Sidemen 8th Birthday Party

We’re pretty used to throwing some epic parties, however, we’re particularly proud of this party we created for the Sidemen!

The management team of the Sidemen – the huge YouTube group – got in contact with us to create an epic party to not only celebrate their 8th year of being a group, but to also launch their brand new Vodka brand, ‘XIX Vodka’ to their family and friends.

XIX Vodka has gone leaps and bounds since the launch – now able to buy in Morrisons supermarkets and a selection of newsagents across the UK and around the World.

Who Are The Sidemen?

If you use YouTube, there’s no doubt you’ve heard of ‘The Sidemen’, especially if you’re from the UK!

The Sidemen started back in October 2013 and are a group of 7 of the top British YouTubers, boasting a total of over 18 million subscribers (as of February 2023) on their joint YouTube channel alone! This number increases by the day.

The Sidemen Members:

‘KSI’ – Olajide Olatunji, AKA “JJ”
‘Miniminter’ – Simon Minter
‘Zerkaa’ – Joshua “Josh” Bradley
‘TBJZL’ – Tobit “Tobi” Brown
‘Behzinga’ – Ethan Payne
‘Vikkstar123’ – Vikram “Vik” Barn
‘Wroetoshaw’ / ‘W2S’ – Harry Lewis

Each member above has their own dedicated channels with their own audiences, which is one of the many reasons their audience as a group is so huge!

The YouTube group often feature other popular YouTubers in their videos, including the likes of Logan Paul, Calfreezy, Callux, Chunkz and Yung Filly – just to name a few!

Many YouTubers and other content creators they collaborate with were featured in the recent Sidemen Charity Match in 2022!

The Sidemen post a vast array of content from reaction videos and road trips to challenges:

The Sidemen are a huge force and have been for years and have spread out to a range of industries, from their food brand and vodka brand (which we did the launch for – as we explain in this blog!) to clothing and much much more.

They really are pioneers of the content creation space.

Designing, Producing and Managing The Sidemen Party and XIX Vodka Launch

We had a really tight turnaround of 8 weeks to plan, install and manage an event that would need to impress some of the top YouTubers from around the UK.

Everything from designing the event and finding an event space to producing the event, managing it on the day and sourcing all of the entertainment, event staff and more that would be at the event.

We had an initial brief from the Sidemen management team to go from.

Finding The Event Space

As with any event – the first thing is finding the place for it to take place!

It was important to find a space in central London that would be easy for guests to get to. Additionally, the venue space needed to be big enough to accommodate 250 guests, and act as a blank canvas so that we could completely transform it to fit the Sidemen’s brief.

It was also important that the venue space allowed us to create separate sections.

This was because part of the brief was that when guests entered the first area they would not realise the scale of the event until the big reveal.

Therefore, we needed a greeting area, the main area which would accommodate a stage and large bar, a chill-out zone, a separate ice bar and a food area.

We also needed to accommodate a zone where YouTube could be to promote their Shorts feature. As well as ensuring there was kitchen space available, a cloakroom, toilets and a smoking area. All of which needed to be consistent with the tone of the party.

We chose the amazing Shoreditch Electric Light Station venue as it ticked all of the boxes and is a fantastic venue to work with.

Sidemen XIX logo projected on the side of the Shoreditch Electric Light Station. We chose this stunning venue because of it’s great location and space available to create a fully immersive event for the Sidemen.

Designing and Producing The Event Space

We wanted to make this event epic so as part of the brief we designed a lot of custom builds. This included a bespoke stage area and various set builds such as the ice bar and food court area.

Due to the scale of this event, we had lots of departments working on this event. From draping and lighting specialists to set builders, decorators a whole rigging team and much much more.

Creating an event space with multiple themes

We worked with the Sidemen management team to decide on what themes would work best for this event, as well as including some cool features that would tie into the Sidemen’s interests.

With lots of themes to choose from we were keen to pick themes that the Sidemen would love.

We wanted to blend some themes together to create a more varied and interesting space, so we chose a different theme for each area of the event space.

Here’s the initial render for the event concept showing the overall event space/floorplan:

Sidemen XIX vodka launch party floor plan design render. — Event layout created for the Sidemen XIX vodka launch party using the Shoreditch Electric Light Station venue floor plan.

As part of our event design service, we can virtually show you what your event will look like before producing the real thing. This means we can work directly with you for feedback to ensure the event is exactly how you want it.

For the party, we went with a futuristic Tokyo theme for the main event area, a classic black and white theme for the marquee area, a Winter Wonderland themed Ice bar featuring pokemon vodka luges and ice sculptures for the ice bar area and a Gatsby theme for the chillout zone.

XIX Vodka light up sign above bar. — Bespoke XIX Vodka light up sign created for Sidemen event. It was very important for the bar area to reflect the brand image of the Sidemen and XIX Vodka.

Floral Tokyo themed event space. — Floral Tokyo themed event space we created as a chill-out seating zone at the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch.

