Opportunity Kit & Caboodle were engaged to create a pop-up springtime experience for the client’s Vintage Fashion Festival at their Swindon retail designer and leisure outlet Creative centrepiece footfall & retail driver Ambition To produce a show-stopping centrepiece to attract footfall to the venue, showcasing flair and creativity to amplify the brand. The industrial heritage of the site, The Long Shop, built in 1870 as part of the former Great Western Railway Works, as a Grade II listed building, was captured in the concept and design of a vintage railway carriage. How Kit & Caboodle took over the concept and delivery of the event - from a launch party like no other, featuring Old School amazing cocktails, porters greeted guests – VIPs, media and the public, hosting over 3,000 in the opening weekend “on board” – to the final whistle. Creative concept & design, build, production, operations and logistics Ticketed event management and staffing VIP launch event and weekend Over 3,000 general public and VIP guests were served over the opening weekend alone Featuring A.N.G.E.L.O internationally renowned archive of vintage Italian fashion – free giveaways from pop up shop Michelin chef and stylists

Opportunity After several months of social distancing measures and the steady relaxation of Covid restrictions we were tasked by one of our Placemaking clients to bring some seasonal change to their renowned canal steps. An ever popular dwelling spot, for locals, commuters and passers-by it was important to enhance the sites function as a social space, particularly with longer, warmer days on the horizon! Ambition To provide visitors with a serene, garden-like space to welcome in the recent Covid relaxation whilst still maintaining a design that allows for socially distanced meetings of small groups. Inspired by the seasonal changes of Spring our installation integrates both nature and community spirit. Most importantly whilst the activation is only remaining live for a few months, sustainability has remained a central value to our designs to ensure longevity and integrity to everything we create. How Our talented team put their creative heads together to design a pop-up garden combined with ergonomic seating, to provide the perfect spot for some spring-time lounging among the flower beds. We salvaged timber from a past site which we lovingly restored and upcycled to create the planter and seating assets. Inspired by nature, our designs incorporated organic shapes to soften the urban space, through our raised planter beds which we made from vertically clad timber planks that sprawled across the giant steps. The reclaimed softwood pine was also used to construct the generously proportioned lounger seats which we responsibly distanced around the site. In order to contrast the vibrant green astro turf and to show-off the beauty of the reclaimed materials we kept 90% of the wood in its natural state, only enhanced by a deep varnish, and painted only the lounger side panels with a lime green to add a pop of spring colour. The crowning jewel to the design was of course the beautiful perennials emerging from the planter beds providing a sea of greenery and pops of colour.

One of our team is slightly obsessed by the film Ready Player One. He’s counting down the days until the technology seen throughout the film is available; preferably without the dystopian future bolted on.  Whether you are terrified by the prospect of your Hinge date turning out to be a Blade Runner Replicant, or whether you would like to hire a robotic companion for an elderly relative on lockdown, just like in Robot & Frank – the hilarious 2012 American science fiction comedy-drama film – technology offers opportunities as well as the capacity for going horribly wrong. Thankfully some sci-fi references are a little way off yet. After all, how many conferences have you attended where the Power Point presentation goes haywire, leaving the speaker blushing and blaming it all on “technology’? We got to thinking about how technology has featured in some of our past events.   Also, how we’ve relied on it since lockdown – daily Zoom meetings offering cohesion and support to the team, as we are working from home. What are the lessons to be retained when we get back into our ever changing “new normal” post Covid-19?  Will technology remain at the heart of our daily working lives?  Will we all be microchipped and tracked in an effort to get a handle on the spread of the virus?  We already have the cutting edge technology to achieve this level of surveillance, albeit rather Orwellian. But “cutting edge technology” can mean many things to many people and industries alike.  We’ve incorporated it on a wide-ranging series of projects and events.  In 2012 we produced a world first, remote-controlled sound to light LED system that was housed in a luxury ice bucket for Ciroc. We were one of the first companies to use Holo-Gauze in the UK as part of a promotional experience for the launch of a new TV show. Our very own Cheshire Cat was painstakingly built, frame by frame recently for The Mad Hatters Gin & Tea Party as a virtual character. The technology implemented in events isn’t always obvious.  