The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition is one of the most important and highly-anticipated events in Charleston and for our company! The expo kicks off the start of tourist season by bringing in over 40,000 attendees to the downtown area. IES has had the pleasure of being a part of this event for the past 14 years, and every year seems to get bigger and better. Preserving the wild is the foundation of this event, the integrity of their conservation promise and the creativity behind their wildlife art. We love being able to shine light on the mission behind this organization. Keep reading to see how our team helped make this event possible!
Belmond Charleston Place
To start off the weekend in a luxurious fashion, we helped run the Signature Gala and Sale in the grand ballrooms at the Charleston Place, a Belmond Hotel. The Gala is a black tie event on Thursday night that gives VIP ticket holders a first look at the fine art on display throughout the weekend. We installed track lighting throughout the whole ballroom to highlight the art, and supplied audio and the video screen for the auction itself. As the weekend progressed our track lighting stayed in place to illuminate the art as people entered the gallery to mix and mingle with SEWE artists and other attendees.
Visitor Center Bus Shed
The Visitor Center Bus Shed is one of the main locations for fun night-time events during the weekend. On Friday night, we provided audio and video for the auction that took place at the Ducks Unlimited Lowcountry cookout. This event is one of the largest Ducks Unlimited events hosted in all of North America and we were happy to be a part of their 25th anniversary. Saturday night, our team was on site to run our LED lighting installations throughout the bus shed, and the projection screen above the stage with video playing throughout the night.
Brittlebank Park
SEWE hosts one of the nations most popular Dock Dogs events at Brittlebank Park. There are waves of the competition that happen throughout the weekend with the finals being held Sunday afternoon. For this event we brought out a large video screen and speakers that were used to show replays of the event to the crowd. Although Dock Dogs is the main attraction at Brittlebank Park, we also helped with audio for various demonstrations such as sheep and duck herding, fly fishing and retriever training techniques.
Marion Square
Marion Square is located in the heart of downtown Charleston and is the home to many fun events throughout the weekend. This portion of the expo was open to the public and gets a lot of attention from the birds of prey flight demonstrations. We set up speakers throughout the area that are used to inform the public about the important role various raptors such as falcons, eagles, owls and hawks play in our ecosystem. At the Certified SC tent, featuring the Palmetto State’s finest specialty food vendors, we ran lighting, audio, and video for the chef demonstrations. This is put on by South Carolina’s most talented chefs and their favorite farmers throughout the weekend.
Hotel Emeline
Hotel Emeline was the host of this year's 4th annual Birds of a Feather Ladies Brunch Benefit on Saturday morning. This was our team's first year participating in this portion of the event where we helped out with audio and video for the auction and raffle featuring one-of-a-kind items. Proceeds from this event directly support the Rhino Momma Project, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to protecting the rhino population.
We hope you enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at how our innovative team participated in SEWE this year. Make sure to mark your calendars for next years expo taking place on February 17th to the 19th!
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