Following on from the recent announcements regarding the formation of Aztec Live to provide outdoor electrical and AV services and their partnership with Freeman UK, at next week’s Confex Aztec will be announcing another partnership with interactive technology specialist iS Digital.

At the exhibition, Aztec will be showcasing their EventIgnite Digital Signage to broadcast an array of sponsored adverts on screens that have been carefully positioned throughout the hall. These will drive traffic to specific exhibitor stands as well as communicating time sensitive messages to visitors.

In addition, Aztec will be providing the AV for the Keynote theatre and, for the first time ever, Aztec are hosting a stand at Confex this year, as John Robson, M.D. explains, “Confex provides us with the perfect opportunity to talk directly to event organisers and agencies about our existing products and services. It is also the perfect place to demonstrate some exciting new technology and to launch our partnership with iS digital”

Robson expands on the main benefits of the new partnership;

“Working with iS digital will allow us to talk to all of our clients at a much earlier stage surrounding their content needs. The partnership will, in turn, allow iS digital to offer a complete turn-key solution to their clients who often also require hardware and logistical help, which we can supply. It’s a win-win relationship that will draw on each other’s areas of expertise to increase what we each have to offer new and existing clients.”

iS digital’s CEO Hilary Crossley also explains her company’s involvement, “Established in 2007 we are now focusing on expanding our Digital Agency, bringing creative ideas, fantastic software development and latest technology to events, exhibitions & corporate installations. We create memorable digital and interactive experiences for a wide variety of clients such as Shell, Lancôme, Weidmuller Engineering and Barclays. We have a small team of hardware engineers and limited rental stock and our partnership with Aztec’s allows us to extend our reach, expand our rental offer and deliver truly international logistics.”

Crossley continues; “We are very excited about being at Confex with Aztec. We will be talking to a relevant audience at the right time in the right place and will have a lot to offer them. Working alongside Aztec, we can demonstrate some of the practical applications of our technology to an audience already warm to Aztec’s trusted brand. We hope visitors will be impressed by what they see and come away enlightened and inspired by a new world of content possibilities that we can deliver together.”

Visit Aztec and iS digital at stand CC30 18-19th February at Confex 2015, London Olympia or contact hello@aztecuk.com for more information.

Don’t miss EN’s interview with our M.D. John Robson this month. Read full article here, talking about our success with EventIgnite Digital Signage, what 2015 has in store and some valuable AV tips to help event planners

We’re pleased to announce Mark Buckley has been named Aztec’s employee of the year 2014. Mark is our Chief Technician and has been working for Aztec since 2012.

Mark is one of the hardest working members of staff Aztec has. Winning Employee of the year is recognition of this.

Mark works well under pressure and can step up to the plate when it’s needed, always ensuring the job is completed to the highest standard for our clients.

Freeman UK and Aztec Event Services today announced that they have signed an agreement whereby Aztec will become Freeman UK’s preferred AV partner. The agreement means that Aztec will provide Freeman with AV equipment and technical support across that UK and Europe.

Aztec have opened a warehouse in the Midlands. As part of the deal, Aztec has also taken over Freeman UK’s outdoor electrics and AV business, and the associated employees have joined a new division of Aztec called Aztec Live.

Each year Aztec provides AV equipment and technical support to over 300 high profile exhibitions, events and conferences. These include World Travel Market, the Ideal Home Shows, Marketing Week Live and corporate clients such as Arsenal and Cisco. Because of this there is a high degree of synergy with Freeman UK which will be extremely beneficial to both parties.

Aztec’s Managing Director, John Robson, commented, “We are the official AV supplier to a high proportion of UK shows and have established ourselves as providers of quality service and equipment. Our clients recognised this recently in the EN Elite Awards where we won the category of Best AV Hire and Production Company. This partnership with Freeman is a natural progression of our business that will lend our expertise and service ethos to Freeman’s client base”.

Aztec is thrilled to be named the Best AV Hire and Production Company in Exhibition News’ ‘Elite List’ for 2014. This is the first year Exhibition News has run this poll in which over 2,000 industry peers and clients voted to determine the best suppliers across eleven categories.

