Campaign activation period must be between 1st March – 31st December 2013

Please note campaign sessions booked on Public Holidays incur additional charges.

The Havianas Australia Day Thong Challenge returned again this past Australia Day. Becoming almost as iconic as the day itself – the Thong Challenge drew 5,664 participants to beaches in NSW, SA, WA and VIC, with WA’s Cottesloe beach taking the record again; 2093 entrants in the water, safely floating upon giant inflatable Havaianas.

activnation engaged over 350 of its staff nationally for the occasion, ensuring the smooth running and execution of each event. As per usual, this event could not have been a success without the dedication, experience and enthusiasm shown by our staff in the field.

With the exception of Queensland – which was cancelled due to poor weather conditions – the Australia day event drew in an outstanding number of participants:

Cottesloe: 2093  Bondi: 2070 Torquay: 1053  Glenelg: 448

The event also raised $56,000 to support SLSC Nippers. An outstanding effort!

activnation’s very own Natasha Rose recently returned from a trip to Ghana, Africa where she worked at the Christ Outreach Care for Children orphanage and school. This area of Sub-Saharan Africa is heavily affected by HIV/AIDs, poor sanitation and growing social issues resulting in a huge amount of orphaned children – Tash wanted to see what she could do to help out.

Entering into the IFRE volunteer program, Tash spent her time at the orphanage bathing and feeding the younger children, teaching English to a group of 20-30 students, playing games with the kids and cleaning.

While Tash has returned to the activnation office with some amazing stories, insights and photos, she’s definitely left a small part of her heart back with the children in Ghana and hopes to return.

If you would like any further information about the program visit: http://www.ifrevolunteers.org/

Or alternatively, contact Tash about her experiences: natasha@activnation.com.au

It’s that time of the month again where we introduce one of activnation’s own. This issue, we’d like you to meet the latest addition to our tight-knit team, Daniel.

With a background in model booking, Daniel recently joined activnation as a Senior Account Executive and has already done fantastic work staffing some of our biggest campaigns of the year. Not only that, he’s now our very own Babel fish, fluent in Japanese and Croatian and dabbling just a little in French.

On the other end of the event spectrum, this month we also had the opportunity to get involved in the second annual EB Expo held at Sydney’s Olympic Park. Australia’s biggest video game exhibition, the EB Expo is a 3-day event showcasing new and soon-to-be-released games AKA gaming heaven.

activnation were engaged to handpick a sizeable team of Brand Ambassadors to man Nintendo’s booth at the expo where the new Wii console, Wii U, was playable to the public for the first time – serious news in the gaming world! Staff were specially trained to guide event-goers in the features of the new console as well as the brand’s recently released games. The Nintendo stand was set up so that the games were showcased in pairs in different sectioned-off areas along the U-shaped main walkway – this layout meant guests could move easily between the different games, minimising the long lines that plagued the other stands.

Over on the other side of the expo, gaming brand Razer’s setup was the ultimate partnership of polar opposites: geekdom and disco, with a dance floor smack bang in the middle of a LAN party. While the uber-gamers played Counterstrike (a first-person shooter video game), the more laidback gamers had a boogie, ‘Gangnam style’, as instructed by the cheery MC.

It soon became apparent that gamers really do like dancing. Disco was again heavily featured at the Just Dance 4 stage which included a rainbow square dance floor and huge TV screen that played back live footage of the installation.

This was our first time at the EB Expo and, as frenetic as it was, we sure can’t wait to return next year to see how gaming brands bring to life the interactive arts.

For a full calendar of upcoming events where your brand can activate, contact kristy@activnation.com.au.

The Gympie Music Muster is a quintessential Aussie event held in – you guessed it – Gympie, just 2 hours north of Brisbane. Dedicated to all things country Australia and attracting a crowd of 60,000, this 4-day music festival is a great opportunity for brand partners to activate their sponsorships. Read on to find out what brand offerings activnation saw at this year’s festival.

First up is Bundaberg Rum’s branded walk-through container where punters could take in the brand history on show and play fun, old school games like Jenga and Connect Four. Brand ambassadors were also on foot giving away prizes and applying temporary tattoos.