Behind the scenes lies an abundance of technology from design and structural software, to the programming of lights, sound systems, giant LED screens and firework displays, the list goes on. The team recall, with some laughter, the memory of the Robotic Canapés Waiter constructed for a 3 Mobile launch out of a wheelchair base clad within a mirrored cube. Having the remote control, one of the team was able to scoot the waiter in the opposite direction whenever approached by a guest looking hungrily at the hors d’oeuvres. What was a whimsical and fun part of the 3 Mobile event, could become a very useful addition to the bar and restaurant industries once they start opening again.  We have close ties in this industry and have been thinking about apps, QR codes and other tech to roll out to maintain social distancing and to keep the staff and customers safe.  Did Yo Sushi! inadvertently future proof themselves when they introduced their conveyor belts?  Will we see more venues using similar serving tools? With half of all science and technology budgets in the UK and the USA devoted to the technologies of military industrial development, according to the OECD, is the future bright for technology in our own industry? Over the centuries, technology has been harnessed by fun-merchants, entertainers and the hospitality industry to delight, entrance and engage audiences in novel ways. Take Leonardo da Vinci, for example.  Five hundred years ago, he invented the helicopter, the tank, the parachute, the driverless cart, the catapult … all with military potential. But what delights us most? His clockwork lion! Designed in 1517 to amuse the King of France, this engineering genius had already created a couple of working models based on an engineering miracle One could rear on its hind legs but couldn’t walk. The second lion could walk under its own power and move its head. When the king stepped forward and tapped the lion with his sword, its body opened and presented him with lilies, the French symbol of royalty. “He was,” said the president of his museum at Clos Lucé, soon to be turned into a Da Vinci theme park, “a kind of George Lucas of the early 16th century - his special effects were legendary." The technology that Leonardo used involved a complex meshing of gears, pulleys, chains, wheels, pendulums and axles. The pendulum technology predated the early 17th century and the axle – which makes the lion's legs move – hints at methods not fully developed until the late 18th and 19th centuries. So today, can technology offer a solution to the problem of social distancing? We believe that the social distancing restrictions will open up new opportunities for efficiency with solutions being found through integration of technology. Talking to Dan Bainbridge at Neutral Digital, specialists in Augmented and Virtual Reality software development, we can see how companies who have been ahead of the curve, like Waitrose, tooled up with handheld machines to scan and tot up your weekly shopping in the store. These now present a hygiene issue and so ironically Sainsbury’s, coming into the technology at a later stage, have developed an app to be downloaded onto a personal mobile, eliminating the problem of sanitisation. Touch-screen technology, installed in shopping malls, airports and trade shows around the world, have a similar issue in terms of Health and Safety as a result of Covid-19 and fears about contagion. But where there are unforeseen setbacks, there’s also opportunity. We’re currently working with AR technology on a project, using AR, to re-purpose vacant buildings in creative ways . The Van Gogh experience on the South Bank, an interactive once-in-a-lifetime experience, created by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which used cutting edge audio-visual techniques to take visitors on an unforgettable journey in Van Gogh’s footsteps, was along with everything else cancelled shortly after opening due to lockdown. This experience along with other notable innovative curated museum experiences are leading the way in the future of engagement. There’s everything to be gained by harnessing alternative realities to bridge the gap and progress with, or even beyond, face-to-face events, into a new paradigm of engagement. There will no doubt be a flurry of new technology introduced to ensure safety, to track & trace, to maintain social distancing and of course, to provide culture and escapism in a modified way from the live experiences we are used to.  With the amalgamation of existing and upcoming technology, coupled with the want and need for real world social interaction.  We predict the future of events will be exciting, positive, mindful and as an industry, will overcome all the current obstacles and flourish. Perhaps Ready Player One, The Oasis and the technology seen within isn’t that far away after all.

