As the centrally positioned footballer was the principal feature at the drinks reception (inside a circular illuminated bar), it was essential that it dominated the spacious room and was as majestic and impressive from every viewpoint.  The brief was to also ensure that the footballer did not resemble any league player (past or present) therefore it was important that time and care was taken on the face design of the statue.

Due to the scale of the impressive feature, our team needed to carefully plan the logistics of such a technical piece taking into consideration the weight distribution and joining of each of the blocks (20 in total).  From head to toe, we estimated that the footballer weighed around 2 tons that’s the equivalent of 2,000 litres of water, or a BMW X5 car!  Our strong team built him up block by block within Rhubarb Food Design’s already set up circular bar.  The overall effect was spectacular and as always the clever use of ice really helped transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Guests and VIP’s from European football, past and present admired the piece including Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham, we love dropping our names!

To drop a couple more, we were also invited to create beautiful Seafood Stations for Borussia Dortmund by Rhubarb Food design over the Champions league Final weekend and also for Bayern Munich by the Grosvenor House – JW Marriott Hotel for the teams post final celebration (?) parties…..

 This new ice sculpture design was created for the Confex 30th Birthday Party, held at Tobacco Dock and supported by ISES UK.

Our creative team wanted to design an interactive ice sculpture feature as a fun photo opportunity for guests, which would provide social media opportunities to share images on Twitter and Facebook.

Guests at the International Confex 30^th Birthday Party, queued to get their pictures taken, looking super cool (sorry!)!

This original take on a traditional seaside peep-through board is sure to be a hit for the 2013 summer party season as a new and interactive feature.

The design can be personalised or branded to suit the event.

It was a huge success, attracting several thousands of visitors, over the three days from Friday 11^th – Sunday 13th, some who travelled for several hours to view the amazing creations this year.

The Icebox, for the 5^th year delivered the production, management (and around 40 tonnes of ice!) for this ever increasing successful event. Our ‘cool dudes’ managed an ice graffiti wall, live carving of several ice sculptures and thousands of people having the chance to have a go at ice sculpture themselves in 15 minute ice master-classes, inside and outside the estate of Canary Wharf.

This year there were 11 teams taking part, travelling thousands of miles from around the world, to create the most incredible ice sculptures across three separate competitions. These fantastic artists are all seriously talented guys and gals, designing their pieces and carving the ice on public display, with their collection of lethal and specialist tools from chainsaws to chisels, saws and engraving devices. The results were quite awesome…..talking of awesome, some of the ‘coolest dudes’ to join us this year were the team from the USA, Reverend Butters and Buddy Rasmussen, from Texas, who took the second prize in the Doubles competition. Not only creating stunning ice sculptures, these guys got into the whole festival experience, engaging the crowd and being just all round great guys to have involved in the event.

Thanks to all our fabulous international artists, with their involvement we have managed to create something that thrills the thousands of visitors.  With the support of Canary Wharf Group and expertise from our dedicated team at The Icebox, we can be very proud of delivering another truly unique and amazing event in the UK.

Do check out the festival website for details of the winners and images of some of the ice sculptures http://www.londonicesculptingfestival.co.uk/

Until next January, Happy New Year – stay very cool! (and watch this space! )

The brief was to incorporate a branding presence to the event, provide unique entertainment, and offer the guests a memorable experience.

The team at KTS Events decided they also wanted a feature that was totally original; an experience completely unexpected to wow their guests. After discussions with our ice sculpture team, the idea for an ice photo booth came to life.

The ice photo booth was constructed of 3 solid ice walls with engraved detailing and an ice seat covered by faux fur rugs and cushions to keep the guests cosy. The booth was in constant use throughout the evening, as professional photographers snapped the guests, and printed the photos instantly as a keepsake.

The event started with a formal awards dinner, where each table featured an Audi branded ice table centre piece.

The guests were then led from the hotel to a beautiful walled garden where they had the chance to watch a spectacular display of live ice carving. Guests were thrilled to see raw blocks of ice transform into an enchanting Ice Palace, along with a subtle Audi logo.

The Icebox also installed a 3 metre Ice Bar, where guests were served a constant flow of drinks throughout the evening.

This impressive achievement involved a team of six from The Icebox, to transport and install the 4 tons of ice, with integrated lighting and drainage, in an efficient and timely manner. The overall effect was spectacular, with the clever use of ice totally transforming the event.

Icebox Entertainments are thrilled to be the operators of North Pole Cambridge, set to be one of the most stunning open-air ice rinks the UK has to offer.

Skate in style this winter in the scenic surroundings of Parker’s Piece, right in the centre of Cambridge. Visitors can glide around the brand new 600 square meter ice rink, while enjoying the beautiful setting and stunning parkland views.

There’s plenty to see and do with Christmas carols, live ice carving displays by  ice sculpture specialists The Icebox.