Optus, the festival’s naming rights sponsor, was set up right beside the main stage with a trailer where punters could check out the latest mobile phones and tablets, charge their gadgets, use the free WiFi and, best of all, have a go on the mechanical bull.

Notable mention goes to the XXXX Gold Retreat II, a converted shipping container where fans could participate in the “XXXX Island Challenge” for a chance to win a trip to the XXXX Island for them and three mates. With an entertaining area and viewing platform on the upper deck of the container, audio visual system in the lower deck and surrounding beer garden, the XXXX Gold Retreat II was the perfect spot to catch all the festival action.

For a full calendar of upcoming events where your brand can activate, contact Kristy at kristy@activnation.com.au.

Sydney’s annual Event Showcase is Australia’s premier event industry exhibition. Held over two days this month at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, the activnation team headed to the showcase on the last day and scoped out some great ideas and inspiration for indoor and outdoor activations.

The first exhibitor that caught our eye was Oxford Communications Group for their sustainable structures made from flat-packed, 100% recycled X-board. With a unique inter-locking structure and high strength-weight ratio, this lightweight composite fibreboard can be used to produce a range of promotional materials from furniture to display stands and complete event backdrops. What we loved about this product was that not only is it innovative but also eco-friendly and easily branded for all manner of events. www.oxfordprinting.com.au

The combined stomach growls of the activnation team eventually led us to the Eat Art Truck. Operating since May, the Eat Art Truck was the second food truck to hit the streets of Sydney. The funky street style menu (think pulled pork buns and shichimi wings) can be tailored to suit your event and the truck itself is also a changeable canvas. www.eatarttruck.com

After downing some of the delicious offerings at the Eat Art Truck, activnation came upon Illuminated Industries who invited us to quench our thirst with their world-first Illuminated Water. The event hire company sources its own spring water from the MacPherson Ranges and uses a unique LED illumination system that lights up each bottle from within in either blue, red, green or white light. As the Illuminated Industries team says, “leave your thirst in the dark and step into the light!” www.illuminatedeventhire.com.au

Last time we introduced one of activnation’s Account Managers, Tash. This month we’d like you to meet her partner in crime, Erin.

Erin has been with activnation for 2 years and is responsible for managing promotional staff, client relationships and our internal social calendar (we have her to thank for our fortnightly Friday barbecues on the deck). She’s overseen campaigns for Mother, Nestea, Quencher and Vok and can always be counted on to run a fine-tooth comb through everything to ensure it runs like clockwork.

In her spare time, Erin fancies herself a lady who brunches, lunches, bakes and picnics – anything that involves food really, except chocolate, which she hates! With a love of food comes Erin’s love for the outdoors; the stunning Bondi to Bronte coastal walk on a Sunday is a favourite. To cap it all off, Erin has two shameless addictions: reality TV and totes abbreviating every word in the dictionary.

To get in touch with Erin, drop her a line at erin@activnation.com.au

To begin with, over 11 million passengers go through Sydney International Airport every year. Air travellers about to embark on, or returning from an exciting adventure, are open and worldly, which explains why they’re twice as likely as regular consumers to sample new products on offer. Then there’s the fact that once they’re through the rigmarole of immigration and security, frequent flyers spend an average of 93 minutes inside the airport terminal. If this isn’t a captive audience then we don’t know what is!

For the Drambuie campaign, activnation recruited a dedicated team of Brand Ambassadors, delivered a brand and product script for the sampling team, sourced the uniforms and consulted on the design and production of the promotional display.

About to leave on a jet plane? Don’t forget to stop by the Drambuie stand – at Sydney Airport Duty Free until 19^th June.

In her 3 years at activnation, Tash has overseen campaigns such as Samsung IT Experiential at Westfield, Vitasoy Roaming Breakfast Sampling and Barefoot Wines In-Store Sampling. She spends her days looking after clients, campaigns, staff and suppliers, not to mention she’s become the loving surrogate mother for PromoPort, our web-based campaign management and measurability system, affectionately referring to it as her ‘baby’.

Once Tash has finally been pulled away from the office (good luck with that one!), you might find her bulking up for the Tough Mudder challenge she’s doing in September (a good excuse for her abundant love for Nutella on toast and pasta) or watching tacky scary movies from the ’80s with her housemates.

To get in touch with Tash, flick her an email at natasha@activnation.com.au