PFL celebrates silver anniversary with great prospects!
“We continue to grow”,
the commendable progress of the PFL-Group.
The PFL team, a team full of talent, is celebrating its silver anniversary in the audiovisual industry this year. The combination of qualities such as dedication, knowledge, experience and especially passion makes the PFL-Group at home on just about all fronts within the event market and for years a reliable and international AV partner.
The PFL-Group is committed to both rental, sales and technical & creative support for parties, meetings, conventions, events and productions. They provide custom audiovisual support, as well as video and creative solutions, always with highly advanced top quality equipment and experienced professional technicians. Providing a wide range of services to guarantee optimal service to their customers is a priority for them.
Today, the PFL Group consists of 8 companies that support and complement each other so that they can always offer a total solution:
PFL Audiovisual, PFL Sales & Projects with Concept10 division, PFL-ABBIT Iberia, ABBIT Meeting Innovators, WIMEC, MoJuice, Stagelight and GR8T.
Their years of experience allow them to shift gears at lightning speed so that any event can take place at any time: live, hybrid or completely virtual!
The PFL-Group is a leading player within the audiovisual sector has become more than clear in recent months and years. While corona forced a lot of event vendors to slow down considerably, the PFL Group got very creative and developed a sea of options during and after the pandemic.
Multi-hub, global at one event.
Thus, the pre-existing Multi-hub concept of their subsidiary ABBIT Meeting Innovators was one of the opportunities they were going to take full advantage of. A tool specifically developed for virtual and hybrid events to allow (groups of) people from various locations (= hubs) to meet or experience an event together.
Not only is this solution very efficient, it is also sustainable, as it allows companies to save significantly on travel costs as well as carbon emissions.
Each year, ABBIT supports approximately 275 events worldwide, nearly 50% of which are US-based clients. With a larger team, brand new infrastructure, expertise in video production and many more resources since its acquisition by the PFL Group, ABBIT is now more than ever the number one innovative force in meeting & convention support.
Sustainable event supplier
Today, their technicians are still forced to travel regularly to many different locations. However, to further commit to sustainability, the PFL Group’s ambition is to open its own branch in every major European convention city. The first step has already been taken with the creation of PFL-Iberia in Barcelona. Moreover, the cities of Milan, London, Amsterdam and Riga are also on their bucket list!
“We plan to become the most sustainable event supplier in Europe”
* Dominic De Gruyter, CEO PFL-Group.
WIMEC, their own event venue
n 2020, in full pandemonium, the PFL Group took over the WIMEC Event Centre in Turnhout.
WIMEC is the event location in the Kempen! In this congress center with 6 different rooms, they facilitate production houses, event agencies and companies in organizing events, meetings, meetings, workshops or seminars. The multi-purpose hall The Factory with an area of 900m² has a capacity of 1,100 people, ideal for staff parties, product presentations or hybrid events.
This convention center was additionally furnished with move-in-ready virtual studios, such as a cozy living room setting and a large table discussion set, as well as a Greenkey studio.
The accessibility by highway, the short distance to the airports of Antwerp and Eindhoven, as well as the proximity to the Netherlands and Germany and extensive parking facilities are enormous advantages.
2023, again in full expansion
Recently, under the supervision of managing director Joachim Dens, Complete Eventing became a full-fledged part of subsidiary GR8T (= Great). A strong dynamic company in Veerle Laakdal that turns any party or event into an unforgettable event. Thanks to their experience and expertise as well as joining the PFL Group, they can offer a wide range of services to individuals and associations, from equipment and complete event crews to individual rentals.
Concept10, the latest technologies for fixed installations
The greatest pride of the PFL-Group in early 2023 is undoubtedly the brand new venture Concept10 in Lokeren. A company run by 2 specialists, Steven Kemland and Stijn Vermeiren.
This branch specializes in the sale of fixed installations, which can be used in a wide variety of applications, and targets amusement parks, museums, theaters, study agencies, integrators and contractors.
