Six hundred guests, one gala night, no name spelt wrong

In late October an industry association called with a problem. Their annual dinner on Victoria Island had six hundred guests, sixty-four award categories and a supplier who had just pulled out. The date could not move. They had eleven days.

We said yes on two conditions: one person on their side who could approve names quickly, and a single spreadsheet that would be the only source of truth. Everything else, we told them, we would handle.

Day one to three: the list

The first list arrived with 71 rows for 64 categories. Seven were duplicates with slightly different spellings. Two winners had changed their surnames after marriage. One category had been renamed by the board the week before. None of this is unusual, and all of it would have ended up engraved in crystal if nobody checked.

Two people read every name aloud before it is cut. It feels slow. It is why we have not sent a misspelt award to a stage in eight years.

We set every award as a digital proof in its real typeface and size, and sent one PDF of 64 pages. The association approved it in a single evening, with nine corrections.

Day four to nine: the engraving

Crystal obelisks go through our sandblast cabinet one at a time. Before each one, two of our team read the name aloud against the approved proof. It feels slow. It is the reason we have not sent a misspelt award to a stage in eight years.

Each finished award was photographed, labelled with its category number and boxed in presentation order. The photos went onto the association’s order page so their team could check every piece from their desks in Ikeja.

Day ten and eleven: the night

We delivered at 3pm on the day, set up a backstage table with boxes in running order, and kept one of our team there until the last award was handed over at 10.40pm. One winner’s name was corrected at 6pm. We had brought a spare and a portable laser for the brass base plate.

Nobody in the room noticed any of this. That is the point.