24 September, 2015

Funktionality celebrates 15 years with a bang

For one night only, Sydney-based event management company Funktionality transformed their Marrickville warehouse headquarters into a pop-up party, celebrating 15 years of successful business.

With 160 special guests, the event brought together not just industry suppliers who helped Funktionality produce 15 years worth of award-winning events, but also friends, family and colleagues.

“Being an event management company, we understand all too well the importance of venue selection and the impact it can have on an event,” managing director Tracy Wood said.

“To mark our 15 year milestone, I had a preconceived notion of what I wanted to achieve. I wanted my industry friends to be able to let their hair down and celebrate with me until three in the morning, I wanted incredible food and entertainment, but above all I wanted to push the boundaries to create a reality my guests had never experienced before.”

For the event, the warehouse was transformed to reflect an urban edgy laneway feel with flavours of local artists, foods, and breweries, reflecting the tastes of the local Marrickville area.

Inspired by local flavours, Studio Neon’s Vietnamese food station consisted of Banh Mi rolls cleverly inviting guests to ‘Eat Mi’. The feast continued upstairs, with a selection of unique sweet and savoury canapés accompanied by cocktails – Dark & Stormy and Gin Lemon Myrtle – mixed by the professional bar staff at Clifford Wallace, along with high-end wines, champagnes and hand-crafted beer.

DJ Chester kicked the night off with some background beats as guests mingled and got snap happy with Party Photobooth’s Instaprint – a revolutionary piece of technology that printed all photos posted to Instagram under the hashtag #funk15yr (check it out)! Junkyard Beats, a percussion and dance troupe from Europe, took to the floor with a high energy performance.

From there, DJ Rodd Richards – accompanied by vocals from The Voice’s Arrnott Olssen had the dancefloor shaking with crowd-favourites.

Guests needing a break from dancing could be seen entering the iSelfie360 room with a camera that whirled around the guests capturing short snippets of fun, made for amusing viewing the following day.

As the clock struck midnight, the final surprise was revealed to the crowd – an incredible performance by The Replicants, a troupe of genetically engineered organic robots, wearing ultra-bright illuminated costuming and performing with state of the art Graphic Poi visuals. This act left guests awe-struck and abuzz the remainder of the night as DJs Kate Monroe (Sydney’s first lady of House) and Andrew Wowk (Chinese Laundry) played on till 3AM.

“Being such an incredible milestone – 15 successful years in an industry marked by volatility – the achievement felt like a momentous one and so I wanted to celebrate in a big way,” Wood said.

With 15 years of producing amazing events, she said it’s taught her to always strive to be in the forefront of the industry.

“You need to continue to reinvent your business. We have a strong brand and identity but you can never get lazy,” she adds. “Innovation is key to entertain, communicate with and inspire our clients, and that’s precisely what we did on the night by showcasing revolutionary acts and technology.”

Image credit: Geoff Magee & Scott Ehler

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