Festivals are big business. Well, they WERE before this summer. They are rites of passage for generation after generation – to celebrate excellence, to discover new and enticingly forbidden experiences, and to be part of a community of like-minded people. Whether you are a film-buff lurking on the promenade at the annual Cannes Film Festival or a pensioner remembering the highlight of being at Woodstock or even squashed into the Charlton Athletic Football ground in 1974 for the legendary line-up of The Who, with Lou Reed, Lindisfarne, Humble Pie and Bad Company. £2.50 a ticket when the weekly wage packet was £40 if you were lucky. It would have been £238 for Glastonbury’s 50th … admittedly the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival on the planet - unhappily cancelled thanks to Covid-19.  Still, we’ll be able to put on our feathered tribal head-dresses, dig out our retro kaftans, and bop away to the best of the previous Glasto musical moments, thanks to the Beeb. Oh, and use our own toilets – yay! On average, British festivals have gone up in price 24% over the past five years, to £165 a head. And that’s without all the camping gear, the ride there and back, and the food and bevvies on site.  If only wages matched that kind of hike. Festivals are a great way to get outside and enjoy the British summer, even if Glastonbury does seem to descend into a mud-bath annually.  But, with prices continuing to rise far beyond the annual rate of inflation, many young people are priced out of the market. According to the UK Events report, launched just before lockdown and published by The Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP), festivals represent £6BN of the UK’s overall £70BN events industry. They provide jobs for 70,000 people and the future was looking rosy until Covid-19 struck. Trying to put a brave face on it, BVEP chair Michael Hirst OBE said “The report was compiled in what seems another age, but it will serve to provide testament to the power of events to create change and transform experiences, key requirements in facing and achieving the UK’s future challenges.” He’s referring not only to Covid-19’s devastating effect on our industry but also the impending impact of a No Deal Brexit, presumably? Not only have festival organisers been struck down, but Summer 2020 – the summer of No Festivals - has hit our fantastic purpose-built event venues and historic buildings suitable for hosting world-class events,  our networks of creative agencies and talented event suppliers, our performing arts/music sector and the new technology sectors with all their innovation and equipment standing idle. Even if 5,000 people will be permitted to assemble over the Irish Sea, come September, it’s too late for us, for this year. Game attempts to host virtual 2020 events have fallen flat. The organisers of Burning Man, have shelved the idea of one integrated digital hub and will share the festivities across various communities. In principle this is to share the event beyond those who “would have purchased a ticket.” In practice, it’s fuelled by financial constraints. And the question must be asked, are the British public and our overseas visitors going to want to go to festivals this side of Christmas, even if they are staged? Access All Areas/Mash Media reported at the end of May that 82% of the 110,000 festival goers polled said they would feel comfortable returning to festivals within one to six months of lockdown being lifted, according to research done by Festicket. Interestingly, the survey showed that health and safety measures ranked higher in importance than ticket price. The top priorities remained as “getting money back on cancellation” and “good line-ups”. When asked what type of festival they would feel most comfortable attending, 83% said they would feel comfortable attending a day festival, while 68% said they would feel comfortable attending a weekend festival. 60% said they felt comfortable attending domestic and international music events in 2021. The good news is that the majority felt they would book tickets for 2021 festivals within the next two months, because they’re confident that these events will go ahead. 24% would pay over 500 Euros for the privilege, 34% would spend 250 to 500 Euros, and 35% would pay between 100 and 200 Euros to be at a festival next year. A lot depended on whether they would be a one-day festival, or over weekends, with all the attendant additional expense that would entail. Festival organisers will need to review and upgrade enhanced hygiene in all public areas, most of all the toilet facilities and camping grounds, to take into account the contagion concerns around Covid-19 which may well still be loitering into next year and beyond. “The virus has certainly taken its toll in 2020” said Steve Heap, General Secretary of the AFO (Association for Festival Organisers) “with 87% of our member festivals cancelling and moving over to their 2021 dates”. The economic impact will hit hard in the communities where the festivals are both a respected arts event  and a major contributing factor to the local economy. At Kit & Caboodle we have a dedicated team of festival-goers who now, in some cases, are introducing the next generation to all the fun whilst looking for family-friendly experiences that are a far cry from the old days. We’ve staged private parties for individuals and corporates at festivals, such as Festival Number 6; dressed dedicated areas such as the Barber Shop and fake Pool at V Festival, and built a New Look radio installation at Wireless. Festival organisers would be welcome to have a discussion with us as to how our creativity and design experience can be used to supercharge the 2021 Festival offerings with brilliant, whacky, off -the-wall ideas that will also resonate with the growing public passion for sustainability, diversity and inclusion. And novelty hand-washing! We’re already in talks about an installation at Glastonbury. Meanwhile – watch this space! Were you amongst the 200,000 disappointed festival-goers who instead enjoyed some of the past highlights of Glasto on the Beeb as part of your DIY Glastohomebury experience over this past weekend? One good thing about lockdown – TV programmers have been frantically digging through the archives and coming up with some great TV classics. David Bowie’s headline set on the Pyramid stage in 2000, being shown in full for the first time across BBC 2, BBC 4 and BBC i-player … not to mention full headline performances from Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Adele and Coldplay. Yay! Some of the team tuned in on Youtube with DJ Mag who hosted a live stream of the Block9 Warehouse Party. They saw amazing sets by Norman Jay MBE, DJ Paulette and the Dazzling Heidi. We also watched ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay, Rolling Stones and Adele in highlights on BBC…. Seeing all of those happy faces, enormous crowds and fluttering flags made us want to be right back there again. We hope Glastonbury can go ahead in 2021 - We’ll be there with bells on!