This win is of special importance because it is based on clients’ opinions and acknowledges the hard work Aztec puts into each and every job it undertakes. This award cements Aztec’s reputation as being the best at what they do.

M.D, John Robson commented:

“Our customer’s opinion is always by far and away the most important thing for Aztec. That is why we are genuinely excited to find out that our clients have voted for us to be the Winner of the Elite Awards AV Hire and Production category.

Aztec has had a busy and successful year with its largest deployment of LED walls and Digital Signage yet. These are exciting products for us and it is thrilling to see them being so well received by our clients too. 2015 already promises to be another fantastic year for us, with further penetration of new products, the development of our Digital Studio and new partnerships , all in the pipeline.

However, our success is only ever as good as the service our expert technicians deliver on the ground, on the day. It is these guys I really want to pay tribute to and thank for all their tireless hard work. So, thank you to everyone who voted Aztec as the best and thank you, team Aztec! Merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in 2015”.

Aztec Event Services has been appointed as official AV supplier to the EIC Connect Oil & Gas 2014 at Manchester Central, 25-26 November 2014. This is the sixth successive year that Aztec will be official AV supplier to the show.

EIC Connect Events organise two oil and gas industry events, which take place alternatively – EIC Connect Energy and EIC Connect Oil and Gas.

“The EIC has worked with Aztec since 2009, from the initial launch of our first major exhibition at Manchester Central. Aztec has the unique ability to recognise the right solutions to offer and understand where their services contribute to the success of the overall event. Aztec’s positive attitude and attention to detail comes as standard and even after 5 years, they consistently demonstrate a keenness to work with us, our presenters and our exhibitors,” said Sarah Lansdell, head of UK national events, EIC.

Aztec has been contracted to supply a full range of AV services to the organiser, exhibitors and to the conference, including its Silent Seminar technology, and this year is predicted to be the largest event to date. In addition the exhibition, with over 65 exhibitors expected to attend, EIC Connect Oil & Gas 2014 also includes a series of Supply Chain Briefings which attracts a global audience keen to hear about opportunities and updates on major international energy projects.

Aztec’s sales director, Leo Speck, commented, “We are very pleased to be working with EIC Connect Events for the sixth year in a row, and it’s immensely gratifying that our hard work and effort are appreciated and rewarded with the opportunity to deliver our services to the show once more.”

IP Expo 2014, held this year at ExCeL London, 8-9 October, saw Aztec Event Services deploying it’s largest EventIgnite digital signage installation to date. Aztec installed and configured 32 digital signage screens throughout the exhibition.

The majority were placed outside the 21 theatres to inform delegates of the daily schedule, and the remainder were employed in the 3 “MyVisit” feature areas. The system displayed time-sensitive theatre agendas outside every theatre, and included several sponsored adverts to help exhibitors generate traffic to their stands.

Alex Joicey, operations and customer services director at Imago Techmedia, the organiser of IP EXPO, was impressed with the EventIgnite digital signage system, commenting “Aztec’s digital signage proved its worth at IP EXPO this year, keeping delegates fully up to date on theatre content and schedule changes whilst remaining resilient to network problems. Aztec worked with the show sponsors to produce eye-catching multimedia content to interleave with the schedule information. Our audiences are not easily impressed by technology, but Aztec’s digital signage was a winner with them too!”

Jovan Maria, account manager at Aztec added, “This was the largest digital signage installation we’ve undertaken, and our analytics revealed that we were able to show eleven thousand sponsor messages on the signage over the two days, whilst keeping the signage clear, functional and perfectly up to date.”

We are thrilled to be shortlisted in three different categories at this year’s Merton Best Business Awards. The categories are: Best Creative Sector, Going Green and Best Young Person for Ryan Colburn.

“Best Creative Sector” recognises the business that can show real creativity, outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination in the trade. Aztec has shown its creative approach and business initiative highlighting innovations within the industry such as our Digital Signage Solution.

“Going Green” distinguishes companies that can best demonstrate a company-wide commitment to minimising its impact on the environment. We explained how our sustainability policy has critically helped reducing our carbon emissions’ footprint or how our felt recycling programme works with schools within the community.

