotation, based on worldwide regions and incorporated offsite driving experiences on dry land in Jaguar Land Rover products, at both Homestead, the Miami race track, and a variety of road drives in the Bahamas.

Showforce’s crew chief was involved from the outset of the project, sitting down with Imagination’s production team and preparing for the conference well in advance. Then when the event commenced five crew, handling all freight loading, using a 350 tonne crane, to lift containers of equipment and the expensive Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles safely on to the ship. Lifts were scheduled continuously, every 15 minutes over a 48-hour build period, making it a highly pressurised environment with plenty of time constraints and no margin for error throughout.

In addition, the crew supported other suppliers to the event, including helping the ships’s crew and the Port of Miami Stevedore company to distribute equipment and assisting with the install of event infrastructure, creation of presentation stages and reveal experiences. Such was the nature of the work that the team was increased to nine for the de-rig and unloading of the equipment and cars.

Hilary Taylor, Imagination’s production manager said: “Showforce’s specialist experience in vehicle movement proved invaluable for this project and having their crew chief involved at the planning stage certainly paid dividends. The crew consistently delivered high standards across all of the demanding rotations and ultimately contributed to a highly successful event.”

Chris Martelly, Showforce’s operations director said: “This was a really exciting job for Showforce to be a part of, having the crew work long hours both at sea and on dry land was an interesting challenge for the team. Loading and unloading the freight was incredibly tense with no contingency or mistakes so ensuring that the right crew were assigned to the project was vital. We were delighted to support Imagination and play our part in the overall success of such a high profile conference.”