Research has shown how successful placemaking can impact favourably on health, wellbeing and community, gaining additional positive media profile for a developer/ landlord and residents, whether the project is mainly aimed at commercial or residential usage, or a mixture of both. The current restrictions caused by Covid-19 impinge on placemaking projects in a number of ways. Indoors or outdoor spaces? Social distancing Hygiene Sustainability Re-purposing INDOORS OR OUTDOOR SPACES? The drive to contain and limit contagion has resulted in a preference for outdoor spaces over indoor. Socialising at a safe distance in a garden or park is preferable to meeting up indoors. Research shows that well-ventilated areas are safer than those where there is no free-flow of air to disperse Corona virus droplets. Bottlenecks in passageways, entrance gateways, access to toilet facilities, need to be taken into account before spaces can be re-opened for public use. SOCIAL DISTANCING Workplaces need to be fit for purpose, to allow for social distancing restrictions which require working staff to keep a 2-metre distance from one another. Where companies are unable to re-open their offices to staff because of size restrictions of the area, or bottlenecks in entrances, exits and access to toilet facilities, there is a growing trend for landlords to offer rent relief/reduction through to the end of the year, particularly for companies hardest hit, for example in the events and hospitality industries, where income is reduced and the retail sector where shops have been closed and recovery slow. Marking out distancing outside retail shops, for example, can be adhered to with the help of staff supervision, but once consumers are in an area, it is harder to police compliance as can be seen from the recent overcrowding and consumer panic at the Bicester Village Designer Outlet. COVID 19 ENHANCED HAND HYGIENE Enhanced cleaning processes are the responsibility of whoever manages a space, whether internal or external. Installation-based placemaking activities and activations need to take this into consideration when developing ideas for this summer, for example. Seating whether in public places or private areas such as pub beer-gardens, will need to be rigorously planned and maintained, to ensure user safety. Hand hygiene has been identified as a critical factor in protection from infection, so all areas require easy, safe access to hand-washing and drying facilities. Even the use of recreational assets such as table tennis, swingball or mini-golf will need to be audited in terms of Health and Safety, to ensure the reduction of possible contagion “hot spots.” Information points based on touchscreen technology also fall within this category, as do communal door knobs, shared cutlery and crockery, marketing collateral such as brochures or ticketing, and paypoints. SUSTAINABILITY One of the many concerns to emerge from the period of “lockdown” has been that of sustainability. With increasing numbers of plastic/non-recyclable materials being used in everything from face masks, to gloves, to full PPE, the gains previously achieved by the environmental lobbies to reduce the usage of items such as one-use plastic or polystyrene cups or plastic barrier toilet seat covers have been severely threatened by the drive to revert to one-use items in order to avoid contagion. RE-PURPOSING As a result of the lockdown policy imposed by the UK government to “shield” the population from contagion, there have been a number of foreseen and unforeseen issues. Hospitality venues such as restaurants and pubs are re-thinking their spaces, perhaps looking at ways that they can re-purpose their external areas to cope with less clement weather later in the year. Entertainment venues such as theatres are not only putting performances online, accessible for a fee, but are looking at ways to comply with the Covid 19 rulings but still cater for audiences. For example, a number of outdoor car parking spaces are being transformed into old-school drive-in movie venues in the evenings. Large department stores such as Debenhams, are finding that the existing move towards online shopping behaviours has deepened across the general population, and may never return to pre-Covid activity. SUMMARY The additional challenge of working within the parameters of Covid-19 legislation, means that developers/landlords will be looking for support with creative ideas and installations to entice people back into their spaces. These will need to offer flexibility on delivery and allow for social distancing measures to be realised. With creative input, internal and external landscapes can be developed to fulfil changing needs without detriment to pedestrian flow, or the consumer experience – but rather, to enhance them. Many of us have learned to enjoy the beauty of natural spaces, whether private gardens or common land. The time has come for urban planners to rethink their own environments to encourage urban activations that are timely, sustainable and enjoyable – lifting the spirits and looking forward to the time when Covid-19 is no longer an issue in placemaking.

