Zephyr At The Beach

The Zephyr office has been a hub of activity over the past weeks, a flurry of events and in-store tasting table creations.

Earlier in October we had the opportunity to take Britannia Financial Services back to Brits at the Beach in Tairua (Coromandel), the 2^nd year of the event saw the number of entrants grown exponentially. With an abundance of beautiful British cars, from Austin Healeys to Jaguars, Minis to Triumphs, and of course a few stunning Zephyrs!

Our brand ambassadors did a fantastic job, and combining our Britannia base with The Best of British foods stall, we had the opportunity to meet lots of British ex-pats indulging in their favourite UK fare.  Brits at the Beach brought lots of well-organised fun this year, with battle re-enactments, hundreds of costumes, live music, and of course the England RWC game. Our ambassador Emma even won the infamous karaoke competition, putting Britannia in the limelight!

Congrats to our ABs for their relentless effort in the Rugby World Cup Final Sunday night, we banded together to watch the game, and felt proud to be a kiwi watching Richie McCaw holding the Webb Ellis Cup triumphantly high in the air.

“Smile son, this is your fault!”

This past weekend I had the opportunity to step to the other side of the fence, and attend a tradeshow as a punter, at the Grand Wedding Show in Sky City’s conference centre.

Filled with beautiful displays, props and settings, the stalls gleamed white. The hallways were soon overflowing with eager brides, happily donning their pink “Bride” stickers, supported by bridesmaids, mothers, and nervous grooms.

Despite the abundance of great DIY display stands, this show certainly highlighted the need for talented staff to present your brand and products to the best of their ability. Astra Bridal and Anna Stretton lead the way with brilliant staff – happy, gentle, and welcoming brides-to-be onto their stand, without an aggressive sell. “Smile son, this is your fault!” I heard one staff member say to an overwhelmed groom while packed like a sardine into the aisle, certainly brought a giggle, and put the groom at ease.

Other stands with barely there branding, staffed by a nonchalant unsmiling pair, with arms folded around their clipboards, stood like a barrier of security guards at the edge of their allotted space. I certainly didn’t see a single bride skip up to them eager to find out what they had on offer.

At Zephyr Space, we thrive on creating an exhibition stand that will wow your potential clients, and draw them through the venue to your stand. We understand the science of people movement and flow. However we cannot emphasise enough, that once those fresh faces are drawn to your stand, you must have talented staff to welcome them onto your stand with a smile, and send them on their way so impressed – they just can’t say no! Zephyr Space have access to a myriad of different sales and brand ambassadors, talk to us today - we would love to see your exhibition stand be a sensational success.

Hungry eyes in the "Big Little City"

We experienced two events of note recently, which targeted different senses – one to tantalise our taste buds, and the other our visual imagination. The Auckland Food Show showed a growing confidence in the industry with an abundance of exhibitors and new faces. The Auckland Art Fair delivered as promised, a journey through a myriad of talented artists and their works, presented by New Zealand and Australian galleries in the new Viaduct Events Centre.

Though the Food Show lacked some lustre in its large scale exhibition stands, the usual crowds of hungry revellers filled the halls, keen to try the latest and greatest, and sample a tipple or two. Many companies lost their brand recognition with banners on tables at attendee’s feet – but certainly saved face with a friendly smile and all willing to entice you with their treats and conversation. The ever happy face of Harringtons told us of new hoppy beers on the horizon, and the gorgeous array of cupcake vendors showed their creativity with Miss Melicious and Delish Cupcakes in the lead. Escaping before claustrophobia set in, goodies in hand, it was a positive event which will hopefully step up another level visually in 2012 to achieve that ROI on stand space, design, and abundant freebies.

Through the Big Little City gates, the Auckland Art Fair was set amongst the opening of the Wynyard Quarter brought artists and appreciators together with over a kilometre of pristine walls displaying an array of artwork from different genres. From graphical text to stunning sculpture, the talent was astounding. Two Rooms fulfilled as always, bringing us photographic depth and demure, aside curious images created from gunpowder remnants. Sydney gallery Martin Browne Contemporary teased with a little surrealist sculpture, by Linde Ivimey. The Events Centre itself seemed a little rushed with bad lacquering on the fitout, and missing some attention to detail – but the new Wynyard Quarter with its rustic fishing boat vista is a must to revisit in warmer weather.

RED on Maroon

Recently we had the opportunity (thanks to Metro Magazine and Auckland Theatre Company), to delve back into the world of live theatre, with John Logan’s RED. After experiencing Mark Rothko’s famous paintings in person at Tate Modern a few years ago, to view John Logan’s version of his back story was captivating.

John Logan has graced us with many award winning achievements, such as Sweeney Todd, The Aviator and The Last Samurai. Michael Hurst excels as Rothko, under the direction of Oliver Driver, and John Parker takes us into Rothko's New York studio with emotive set and costume design. Real primer, real canvas, real paint splashes to contend.

As a fine art enthusiast in my spare time, escaping the precision of spatial design and expressing yourself on a large format medium interests me. An exploration into the physical expressive act of painting, and the painting’s effect on the audience, much like Rothko’s paintings were intended to adorn a space, and evoke an ambience for diners (much to his dismay).

I believe art should be an experience, much like tradeshows, events and product showcases – engaging with your audience in the experiential field with interactivity is an essential bridge to cross.

Step away from the TV and watch some live theatre this year, try the Maidment, and ATC for the 2011 season.

Sweet As

To sweeten the experience of our new website (and bring a little smile to winter), we sent out a number of lolly jars recently, packed with Zephyr candy. After a humbling response, we’re ecstatic to know you all enjoyed them. We hope you all excelled at BuildNZ Designex last week, the show brought an abundance of industry sectors together under one roof – and showcased many creative solutions in the architecture, interiors, engineering, and construction trades.

The build up begins to the Auckland Food Show this month, and the International Film Festival begins its tour on the 14^th of July, with a great line up for 2011. The talented Ocean Design team have shared a series of festival posters from 1972 to the present, check them out here: http://www.oceandesign.co.nz/festivalposter/.

Welcome to the Zephyr Space Blog!

Here we’d like to give you a window in to the team, share our inspiration, projects we are working on, and what’s going on in the industry.

Many of you have asked where the name originated – It’s no secret that founder Andrea Spinks has a love for vintage cars. While photographing for the Flying Kiwi motorbike team at a car show in Canterbury many years ago, Andrea encountered her first Zephyr, marking the start of a love affair with the 1962 Mark II motorcar. Finding out that her Father owned exactly the same car in his early 20’s, simply fueled the fire. It seemed only fitting that we’re now called Zephyr Space, with the goal of picking you up for coffee in our namesake, in the not too distant future!