1920's themed black and gold props and furniture in event space. — We brought a range of unique themes together in the event space to make for a more immersive experience for the guests of the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch.

Building The Event

The event build took 4 days in total, with lots of teams working on lots of different sections to ensure everything looked just right for when the guests arrived.

See the images below for the progress of the build – showing the before and after.

Team transforming Shoreditch Electric Light Station venue. — We took the Shoreditch electric light station venue from blank canvas to fully themed event space, with the build taking 4 days to complete.

Team transforming the Shoreditch Electric Light Station venue for XIX Launch party. — Our team fully transformed the event space from empty venue to fully immersive event.

Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch Party nearing build completion. We transformed this venue into an unrecognisable space.

Neon Tokyo Themed XIX Vodka Launch party entrance. — We created a unique entrance to the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch party with Neon Tokyo Themed signage and lighting projections.

Stage and crowd on dance floor with projection lighting, hanging props and rigging. — Neon Tokyo Themed Event designed and produced by Julia Charles Event Management for the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch. We designed and produced a range of bespoke props, used lighting projections and more to transform the Electric Light Station venue into what you see in this photo.

Entertainment at the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch Party

One of the key elements that we needed to consider was the entertainment on the night of the event. It was important that guests felt like there was constantly something new and exciting to watch and interact with.

Furthermore, due to a lot of the attendees having high social media presences we created lots of great moments they could enjoy sharing with all of their followers.

The entertainment for the night included:

Human Tables
Pickpocket
Geisha Girls
Walkabout Bodyart Models
Rollerskater
Contact Juggler
Contortionist
Diablo Artist
Acro Pole
Acro Duo
LED Hoop Performer
Aerial Sphere
Cake Ladies

Additionally, we had multiple DJs. These included DJ Maximum, DJ Nathan Dawe and DJ Justin, who played their sets throughout the night with guest appearances on stage from KSI and P Money.

Collage image of entertainers we provided for the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch event. — We chose unique entertainment that matched the unique theme of the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch event to excite guests at the event.

Collage image of entertainment at XIX Vodka Launch event. — We provided a wide range of themed entertainment to engage guests at the XIX Vodka Launch Party.

Sidemen XIX Vodka Product Launch

Although this wasn’t a typical product launch where the product is immediately launched to market and industry figures, this party acted as a soft launch to friends and family.

The Sidemen wanted to have an event where they could debut XIX Vodka to friends and family to showcase what they’d been working on and give their friends and family a first look and taste.

Therefore we wanted to ensure that XIX Vodka was a key focal point to the event.

We did this in multiple ways. Firstly, we had a giant bar area in the main section of the party, the backdrop to this bar was a giant low-hanging blossom tree with XIX Vodka placed on shelves around the tree.

Various seating areas at the Sidemen XIX Vodka Launch event. — We created a wide range of unique seating areas for guests to socialise in.

Above the tree, we also created a large XIX Vodka neon sign. Additionally, we worked with the Sidemen to incorporate bespoke cocktails to be served at the main bar area. We showcased each of these on neon display shelves as well as having the cocktails on tap for guests to enjoy.

Furthermore, to showcase XIX Vodka at its very best, we also created a dedicated ice bar area for it at the party. Within the ice bar, we incorporate branded ice sculptures as well as pokemon-themed Vodka luges allowing guests to sample the vodka in its pure form.

Collage image of photos from the XIX Vodka Launch event. — We provided a wide range of entertainment to compliment the unique XIX Vodka Launch event including DJs, rappers, walkabout entertainers, acrobats and much more.

Because this would be the world debut of XIX Vodka, we also wanted to create lots of spots around the party where guests could snap the perfect picture to share with their followers. Therefore, we ensured that there were lots of Instagram-able spots where guests could take their photos.

By creating a unique event space and designing areas specifically for guests to take photos and promote on YouTube shorts (who were also part of the event), we enabled guests to get some fantastic promotion of the XIX vodka product.

XIX Branding at XIX Vodka Launch event. — We branded the event space with ‘XIX’ throughout the event space to promote the XIX Vodka product and Sidemen brand.

Online engagement in today’s age plays a vital part in successfully launching or promoting any product – and the launch party provided the perfect opportunity for guests to organically promote the product.

Admiring The Results!

Here’s what the event looked like from build to event!

We loved creating this event for the Sidemen and got some really great client feedback:

“Guys you smashed it. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING and for pulling it all together so brilliantly ??❤️❤️” – Jordan, Sidemen Management Team

“Just to echo this, guys, you absolutely smashed it. Genuinely incredible evening and expertly arranged and handled. Incredible ❤️??”– Aaron, Sidemen Management Team

Since this launch party, we’ve gone on to help with the annual Sidemen charity matches (in 2022 and 2023) as well as producing additional parties for the Sidemen.

If you’re looking to host a luxury private party or product launch or require any other event services then get in touch with our team to find out how we can help!

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