Kit & Caboodle were tasked with the design and delivery of the launch event for a week-long private super car tour starting in the Swiss Alps and winding its way to the Monaco Grand Prix. This included an opening night party at the Chedi Hotel, Andermatt where Kit & Caboodle took inspiration from the most luxurious, glamourous and synonymous parts of Swiss culture, to create an immersive, exciting and memorable night.  Breakaway events en route included dinners, cocktail parties and culminated in a closing party on a luxury yacht moored at Monaco Bay. Following an initial site visit to the Swiss Alps, K&C began the design and development stage back in London.  The client required us to bring the outside world into the dining room of the hotel.  Despite Switzerland boasting huge woodland coverage and some of the best forests in Europe, K&C set about defining how this would be achieved in a safe, conscientious, sustainable and stylised way. Logistically, we had several challenges to overcome due to the remoteness of the hotel, the steep winding roads, which make articulated lorries almost impossible to pass, working within a non-EU country, decisions on crewing the install and derig, both of which had to be achieved on incredibly tight timescales.   Needless to say all challenges were hurdled thanks to an incredible team, preferred suppliers and a can do attitude. For the opening party itself, Kit & Caboodle took over the luxurious hotel high in the Alps and completely transformed it into a fully immersive Swiss alpine forest experience. Using references from the Brothers Grimm and the infamous Rothschild parties of the 70’s, the night was a culmination of organic stylings, mood-controlled lighting & soundscapes, interactive performances and sumptuous dining. Combining layers of live decor with stylised dressing, Kit & Caboodle created three distinct areas for the guests to explore and interact with. Fifteen 20ft high trees were built within the space using cork bark and a canopy of pine trees sourced locally from a managed tree felling operation. Our services included: Super-car rally 7 day rally 40 Super-cars, 80 VIP guests Creative concept & design, build, production Logistics & operations Talent Casting Show direction Artist Areas Experiential menu curation Production direction

As purveyors of wow we enjoy the challenge of coming up with props that not only look great but provoke conversation and interaction, whether used as a focal point at events, product launches or placemaking sites. We design, commission and produce bespoke pieces as part of our services to our clients, and we’ve been lucky to create some really weird and wonderful pieces over the years! Some of our whackiest props come with stories that still raise a wry grin. There was the mercenary client who decided to throw a Vietnam-war-themed party for his son’s 21st. We built a giant decommissioned aircraft fuselage as the feature DJ Booth! It was a great success and we stayed well in budget, not just because the commissioning parent, came to the first budget meeting armed with a large gun. The negotiations were not for the fainthearted. We had the aircraft in our warehouse for years, it was always quite the conversation piece for client meetings! Then, there was the giant Rollerboot. Only in Ibiza could a prop like that raise the sort of interest that ensured. Not only did we create a giant Rollerboot which went into the “party island’s” cultural history, but also carousel horses and hanging crescent moons as performance props for the live shows. These props were the headline feature at Es Paradis for Hed Kandi and the Rollerboot has now taken up full time residency at Pikes - there’s no better home for it! Another whacky prop was the giant Pass the Parcel which we designed and manufactured to be passed along Oxford Street as part of a Guiness World Record initiative to drive footfall to the retailers. And, of course, the oversize Fruit Machine we designed and built for Birchbox, the make-up brand, that caused such a stir at Olympia. Sometimes props are created in “homage” and for Sternberg Clark’s UAE client we developed and created a life-size equine puppet, working with staff from the War Horse stable (no pun intended). Looking back through the archives, we are particularly proud of the Point of Service (POS) props that we’ve designed for some of our alcohol brand clients. Working with talented prop makers like Thom at #Studio43 has enabled us to deliver the all-important “WOW” factor in bars where if you don’t see a speed boat carrying a large bottle of Grey Goose coming towards you, perhaps you should look up and see the jeroboam bottle of vintage tequila or top notch champagne making its way to your table on giant golden wings. One of our favourite prop-makers is Gareth Knowles – and working with him on a giant easter bunny, an enormous Tetley teapot, a unicorn bottle holder, a psychedelic volcano, jewel encrusted life sized peacocks … the list goes on and on … it has always been great fun. From the selection of materials, design through construction, to operational readiness – props have always been high on our agenda, when it comes to providing a bespoke piece for an event, especially in these days of selfies, and social media spread. It’s what gives our events a real wow factor, a uniqueness like never before! From tigers to 20 foot gold Buddhas – we’ve seen it all. We count ourselves lucky to be based in London from where we can reach out to prop-makers on our doorstep and across the country. With such a rich heritage because of the amazing creativity in British theatre, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to the realisation of our own dreams, and delivery on what our clients hope to see. Anyone can hire in a flock of plastic flamingos, or a handful of inflatable guitars … but to come up with an event prop that takes a brand and creativity to a whole new level, is something quite different.  From using scale to form unexpected perspectives that evoke surprise and delight to creating artistic beauty in props that live on as art installations providing unforgettable Instagramable backdrops.Whether the disco-kaleidoscope that we imagined and created for the Adidas Future House falls under the category of venue/set dressing or an amazing prop, or maybe both … we like to think that we come Top of the Props every time.

