Four hundred staff, thirty awards, a dinner service and a band, in a hall available to us from two o'clock for an event starting at seven.
Five hours to build. We rehearsed the award sequence with the compere and the two people handing out trophies, because thirty names read badly is forty minutes and thirty names read well is nineteen. The screens were tested with the actual video files at four o'clock rather than with a sample.
The chief guest arrived nine minutes early, which is what always happens and what a run sheet exists for. The room was ready, the compere was told through his earpiece, and the evening simply started early. Out by eleven and the hall was clear by one.