 With super green and innovative technology Ice Box Entertainments are reducing power consumption by up to 40% using their patented ice rink technology.

For the evening crowds there will be DJ’s and acoustic performances to skate to, plus a bar and chill out couches. To explore the North Pole, head to www.northpolecambridge.co.uk for tickets and booking details.

 Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster or by calling 0844 248 5142.

The stand out moment for us, was when we were briefed to create four branded Ice Bars by the end clients communications agency Bell Pottinger. We were also asked to create a replica of an aircraft on a level of detail not usually required in the medium of ice. It was an ice sculpture to satisfy the very exacting end client, and aerospace industry leaders. This had to be planned and executed to perfection.

This was a fantastic challenge, not least because the stunning central London venue – The London Film Museum had some challenging access limitations. In any situation, the logistics of installing 5 tonnes of ice, within two hours and removing the same post event in 50 minutes is no mean feat! This is in addition to drainage, plinths, lighting and production …. I suggest that there is only one specialist ice sculpture company in the world (biased, maybe!) who have the experience and know-how to achieve this, whilst still exceeding client expectations. Proud to say The Icebox team did the job, and some.

The result was four stunning Ice Bars, each branded with the intricate SAAB technologies logo, featuring the drinks menu suspended in ice & ice bottle holders as a finishing touch. The bars were installed within 4 of the 8 alcoves in the stunning rotunda room, with ice logos and ‘chill out’ seating areas in the alternating spaces. The ice sculpture of the SAAB Gripen aircraft positioned well and truly stole the show, receiving many positive comments and ‘tweets’ throughout the night.

A great team effort by a crew of 12 and all the experienced leaders in the company, made this happen and our clients, and other suppliers were full of praise and thanks for making the seemingly impossible, happen seamlessly. Good job, extremely happy and delighted clients – well done team!

We Brits (and Aussies and Europeans) are generally more reserved about it and don’t like the pressured situation. Having said that, any business event and sadly in my case, any social event(!) is another ‘networking’ opportunity.

The definitions of networking vary, however essentially it is through meeting other business people to exchange information, seek opportunities and extended introductions all with the purpose of developing and gaining business. (For interesting additional information on networking skills check out Entrepeneur.com)

I attended with my colleagues this week, an event industry association summer AGM event, with networking thrown in. Held at House of Barnabas in Soho, gathered in the pretty, but chilly garden, in our great British Summer(!) I was reminded how useful networking is, from our recently joined team members to guys like me who have been around a while, I still made new useful contacts, saw old faces and clients that we hadn’t seen for some time. Overall it was very useful, and full of opportunities. We had a stylish 1920’s Ice Vase displayed with engraved logos and topped with a pyramid of strawberries, to fit the theme. It was received well and allowed us to ‘network’ with anyone who was showing interest in the creation.

So on balance, to those that aren’t too sure, my simple advice is to make friends, talk about ice, the up and coming Olympics, business levels, road closures, logistics challenges and exchange information. It’s got to be positive, don’t you think?

@iceexpert

I’m quite bemused how people react when you say you are going away or going to Dubai on business. My teenage kids all think it’s a holiday for two days, and eagerly await my return expecting a sun tan and the dutiful Duty Free goodies. Several clients responded with ‘Wow how fantastic’, ‘how glamorous!’, others are just curious how we create amazing things in ice in Dubai.

‘How do you do that in the desert? How do you do that in that heat? How do you get the ice there? Does the ice melt away more quickly?’

The quick answer is that most events in the Emirates are inside fantastic venues like the Dubai World Trade Centre, Atlantis Hotel, or similar very high end hotels. Fully air conditioned, with sophisticated load in areas, and very little risk of our ice sculptures being in contact with the ambient external temperature.

Other than this, our freezer vehicles, downtown freezer studio at the Dubai Ice Plant (our partners) are very similar to our ice sculpture operation here in the UK. An experienced team of ice artists and crew are now creating, handling and installing ice at several major events every week for leading global brands throughout Dubai and other Emirates.

Anyway… ice in the desert?  Yes, it’s possible! The Icebox team are looking forward to the next trip out there to the very surreal world that is Dubai.

With less than a week’s notice, The Icebox team designed, created and installed two scale models, one for each day  of the promotion. The photographs and video coverage were picked up worldwide, with astounding responses via social networking sites.

The brief was to create a traditional Fairytale Cinderella Ice Castle, on a scale that would impress the guests and add to the beautiful setting and winter theme in The Savoy Ballroom for the client’s event on Saturday 10^th December.

Based on a traditional Bavarian Castle design, we researched the traditional styles and wanted to create something authentic and romantic, which everyone would enjoy and be awestruck by.

The Ice Castle was 2m wide and just less than 3 metres high, making the highest point of the castle reach almost 4 metres displayed on our plinths with specialist lighting. Using about 900kgs of crystal clear carving ice, our sculpting team created something truly spectacular!