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As new event venues continue to open across Japan, JCD has built a strong reputation for producing events at newly opened facilities, even those with little or no event history.
In September 2023, both K-Arena Yokohama, a world class music venue, and the nearby Hilton Yokohama, opened for business. JTB Communication Design arranged an opening ceremony and live concert, which were attended by many esteemed guests. In this article, Noguchi and Nitani, who were the producers for the event, will explain how the event was planned and implemented, from the ground up.
The concept was to convey the uniqueness of the facility to a wide range of guests.
Noguchi:
We produced the opening ceremony and live concert for K-Arena Yokohama, a world class music arena, and the adjacent Hilton Yokohama hotel.
K-Arena Yokohama specializes in music and has a capacity of approximately 20,000 people. It was designed with the core concept of “enjoying music”. The concert featured performances from various artists, as well as the Yokohama Boys and Girls Choir. Invitees included members of Ken Corporation Group, who developed K-Arena Yokohama, VIPs from various industries, and local residents.
Nitani:
Approximately 4,000 guests were invited to the event. A wide variety of guests were invited, so we carefully categorized them according to the program. Local residents, clients' customers, employees and families of group companies were invited, making for a rather large-scale ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, the speakers gave speeches, followed by a toast, a sake barrel-breaking ceremony, and a photo session. Afterward, some guests moved to the VIP lounge for the reception party, others attended the preview party for Hilton Yokohama, and others participated in the preview at K-Arena Yokohama. The live performance was scheduled to begin around the time the reception party ended. The names of the artists performing at the live concert were not announced until the very last minute, creating a feeling of exclusivity as it was only revealed to attendees upon arrival.
Noguchi:
In addition to VIPs, the event was attended by many members of the public, including client representatives and local residents. Since each group would be interested in different aspects of the event, we proposed a concept that would best convey the many features of the facility to the diverse group of guests. For example, we proposed a plan to convey the impressiveness and ease of use of the K-Arena Yokohama facility to people who are expected to use it in the future, such as artists, entertainment companies, music labels, and promoters, as well as the innovativeness and luxury that are not found in other venues. Although there were other companies bidding to organize the event, our plan was selected based on these points.
Since it was the client's first time undertaking a music-arena project, they asked us to actively make proposals rather than simply accepting their requests.
Furthermore, when making proposals, to help make the ideas easier to visualize, we provided the client with detailed operational information of what would be required on the day and the overall schedule leading up to the event, we received praise for this, and we believe that this helped us to secure the contract.
Approximately 4000 guests were categorised and operations on the day were carried out thoroughly.
Nitani:
We were only able to visit K-Arena Yokohama a few times before the actual event.
At first, we simulated the large-scale opening ceremony using only blueprints.
This was an unprecedented way of working for us and for our client. It wasn't until two days before the event that the layout of the venue finally became clear to us, and we worked with the client and partner companies to address any concerns and move forward with the project.
In addition, on the day, approximately 300 staff members were stationed in various locations to guide people both inside and outside the venue and attend to people in
each category. After the opening ceremony, we guided guests to a reception party in
the VIP lounge and then to a tour of the Hilton Yokohama. By ensuring that our staff thoroughly followed procedures, we were able to guide each invited guest without any issues or mistakes.
The quality of the equipment at K-Arena Yokohama, such as the sound system and vision, is very high, allowing artists to perform without having to bring their own equipment. For the opening ceremony, JCD oversaw the on-stage proceedings, while the K-Arena team and stage director oversaw the overall technical production. This meant that scheduling rehearsals for the opening ceremony, which had to be squeezed in between artist rehearsals for the commemorative live performance, was very challenging.
Noguchi:
The guests all had other scheduled commitments in addition to the opening ceremony; therefore, it was essential that each event proceeded on time. In particular, some of the speakers at the reception party were only available for 10 minutes. Although there were some challenges on the day, we were able to proceed according to the planned schedule.
Also, the live performance was divided into two parts, but we had assumed that many people would leave after the first part. However, more people than expected were able to stay and listen to the second part of the show until the end, the atmosphere was extremely lively. The client was impressed by how well-organized the ceremony was and how entertaining the live performances were and gave us positive feedback.
We can leverage our experience to produce events that will maximise the appeal of your venue, even if your facility has no experience running an event.
Noguchi:
As it was the opening ceremony, JCD was the first company to be a vendor at K-Arena Yokohama. For this event, we made use of most of the facilities at K-Arena Yokohama, including the VIP lounge, VIP lobby, and other areas both in the front and back of the venue, so we have a good understanding of what functions are available. We hope to continue to produce more projects in the future, creating events that take advantage of the appeal of K-Arena Yokohama to meet our clients' goals.
An event I oversaw at the new National Stadium (MUFG STADIUM) was also being used by a private company for the first time. We received feedback from the National Stadium staff that the event had become a very useful case study in subsequent meetings. From this experience, they were able to inform companies that would use the stadium in the future of important points to be aware of in advance. I hope that the opening ceremony at K-Arena Yokohama will be a useful example for other companies that use the venue in the future.
Nitani:
I feel that our strengths at JCD are our ability to come up with multiple proposals to meet client’s requirements, and to predict and respond to any irregularities that may arise on the day. Furthermore, there are many professionals with a wide range of experience within the company, so through my work to date I have come to realize that even challenging scenarios can be resolved by consulting with colleagues within JCD. There are many highly skilled people not only within the company but also among the suppliers we work with, and by working together with them we are able to overcome even the most difficult of challenges.
Want a closer look at the event? Explore the event objectives, venue, and key details
here.
We have experience in putting together and producing events from scratch, not only for regular events but also for events at newly opened facilities, so please feel free to
contact us with any questions you may have.
