Big Bomber Community Auction

Your time is running out to get online and bid in the Essendon Football Club's 

BIG BOMBER COMMUNITY AUCTION.

While yes it's run by Essendon Football Club, your find auction items from a majority of the AFL teams, Australia and Domestic Cricket, Australian and New Zealand Rugby and much more sporting memorabilia.

But if that isn't your thing what about a new mountain bike? A spa treatment? A years supply of electricity? Or a new solar electricity system? Even some cooking lessons!

Or even a fabulous King Sized Car Bow for that new car by Magic in the Middle?

Check out the auction site at www.essendonfc.com.au/community/auction2012.asp

Happy Bidding!

Australian Gold in London

As our athletes compete against the worlds best in London we thought how can we help cheer them on...all the way from Australia?

With the success of the women's 4 x 100m swimming relay early on we have been 'starved' for our next gold medal but what looks like on cue our sailers, cyclists and athletics stars have delivered. So we thought what better to make some extra noise at your event and cheer on our Aussies by giving every customer who places an order of $300 or more of balloons from Magic in the Middle and mentions the Aussie Gold Rush a free champagne shaped confetti cannon.

C'mon Australia Let's Celebrate!

Offer is strictly for a limited time while stocks last, and limited to one free champagne launcher per event - but you can purchase more!

And you must mention the Aussie Gold Rush to claim your FREE Champagne Confetti Cannon valued at $29.95

 

Is it all about colour?

While this question is probably posed to those of you who are in the event decoration industry we’d love to hear from anyone on this topic.

Yesterday saw the first of the rugby state of origin clashes for 2012 between New South Wales and Queensland – yes in Victoria! with a little over 56,000 people attending!

For the uneducated the New South Wales team – the cockroaches are the blues, and the Queenslanders, the canetoads are the maroons.

So why is it that when we get given official NRL sanctioned, printed balloons the Queensland balloons are red and brown? And the light blue balloons are printed with light blue print? Light blue on light blue! Sounded like a good idea at the time? – I would have loved to have been in that meeting.

"help you support QLD to the highest levels."

If we wish to use printed balloons alongside the unprinted version we get a definite red/brown and maroon mix, so we are left with no alternative but to use printed balloons only.

Bearing in my mind these balloons were supplied by our client, when do you say “ahhh I can’t do this because the balloons are the all wrong?” Or I can’t create that effect because the colours won’t work?  (I.E. the colour scheme we were given to work with last weekend Gold, Red, Chocolate, Green and Pink!)

 After reading some of our northern colleagues comments it seems state of origin events make for a busy day north of the border.– I’d love to see some of the decorations, and hear some of the ideas they have for decorating on these days. We do have a lot of football events here in Melbourne but at least we have printed balloons that match the team’s official colours.

Please comment here / links to show some of your designs or send emails to social@magicinthemiddle.com.au 

The power of the humble balloon - Freedom

Launched this week in Europe is this commercial for a telecommunications company BASE.

While we have no idea what they are saying in either Dutch or French the imagery communicates across thousands of kilometres and proves the power of the humble balloon.

The praise for these images goes to Guido Verhoef, his team at Manifold and a cast of many more.

We at Magic in the Middle appreciate the logistics involved in creating this work of art and felt it needed to be shown here in Australasia too.

We don’t often say this but “Sit down and watch this television commercial!”

The commercial (Dutch version) you can find here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlBcJkoJaNY&feature=related


and (French version) here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326PMjCuM0M&feature=relmfu


You can also check out more of Manifolds impressive works at www.theArtofBalloons.com

Footy is here! Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!

It may be round seven but after two freezing and wet nights watching games this weekend – footy is defiantly back in our minds and in our heats. 

Its something about the cold, 

the wet, 

the runny noses, 

the team scarves, 

the beanies, 

the meat pies

and the hot jam doughnuts that makes AFL unique. 

 There’s something about huddling together for warmth and leaping from your seat as your team kicks a goal only to huddle back together as the ball gets carried back to the center for a bounce.

So we thought we would take this opportunity to take a look back at some of the football event decorations we have done recently, and see if we can get your team spirit welling inside you.

So no matter what team you barrack for it's great to have Magic in the Middle on your side!

  

WBC2012 Final night and Festival of Balloons

WOW time flies when you are having fun! Seems like only two days ago since we arrived back from the World Balloon Convention and I’ll put it down to all the new ideas, designs and creative concepts that we have been busy implementing and trying out as our excuse for not posting, but now it’s time for a catch up. So here is 2 and a half weeks:-

Gala Awards night :- While classes continued during the day a massive effort was going on downstairs in the ballroom to transform the room into truly fitting space to hold the World Balloon Convention Gala awards evening. Large white balloons surrounded by silver and black crescent moons, tapers and small latex balloons made fora stunning chandelier type lighting.

Combine the omnipresencent chandeliers with the large walls that suddenly appeared throughout the venue made from 90cm balloons and large star points and the wild centrepieces, when the lights went down low and the spotlights hit the balloons one word – WOW!

