I think it goes without saying that my team and I love Gala dinners. 🙂

Once again we had the opportunity to photograph the state iAwards Gala dinners and had the pleasure to photograph the national iAwards and Gala Dinner for AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) at the MCEC (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center) which included the conference during the day dedicated towards innovation.

 

 

2015 was a great event and this year did not disappoint, if I was being honest I think this year was better. 🙂

I don’t know about you but where else do you find the industry leaders in the ICT take time out of their busy days to talk about innovation?    I must add I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the major supporter again for this year was the Victoria government.  Too bad the rest of the country doesn’t follow their lead and start coming up with real plans on expanding our ICT capability through innovation.

 

 

My teams day started at 8am when we started packing our gear and heading over to the MCEC from our hotel room which I must admit wasn’t that far as we stayed at the Hilton which is effectively the same building as the MCEC so it was a short elevator lift down to level one. 🙂

 

 

This year we decided to do things a little different and instead of processing the images after the event one of the team would post process them on site and have them ready for the iAwards organizers to use for social media, while myself and my other photographer covered the different area of the event.   In general it seemed to work well with images come from the photographers and moving through post with not many issues which was nice.

 

 

As the day moved through the conference, VIP lunches and into the Gala dinner my team sat back for a bit to take stock of the day so far and I think it is fair to say that not only were we having a blast but the information that was shared with the people that attended the day was outstanding.  I think we all had a new appreciation for innovation and some of the amazing things that are happening in the ICT industry across the nation. very very cool.

 

 

The break in the event also meant that it was time to setup the portable studio against the media wall before all the crowds flocked in as we were setting up in the reception and pre-gala drinks area which is nice as we attract a heap of people to get their photos take. 🙂

Last year we had David Huey “Hueys” as the MC, this year we had the please of photographing Shane Jacobson www.shanejacobson.com.au (aka Kenny – The Dunny man) and without sounding a bit biased I can say he is really a great bloke.   Not only did I get to photograph him on stage but I followed him around chatting and watching him interact with the people that attended the Gala dinner.  He was more than willing an open to make everyone feel at home and was super dooper accommodating to my photographic needs.  One of which is a selfie with me. 😉

 

 

The night went off without a hitch…. oh… that was until the got to the pointy end where the person that won the $50,000 prize money had already left for the evening as she had a 6am flight. hahahahahahaha  Someone in the audience had her number so Shane was trying to get her on the phone to let her know….. but no answer.

 

 

Talking with Shane after we were both bummed that the winner didn’t answer as that would of a hoot to get her on the phone and add to was already was a very entertaining night.  Oh well.  They did get in touch with her and she did come back for her official photos.

 

 

Well we knocked off a bit after midnight, went back to the hotel room to process the media photos for the 6am deadline which only took me until 4am as the post processing during the day saved many hours.

 

 

At the end of what was a 20 hour day it was time to hit the sack and wake up early to pack up and head home.   My other photographer go a flight out at 6am so I said good bye to him at 3am so he could get to the airport. 🙂

 

 

Lets bring on the after party… hahahaha

 

 

I have to admit the lighting and the volume that these lights have was fantastic.  The give sooooo much feel to the room and for a room this size it was a mighty feat to get them to be so effective without fogging out the entire room.

 

At the end off all that it was time to have a nap and that my friends is the day in the life of a corporate conference and gala event photographer. 🙂