The Westminster Counterterrorism Conference took place on 23 November 2017 and was organised by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) which is the world’s oldest independent think tank covering international defence and security. The conference explores the nature of terrorism today and how this may change in the future. It also features panels with leading practitioners and policy makers from across the globe.
The event was overseen by WL’s conference account manager Shrenik Singhavi who said: “Our role was to provide all of the production support which ranged from audio to lighting to video to set to staging to backdrop. RUSI were aware that we are able to provide the complete package hence the reason they called on our services.”
The event marked the first daytime conference to be held at Banqueting House for over five years. The high-profile speakers included: Michael Chertoff, former US secretary of homeland security; Sir John Scarlett, vice-chairman of RUSI; and Gilles de Kerchove, European Union counter-terrorism coordinator.
Not only were there hundreds in attendance at the venue itself but the conference was live streamed across the globe and covered by six international news channels. Singhavi added: “With so many people watching, we had to ensure that the set-up looked as visually impressive as possible. Not only did all of the appropriate signage and logos have to be on display but we needed to ensure even coverage in terms of lighting and sound in order to give the best experience possible.”
The WL on-site team was led by WL’s project manager Phil Gladman. The crew arrived on site at 7am and had to set everything up in two hours within the Great Hall. Singhavi commented: “Whenever you’re working in a public space, time is always of the essence and you need to ensure that you’re able to turn up and get everything in place within a given period. This is why we conducted lots of pre-planning with the client so we were fully prepared on the day.”
The Westminster Counterterrorism Conference marks one of many events that WL has supplied at Banqueting House this year. Others include the University of Cambridge Fundraiser which recently won Best Use of AV Technology at this year’s Event Technology Awards.
Singhavi added: “The Counterterrorism Conference was a huge success with the day running extremely smooth. As a company, we have years of experience coupled with the very latest technology and resources to ensure that we can constantly deliver on events and conferences of any scale and within any location.”
Sabrina Downey, projects and events director at RUSI, commented: “WL was extremely helpful from the initial planning stages all the way through to the entire conference, ensuring that everything went without a hitch. I look forward to working with them once again.”