There was simply so much going on!

The time difference between Australia and Dallas made it easier to network well into the early hours of Sunday and it was noted by many the Australians were the last to leave!

But as the old saying goes what goes up must come down and what had been a balloon convention for the last week turned into a public gallery with ‘The Festival of Balloons’. With local print, radio and television media advertising literally thousands of men, women and children came throughout the day and walked through admiring the competition pieces, work completed in classes and more often than not staying and enjoying some light entertainment with the entertainers who attended WBC2012 conducting shows throughout the day. Check out the crowds!! I know some buskers who would love one tenth of the crowd these guys pulled!

While the entertainers wowed the crowds out front many hands were out the back inflating hundreds of foil, Qualatex bubbles, and latex balloons that could be purchased at the festival and there were very few kids who left the festival without a helium balloon or a twisted creature wrapped around their arm, or as a hat.

Come mid afternoon the festival concluded and as thousands and thousands of balloons started to be burst it was time for these Australians to make their way to the airport. Some 15hours after the flight left Dallas it was a warm very early Brisbane morning that the majority of the Australian contingent separated and caught our domestic flights scattering throughout Australia once again.

A special thanks to literally everyone involved in bringing WBC2012 to life. 

WBC 2012 Update...

Such an amazing day!

There isn’t many places where you can have a balloon training session with an American, Mexican, Belgium, United Kingdom, French, Hungarian, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Canadian, or Australian instructor, and walk out of the session and then get the same international flavour choice for the next session, but that was the case today!

While classes are amazing informational and educational sessions they don’t show up great here so instead here’s two examples of some of the pieces made in today’s classes.

We’ve also been emailed and asked for some more images of the convention hotel decorations so here they are:-

To end tonight was possibly the biggest twisting jam session we have ever seen, with what seemed like an endless supply of twisting balloons and willing instructors the crowd spent the time twisting well into the early hours of the morning.

Check it out for yourself.....

Tomorrow? The final classes and the Gala dinner. See you then.

WBC Day 2:- The first day of full day classes and the Circus themed party.

With this the first day of a full day of classes it was certainly a business day! With forty classes set over four time slots there was heaps on offer for everyone within the industry be it twister/entertainer to an event decorator.

Here's a few random images from some of today's classes.

After a full days classes we think we deserved a bit of a party and WBC12 didn't let us down!
With a massive Circus themed event tonight it was dress up night.

Even one of our absent Aussie friends was able to dress up and make it to the party!

Ray dressing up as a lion!
Tonight was a night those that were there won't forget - if not simply because of the amazing decor by designed Tope Abulude! Check it out... WOW!

Something I have failed to mention was that more competition pieces were unvailed tonight so here's a few images:-

Want to see more competition pieces? Or more class work? More from special events? Then let us know.

Until then see you tomorrow when we spend day three at World Balloon Convention 2012.

WBC Day 1: WELCOME

Yes I know I'm a day late but think of it this way:- You get two days worth of blog entries on one day today! How lucky are you?

The morning saw us pile into buses, and head off to the Dallas latex production plant of Pioneer Balloons to get a first hand look at the production of balloons of all shapes and sizes. Just like Willy Wonka that gates were thrown open to a select few and now the gates are locked again! Sorry was completely a no photography event.

Returning back to the Sheraton Dallas just in time for the first formal classes of WBC2012.
In seemed no time at all that five hours had gone by and we had little time to get dressed and head of to the international reception held for all international guests to WBC2012.

Just to prove it's not all fun and games here at WBC 2012 we went straight from the international reception over to the Welcome Festivities walking past / through some of the completed large sculpture, medium sculpture and competition column pieces.

Space is limited yet here are a few examples:- and I can tell you photos just do not show the depth of colour, skill and attention to detail some of these pieces display.

Walking into the Welcome Festivities was like that challenge they used to have on the tv show GLADIATORS - gauntlet, with tens of people lined along the entrance way making a tunnel all waving 260's and cheering as you ran into the room.

At the conclusion of the welcome speeches and festivities everyone was ushered outside where instructors and staff were on hand to walk though/display in small groups skills that are common problems within the balloon industry while some world renowned twisters conducted a semi formal twisting jam session.

WOW what a first day!!!

World Balloon Convention Starts Tomorrow!

A massive storm last night here in Dallas resulted in a tornado warning - guess they knew that Dallas was being invaded by some of the best balloon decorators from around the world!
While the real action starts in a few hours when Ted and Betty Vlamis throw open the doors Willy Wonka style to the Pioneer factory here in Dallas, the Sheraton hotel is starting to really look like a balloon convention is about to get underway.

A casual drink in the hotel bar this evening was like a real life look at our instructional video collection. Literally a who's who of the balloon industry.

I wont give away anything just yet but already the camera battery and SD card is working hard and we'll start uploading images when the convention gets fully underway tomorrow.

So until then....