Kit & Caboodle loves to recognise and promote great work from other creatives in the biz. Following on from our chat with Ben Lewis, CEO of Young Voices, don’t forget that on Tuesday 2nd June 2020 at 2.30pm British Summer Time, families and students from all over the world will pay tribute to their teachers and music educators by joining together for a spectacular global singing event from the safety of their own homes. Young Voices, the current Guinness World Record holders for the world’s largest simultaneous sing, will invite all children, teachers, and families across the globe to join together and sing “The Power in Me”. Participants can register their involvement at youngvoices.co.uk/powerinme to access learning resources for the song and to log their location to create an online map showing where all the singers will be performing on the day of the event. ‘The Power in Me’ is a song written by Rebecca Lawrence about our inner strength and determination when things get difficult. The song has been sung around the world as part of Young Voices concerts. Ben Lewis, Young Voices CEO, said: “For every school concert that has been cancelled as a result of lockdown, for every choir practice which hasn’t happened, for every student who misses singing with their friends, join us for the Power In Me Singing Challenge on 2nd June” Countries already signed up to join the UK children are USA, Germany, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, Zambia, Uganda, Indonesia, Trinidad, South Africa, China and more. This worldwide celebration of singing and resilience will resonate around the world to say thank you to all the schoolteachers (and parents) who are still working hard to educate children in their own homes. If you love music, and have a teacher you’d like to honour, whatever your age – sing along. #PowerInMe #ThankYouTeachers

This week, we’ve been inspired by the theme for Grayson Perry’s popular Art Club on Channel 4 at 8pm on Monday nights - “The View from My Window.” As a creative events team on lockdown, Grayson’s engaging series has given us food for thought and inspiration, often dominating initial chat as we start our daily online meeting the following day. We’ve researched a lot of windows and views but our team prize goes to the extraordinary work of INDg0. The incredible fantasy worlds created by this visual artist. You can view her portfolio of work here. Thinking about “views and perspective” while on lockdown, reminds our team of the various moments that are ‘captured’ during the event process from initial site viewings, 3D visualisations, bringing ideas to life, through to delivering the live experience. We created magical glittering window-scapes  for the Twitter Christmas party in 2019, giving the expectant revellers outside a sneak peek of what awaits them.  This included barely visible, giant retro arcade games juxtaposed throughout a wintery forest to add to the anticipation of what was an incredible night, enjoyed by all. Then to our own view from inside a palatially styled event in Azerbaijan for the Minister of Defence, as the team witnessed a cavalcade of stretch limos draw closer to the entrance as he and his VVIP entourage arrived for the night’s festivities. When we are outside looking in, we press our nose to windows, longingly. Like Tiny Tim peering in the window of a butcher’s shop at an enormous turkey, we see the object of our desires but cannot possess it.  All we can do is dream. Yet, when we are on the “inside” – as creatives, we can look out on the view from our own window and dream. And then, we can make the dream a reality.  Look through windows rather than staring at walls, and somewhere a whole new world awaits. That should be our motto in lockdown. All it takes is imagination. And imagination is the life-blood of the experiential events industry. After working with many brands and corporate clients, our most impactful projects are often those in which we approach the brief from an unexpected perspective, which allows our team to really flex their creative muscles and to look beyond the parameters of the brief to achieve out of the box thinking! We’ve discovered that every member of our team has hidden talents – and in lockdown, as a result of our ongoing discussions about “what next for our industry?” these have emerged, unexpectedly. From our placement student, Grace, @inst4grace - now back in Australia, we’ve received a wealth of amazing surrealist online artwork. We’ve featured these in our Instagram “Stories” this week - take a look ... Grace has been busy coming up with a surreal “take” on the actual view from our windows. Some of us look out into the night sky.  Others have sweeping vistas across London. When we look out, perhaps we see other things in our mind’s eye. We can look out at a brick wall and imagine mountains. For the mind does, indeed, have mountains. As Gerard Manley Hopkins, the Jesuit poet, said “The mind has mountains, cliffs of fall, frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed.” One thing’s for sure – we are celebrating having such a great team, who’ve shown humour, resilience and a keen eye for fun to accompany their sense of the ridiculous – never a wasted quality when it comes to creative experiential events.