“Best Young Person” celebrates the work taken forward by employers working with Merton Chamber of Commerce and local training providers under the ‘Take One’ initiative. Since Ryan joined the company as an apprentice back in 2011, he has been awarded NVQ Level 2 Storage & Handling and NVQ Level 3 Live Events & Promotion making his way up from Apprentice to full time Technician and becoming a valuable assest for the company.

The awards recognise the companies based in Merton and are organised by the Merton Chamber of Commerce, Merton Council and WSM Business Advisory and Accountancy Services.

Aztec Event Services’ technicians were out in force last week, providing a full spectrum of AV services to IP EXPO 2014, 8-9 October, ExCeL London. This year’s IP EXPO, organised by Imago Techmedia, was the biggest yet and featured Aztec’s largest ever deployment to the event.

In a logistically challenging project, Aztec supplied, installed and configured the AV for 21 theatre areas within the exposition, comprising projection system, PA, support screens and Aztec’s Silent Seminar system in three of the theatres. Each theatre AV system was operated by a dedicated Aztec technician. Aztec sent 26 technicians and four articulated lorries full of equipment to the show for a four day setup period.

At the centre of the exhibition was the main 350 seat keynote theatre where Aztec installed a 7m x 4m projection screen and 14,000 lumen projector, using its video streaming system to deliver Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s keynote address live to the other 20 theatre areas, ensuring that the maximum possible number of delegates could enjoy this presentation from the inventor of the world wide web.

Aztec’s expertise with LED displays was brought to the fore with the installation of a 5m x 3m 3mm LED video wall, and it also deployed its EventIgnite driven Digital Signage system with 32 digital signage screens throughout the event, ensuring delegates were kept fully informed of the schedule of events and any late changes.

A file server was put in place by Aztec so the speakers could centrally upload their presentations. These were automatically sent to the correspondent laptop in each seminar theatre. If last minute changes were necessary on the day, speakers could do that from the “Speakers Ready Room” and re-upload the presentation back to the server for distribution.

As official provider to exhibitors, Aztec supplied AV services to more than 120 exhibitors, including more than 200 wall mounted screens, laptops and MicroTile walls.

Alex Joicey, operations and customer services director at Imago Techmedia expressed her satisfaction with Aztec’s contribution after the show, saying “Aztec mobilised an army of technicians to deliver superb AV services right across the show. I was impressed by how well they managed a very complex project, proving they have the capacity and bandwidth to service the most demanding events.”

Jovan Maria, account manager at Aztec, was very pleased with the performance of the whole team, commenting “IP EXPO is an incredible event, and I’m delighted that it was such a success for the organisers. We worked very closely with Imago to envisage an integrated AV solution across the show, and in spite of tight deadlines and the scale of the task, the team really pulled out all the stops to deliver what I think was an excellent result for everyone.”

Aztec Event Services has been chosen by Centaur Exhibitions Ltd to provide AV equipment and services to The Meetings Show, July 8-10, Olympia, London.

Aztec will be responsible for equipping 5 conference theatres with full AV facilities, including projection, P.A. and lighting. Aztec will also be deploying its comprehensive digital signage system, powered by EventIgnite throughout the show. Five digital signage screens will be installed outside the conference theatres to inform delegates about individual theatre schedules and events, two screens will be mounted in a ‘monolith’ in the Hosted Buyer Lounge, and two further digital signs will be installed outside the lifts. Aztec will have seven personnel on-site servicing the show, including five theatre technicians, one signage technician and a general show technician.

Aztec is also exhibiting at the show, and has an impressive installation Christie MicroTiles planned for its stand, where they will be promoting their full range of event production services.

Chris Harris, account manager at Aztec was understandably pleased at Centaurs decision and said, “I think our digital signage solution is going to be a real hit at The Meetings Show, improving the visitor experience with better, constantly updated, information, increased sponsor branding opportunities and breaking news.”

The Meetings Show’s event director, Steve Knight commented: “The staging of an event as complex as The Meetings Show requires support from industry leading professionals, in particular, the AV, which is so fundamental to an event that we expect will see several thousand people attend. Aztec reflect our industry leading professionalism and expertise and we look forward to seeing their cutting edge technology in action next month at Olympia.”