Cape Town’s corporate events industry is in good technical hands with INHOUSE Venue Technical Management (IVTM) Western Cape, part of the Gearhouse Group of Companies. Following their appointment to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), IVTM Western Cape has made some impressive upgrades to their rental inventory and restructured their management team to ensure that IVTM can provide comprehensive technical support to the corporate events industry in the region.

INHOUSE Venue Technical Management (IVTM) is the corporate arm of the Gearhouse Group of Companies, which specialises in supplying technical services for the corporate event industry in South Africa and across the African continent and is currently contracted to 26 key venues around the country.

IVTM has offices in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and services some of the largest and most prestigious corporate event venues in the country, including the Sandton Convention Centre, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and The Hilton Hotel, Durban.

ETECH recently spoke with Jacques Fourie, general manager of the Western Cape branch of IVTM about the growth that the Cape Town branch has demonstrated over the past year.

 

IVTM Western Cape

The Western Cape branch of IVTM has been in operation for 11 years and has built a reputation for outstanding service and technical expertise in the region. IVTM Western Cape has recently relocated to offices inside the CTICC, to ensure that they are well positioned to service the extensive audiovisual needs of the region’s largest corporate events venue.

In addition to CTICC, many of the leading venues and event planners in the region rely on IVTM for audiovisual, staging, rigging power and support staff for their corporate events, including the Westin Cape Hotel, two Southern Sun hotels in the province, and the Cape Town Marriott Hotel, among others.

“The world of technology is constantly evolving, and it is important that we strive to meet our clients’ expectations as we maintain and exceed the standards of top national and international conference organisers and clients,” states Fourie.

 

Equipped To Succeed

IVTM Western Cape has invested in a range of new technologies to ensure that they are in a position to deliver the highest quality corporate events for their Cape Town-based clients. Among the company’s latest acquisitions is a range of Panasonic laser projectors, which are far superior to lamp-based equivalents, and deliver maximum brightness and superior colour accuracy for any corporate presentation.

The company has also made a significant investment in professional lighting, adding fixtures from the world’s leading manufacturers to their already impressive inventory.

“We have invested in a number of fixtures from Martin Professional, including the Martin Rush Par 2 – Zoom, and the Martin Quantum Profiles, as well as a number of the ever popular and versatile Robe Spiider wash fixtures,” Fourie points out.

IVTM Western Cape has also purchased additional MA dot2 lighting consoles, which are perfectly suited to programme and control professional lighting for the corporate events market.

A Winning Leadership Team

IVTM is committed to attracting highly experienced and dedicated senior management teams, who are committed to directing the company’s stable of technical, project and operations managers. In keeping with the national company goals, IVTM Western Cape has appointed Jacques Fourie in the of role general manager, under the directorship of James Demore.

Fourie started his career in professional AV with the Gearhouse Group of Companies in 1998 and has extensive experience in the live events industry, both locally and abroad. In his current position, Fourie oversees 14 sites, including two large-scale convention centres and 12 hotels. “My passion is to see people develop under my guidance, and I remain committed to taking IVTM Western Cape to new heights by constantly improving our service delivery,” Fourie states.

Fourie leads an outstanding senior management team at IVTM Western Cape, including Jana Duvenhage who serves as new business development manager, Brandon Wheller in the position of technical manager, and Vatiswa Gilivane who heads up sales. “I am confident that the senior management team will take IVTM Western Cape to new heights, under the careful guidance of our managing director, James Demore,” Fourie concludes.

Fourie works in close collaboration with Francois Liebetrau, who serves IVTM as general manager at the CTICC site. Liebetrau brings more than 20 years’ experience in technical theatre and events, serving in a management capacity for the majority of that time.  Liebetrau echoes Fourie’s commitment to service delivery and mentorship, stating that: “I have a passion for leading, mentoring and guiding young, aspiring people, with the goal of seeing the pro-AV industry achieving greater heights through service excellence.”

In addition, IVTM employs a diverse team of professional staff that are equipped to deliver on every aspect of a project, to provide the best in technical venue management. “IVTM offers a team of project managers, who work very closely with clients from start to finish. These project managers serve as a single point of contact for the client, ensuring that a client’s requirements are delivered efficiently and effectively, according to detailed specifications.  Our project managers take a huge amount of stress away from clients and from the technicians on the floors.,” Fourie concludes.