Our CEO, Tanya, went to university In Manchester with a Welshman called Ben. Although he may have sung Welsh rugby anthems in the shower, nothing prepared anyone for his success in the music world. Today, Ben Lewis is CE0 of Young Voices (YV), a remarkable all-inclusive organisation founded by his father which brings together over 2 million children from all over the world. In early January, Kit & Caboodle were VIP guests at the O2, for the launch of the 2020 YV concerts. Featuring a selection from 170,000 children drawn from 4,000 school choirs across the UK, their massed voices were joined by guest artists including Tony Hadley, The Shires, Ruti (2018 winner of The Voice, and a former YV participant) for a spine-tingling evening of singing starting with a rousing rendition of The Deadwood Stage, from Calamity Jane, that lifted the roof. A high point for Ben is “seeing the children have the best night of their lives, being filled with joy and amazement from singing in an arena that is usually reserved for musical royalty”. In fact, YV have done more shows at The O2 than any other artist- more than Adele, Ed Sheehan and Take That combined. Not only do the children and their teachers receive CDs with vocal tracks, DVDs of choreography, conductor notes etc. at least six months before The Big Show … but the logistics of marshalling so many small people and their enthusiastic teachers is all part of the YV project. “You try matching thousands of over-excited kids to 300 coaches outside the O2,” says Ben, reflectively and grins. “Luckily, that’s my brother’s job – logistics!” As event designers and producers, we all know that an event without music is like eating a boiled egg without salt … but for Ben it is “a massive part of my life. I literally don’t know what I’d do without it. The two best elements of music for me is its ability to connect people and also to express emotions.” So, we wondered how Ben and YV would survive lockdown … we should’ve known not to worry! “By the time you get to an event, our work is almost done,” says Ben. “ it’s the prep and creativity beforehand that is essential.” So, flipping their business online was not an issue. “We’ve pivoted into YV ‘at home’ resources – popular with schools because it’s so difficult to do this on Zoom remotely.  We’ve found teachers really grateful – singing along with artists, guitar lessons, fun, eclectic different styles of music, singing and dancing – all of it with the positive, fun personality of YV,” says Ben. In fact, people have engaged with online YV so much, that he reckons it’s here to stay. They will be developing even more online resources alongside teaching kits to support kids and parents at home. Ben’s hoping that children and parents will choose to do YV workshops at home over TV. The next projects will be the celebratory 25 years of YV concerts. YV are preparing for any eventuality in order to continue supporting the kids and schools with the work that they do. In September schools will receive their new music packs and it’s “the journey that the kids go through practising music, this is such an important part. We haven’t hung up our tools during this lockdown and we will continue supporting schools, kids and parents, we’ll keep educating and engaging – music is vitally important,” Says Ben. “Music unites us, and live performance is what we are all about,” Ben says. But for now, on Tuesday 2nd June, he’s planning to stage the World’s Largest Children’s Choir at Home for a Record Breaking #PowerInMe Singing Challenge for any families that want to participate and those unsung heroes: Teachers. “Singing together is a way of connecting us as human beings, so we just thought it’d be nice to do something for the kids to keep them connected. They can take part in something that’s international, and shows them that, wherever you are in the world, everybody’s going through the same emotions,” Ben says. So, let’s connect through music!. Families can register their involvement at youngvoices.co.uk/powerinme to access learning resources for the song and to log their location to create an online map showing where all the singers will be performing on the day of the event. YV supports teachers and their pupils, using music to develop communication, collaboration, creativity, mindfulness, innovation and confidence – as well as a lifelong love of music. We’ll be singing along too!