Concept10 creates entertainment-related AV projects from A to Z and works with renowned brands for their high-quality audio, video and lighting equipment.
They examine the needs and goals of each project and work out a practical and financially viable solution, focusing on customized advice, desired quality and ultimate operability.
With the greatest care and attention to detail, the AV installation is integrated within the overall project, working closely with the other contractors and consulting firms.
From the beginning of the project, optimal aftercare is also guaranteed.
“Thanks in part to the professional insight and solid support of the PFL company, we are very proud to say that our students are able to have their stage experiences in beautiful venues.
It gives our arts campus an extra aura. We are therefore an example for many other academies, a leader in our sector.” – Greet De Clerck, director Urban Academy for Word, Music and Dance
An innovative audiovisual player
In addition to strong growth and notable business activity, the PFL Group invests continuously in providing numerous innovative top-quality audiovisual solutions.
With the rental of mobile LED screens and stages, they offer companies the ideal opportunity to publicize corporate or event information, create optimal visibility and allow an audience to enjoy an event, without the inconvenience of hours of set-up & take-down.
The LED screens with an area from 7 m², are easy to install. Combined with large mobile stages, which can also be set up in no time, they are a huge asset for upcoming corporate events.
TV, recording and photography studio
The TV, recording and photo studio in Beerse is also one of their showpieces! The space can be completely furnished to your liking in a customized virtual environment and used for Live Streamings, for example. The studio is completely sound and lightproof, with a professionally lit Greenkey floor and wall, as well as a separate ventilation and air conditioning system.
“Our Infinity Greenkey offers a wonderful 90-degree experience that you undoubtedly don’t want to miss! We also offer you the full custom package of operators, Greenkey assistance, greenroom, production room and equipment rental in the same location.” – Mario Peeters, Management and Video Responsible PFL-Group.
Some promising corporate films have already been shot in this brand new studio. This tastes like more!
Silent Seminars
The so-called “Silent seminars” are seminars, conferences, meetings, trade shows and panel discussions where the audience listens using headsets. Instead of filling the event space with noisy speakers, organizers can now deliver material via high-quality wireless headsets. This helps significantly improve audio quality, reduces noise pollution and increases participant engagement.
Through the new collaboration of subsidiary ABBIT with the English company Silent Seminars, an unlimited number of headsets with as many as 20 different channels are being made available today by the PFL-Group, and worldwide!
“The ABBIT – customers are reaping the benefits of the ‘PFL-Group’ – family. Just think: focus on Europe, on sustainability in all its facets and on product diversification. A great example of the latter are the ABBIT- Silent Seminars headsets that are multi-purpose” – Evelien Aernaudts, Business Developper at ABBIT Meeting Innovators.
IMEX Frankfurt – May 2023
The international expo IMEX is the leading exhibition for meetings and events. Subsidiary ABBIT was there 21 years ago when this trade show came to Europe and has not missed an edition as a partner since.
In two decades, the meetings industry has changed fundamentally. Twenty years ago, smartphones, meeting platforms and AI seemed like something from a distant future. But meanwhile, we live in that future and have all had to adapt. Innovation and adaptation have always been key to IMEX’s success, and that’s what drove their partnership with ABBIT: confidence in ABBIT’s ability to find solutions and develop new ideas and concepts.
Mojuice interactive production company
For years, this Leuven-based subsidiary has specialized in building bridges between creative content and technology. MoJuice develops projects based on video, audio, mobile and Internet expertise and counts virtual reality, artificial intelligent (AI) and deepfake among its specialties.
Not only is the entertainment industry taking advantage of the ever-growing range of possibilities, the event and advertising world is only too interested in the strategy between image and interactivity. Just think of the Red Devils’ deepfake commercial “Devil Time” and Auping’s European promo campaign.
MoJuice is constantly working on high-profile content as well as high-tech projects with innovative AR & VR applications for events, advertising agencies and enterprises.
They will also be strongly represented at IMEX edition 2023!