{First_Name?}, we are delighted to have brought home some great awards in April to celebrate the wonderful things we do at Red Scooter. We were successful in the Meetings & Events Australia Victorian Awards, recognised as the 2010 Best Specialty Venue for the second successive year.

Additionally, we received national recognition for our contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility. This is such an important facet of our business and this year; we have been working with the Port Phillip Social Justice Group who are a remarkable team of staff and volunteers that work towards supporting the community in the areas of housing, food vans and legal aid. Recently we supplied six event staff and equipment to assist with their Harmony Day event.

In May we were proud to introduce ourselves to over 400 future stars of the special events industry speaking at the International Special Events Society (ISES) Student Conference.  It was great to be able to share our knowledge with this wonderful audience and we thank ISES for the opportunity.

As we race towards the middle half of the year, it is time to start thinking about how you'll celebrate the end of the year.  Following you will find some inspiration as well as some recipes from our kitchen and bar for you to enjoy.

Cheers,

Eammon Hamilton
Managing Director
Red Scooter Unique Events Venue

Client: "Create something opulent and plush with feathers."

Red Scooter: "Absolutely! Opulent is our specialty!" Picture long banquet tables configures in an X all joined to seat 60 guests spanning the entire floor space of the Madisson Room. Black Sequin overlays on black underlays were the perfect backdrop for the oversized centrepieces of red and black ostrich feather arrangements, beads and sequins for a fabulous night at the Moulin Rouge - then, the phone rings:

Client: "The theme has been changed, now we want a Tron look and feel, like the film!"

Red Scooter: "No problems - consider it done!" The X Configuration became a translucent glowing "shapescape" of lustrous form on a mirror tile grid base. Using a configuration of multi sized translucent acrylic rings placed on different heights and angles, when hit by the light these created a radiant glow, complemented by glow sticks and several laser cutting shards of light and colour throughout the room. On arrival guests sampled a range of canapés followed by a delicious alternate main course which included a marinated rack of lamb. To enable guests to mingle and dance the night away, roving dessert were served including mini New York Cheesecakes and espresso glasses filled with assorted sorbets. The result was a dynamic, visually "Tron-tastic" event on a grand glowing scale and a very delighted client.

"The night was a great success thanks to your well-oiled operations".
Louise Anderson, Reading Entertainment

Sydney based ‘Events with Moore' approached Red Scooter on behalf of their client Toni and Guy who were conducting a National Roadshow to promote the launch of a new range of in salon Wella products across Australia.

The interactive presentation utilised the in-house state of the art audio visual and complimented this with music, models and makeovers. Taking guests to a Paris catwalk setting, the paparazzi were snapping from the first moment the bubbles were flowing and canapés roaming - the product was launched perfectly.

Jamie Lemcke, Event Producer stated "Last night was a huge success, so thank you so much for all of your help over the past few months. Please also pass my thanks onto Eammon and Adriana who were both great to work with onsite".

Red Scooter and Clymax Event Design were asked by Jacquelyn from David Nutter Ford to create an awards night look and feel with a ‘difference.' The brief was to design a table look that was a contrast to the venue's interior surroundings - BUT - would also complement its unique decor ambiance.

With this information, Scooter and Clymax proposed a funky urban jungle table look. All tables where wrapped in cool black and white zebra print lycra table covers that gave the room a dramatic and stylised look throughout.

Each table centrepiece was created from lush exotic foliage arranged to look like its own private jungle oasis. From a distance the repetition of all the tables looked funky and fabulous framed with Red Scooters signature red, black and gold decor interior accents.

At the end of the three course meal, Jacquelyn said "Thanks again for a brilliant night. Everything was perfect, including your great and funny interactive staff."

Our in house event stylist transformed the Madisson Room into the world of Rio's famous Carnival. Guests were presented with colourful beads on arrival to signal the start of what would become a night of Latin themed fun! After a 3 course dinner which included flavours of red chicken curry, char grilled prawns and sumptuous eye fillet, guests were treated to a surprise reveal into the Dakota Room.

Royal Casino tables flanked by croupiers were ready to continue the celebrations and the event was capped off with Batucada drummers and dancers treating the guests to a vibrant show in the middle of the crowd, and even managing to convince a few of them to join in!

"On behalf of Metricon, Clarrissa, Carson and I would like to convey our appreciation to you and your staff for outstanding service at our Carnival event on Friday evening. We appreciate the efforts made by you and your staff to make our evening so successful, both during and leading up to our event. We would especially like to thank you for allowing us to stay on and party that little bit longer. I am sure it will be an event our team will be talking about for some time to come."

Gideon Kline, General Manager Metro West, Metricon

Yep, Metricon were very pleased and after that note, we were pretty chuffed with ourselves!

Have you booked your Christmas celebration? Then why not add a touch of ‘Red' to your Christmas by hosting it at none other than Red Scooter? With the ability to host anything from 130 to 300 guests, our packages with included food, beverages, decor and venue hire are excellent value. We will also assist in booking any extra requirements such as entertainment and photography so you will have a one stop shop to plan your entire event!

With 120 FREE car parking spaces, close proximity to public transport and the Melbourne CBD, Red Scooter is the perfect location. Phone 03 9527 6846 or email us (hyperlink) to see if the date you have in mind is available!

SPECIAL OFFER: Book your Christmas celebration by June 30, 2011 and your guests will all each receive a welcome cocktail on arrival at the event!

Check out how Village Roadshow Celebrated Christmas last year…

Talk about a Red Scooter takeover - just the way we like it! Corina Baldwin and the team at Bigger Than Ten Bears (BTTB) transformed the Hamilton Room to resemble a combination of the Mad Hatter's tea party and an enormous Big Top. Staff were face painted to blend into the theme of the evening - Circus, as the extremely talented performers from NICA stood on their hands while guests maneuvered around them.

The ring mistress kept the party in line playing the part of MC, whilst our resident clowns served a hand-held dining menu that excited attendees and included Peking duck pancakes, spicy chipolata hotdogs, little shepherds pies and lamb kibbeh. Mini assorted ice-creams were the perfect finish to the event which was a brilliant example of how diverse and elaborate Red Scooter can be!

If you love a Daiquiri… and the gorgeous drink of the ‘thirty somethings' the Cosmopolitan - then this best of both worlds cocktail is what you've been waiting for!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: Nil

Ingredients:

• 10 ice cubes
• 180mls cranberry juice
• 60mls citrus flavoured vodka
• Triple Sec or other orange liqueur
• Good Dash (about 2 tsp) lime juice

Place the ice in the blender with a little of the cranberry juice and cover. Process until the ice is roughly chopped. Add the remaining ingredients, cover and blend to the desired consistency.

Serve immediately with a twist of lime in chilled cocktail glasses.

We learnt this one from our friends at Kitchen Aid…a different idea to serve as nibbles with drinks.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium white sweet potato
• 1 medium red / purple sweet potato
• 1 large parsnip
• 300g piece butternut pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Chilli flakes (optional)
• Vegetable oil, for deep frying
• Freshly ground rock salt and black pepper