Toast Curates Rendezvous for Bestseller India

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Marketing | April 18, 2018 | News

Toast Events Bestseller India

Bestseller India recently hosted their annual leadership event titled Rendezvous, from March 16th – 20th, 2018 at J W Marriott, Jaipur marking its 10th year in India. Bestseller India is the Danish fashion company, behind marquee brands Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only, Selected, and Junarose. 250 select employees from Bestseller group convened in the pink city for a 5-day conference which was conceptualised and executed by Toast Events.

Toast events in creative partnership was awarded the mandate to conceptualise and execute the event.

The unique highlight of the event was that it had been planned under complete secrecy with a constant miss-direction leaving invitees guessing about even the basic details, like where is the conference would be held and what to prepare for! Disseminating clues for over 2 months, the event was a complete surprise, where tickets for travel were shared the day before their travel, finally disclosing the destination.

Keeping the values of the brand in mind ‘Own. Dare. Deliver.’ - the events were curated as such. Transporting the teams to Chokhi Dhani, the teams explored Jaipur through a team-based activity -“City Quest”. Driving the lanes of Jaipur, the teams experienced creating blue pottery, lakh bangles, conducting a puppet show for locals, to even selling local crafts outside City Palace. Bringing in the royal treatment, the winners were driven in classic vintage cars to the hotel.  As a welcome gift, all the employees were given an ultimate ‘UnBalanced Diet Box’ which consisted of 10 miniature customised liquor bottles which were creatively labelled with the fruit/vegetable plant that it originated from.

Unwinding from the day's activities, the team headed towards the restaurant “Once Upon a Time at Nahargarh” which was located at the top of the fort and overlooked the picturesque city. Marking achievement, the employees at the fort they were all presented with a customised denim jacket which had badges showcasing the landmarks achieved in the company. This unveiling was done in a dramatic format as a military ammo box was ushered to the sounds of a bagpipe band. 

Adding to the setup, Karan Kapoor, Head – Operations, Toast Events adds ‘The setup at Nahargarh fort was extremely onerous considering the fact the venue was on 700 feet height from the main city, and the lanes leading toward the venue were narrow and sloppy which made it difficult for large vehicles to move and considering the situation, we had arranged for smaller vehicles to haul the truss, sound equipment, light and fabrication material to the venue which lead to more time being spent in transportation and lesser time for setup. The precision in planning left no stones unturned for the perfect evening’.

The second day had many highlights to set the mood of the conference and imprint in everyone’s mind the 10-year achievement/celebration at Bestseller. The day started with a customised presentation on a larger than life 60 feet curved LED screen by Vineet Gautam, CEO Bestseller India that led into taking everyone to a surprise! For creating a buzz among the employees, we created a Kaleidoscope photo booth which used a prism of mirrors to generate symmetric patterns of light and colour from asymmetric objects. All the employees would have to do is just step into the booth and click their perfect picture. 

A 120 feet wall that was erected in the lawn had each employees’ customised picture etched on 10th year stamp which was handed as a memento. After an all-day conference, the evening commenced at Dera Amer, a place located in the wilderness of a reserved forest  - Themed as the ‘Jungle Party’. On entering, the employees witnessed a highly interactive giant face created with hay, wood, leaves - using 3D projection the giant face was brought to life with the famous remixer DJ Suketu who everyone to shake a leg to the beats till wee hours of the night.

Every day had a surprise. On the third day, personalised wooden baggage tags marking each employees journey within the company were given to them, showcasing the date they joined the company till rendezvous 2018. The details were calculated right from the years till the seconds that each one has spent at Bestseller individually. The second half of the day was dedicated to “Nautanki night” – each team had a play/musical/dance performance curated based on various known Bollywood movie titles that involved sound, light, video curation and detailed planning with costumes, hair and makeup, etc. This night was hosted by Chaitanya Rathi, who kept the audience engaged adding a bit of the ‘Nautanki’ theme to his character with various costume changes and engagement through the event. The grandeur of the stage and electrifying performance by the employees made left the judges amazed. In a role reversal, the judges for the night were Bhidu - Jackie Shroff, Bholi Punjaban - Richa Chhada, and Sonu - Kartik Aaryan.

Fourth day witnessed employee’s trekking their way to the mountains and painting the elephants. The evening marked the celebration of the milestones achieved by the employees. The 60 feet stage was transformed overnight to an enormous 80 feet stage with 7 diagonally suspended LED screens in an asymmetrical formation. The theme for the Gala Night was Ultra Violet with the Dapper men and Chic women in fashionable evening wear to grace the awards night. This event was hosted by Mandira Bedi who donned a beautiful ultra-violet evening gown. Lighting up the mood with humour, Zakir Khan jocularly intrigued the employees. The spotlight was on the trophy “X” which was customized for the 10th year.

Each day had unique experiences and content for the various setups curated to give a celebratory experience to every employee leaving them with various memories to take back and take their brand to the next stage for the next decade.

Final day culminated on a higher note with debriefing and setting larger goals for the year with small indoor team bonding activity that got everyone engaged and a lead up to the yearly tradition – Team Photo!

Commenting on the event, Michelle Sanghvi said, “Being part of Bestseller’s journey over the years, Rendezvous 2018 was equally special to us. Celebrating the milestone of 10 years in India, each event and experience was crafted, curating different learnings and takeaways for the future. Planning the event for 6 months, the entire project was kept in wraps as the event was a complete surprise for the attendees.”