SEGA Europe, one of the largest multinational video game and entertainment companies in the world held their postponed Christmas party with us last week, their 3rd event with Ministry Venues. We sat down and spoke to Lindsey to find out what it was that kept them coming back.

Let’s learn a little more about the event itself, what was the vision for this year?

This was SEGA’s first ‘big bash’ since the pandemic. Not only had Covid caused the postponement, but the rail strikes that had occurred in December had left us having to push the event back until February.

"A massive thanks to Ministry Venues for being so accommodating, flexible and patient whilst we jumped around the calendar trying to find the perfect Plan B date!"

For each of the events we hold, we like to pick a theme and then attempt to create an immersive experience from this that brings everything together. For this one, we chose ‘Blast to the Past’; we took inspiration from the iconic ‘Back to the Future’ film and put our own spin and adaptation on it for a one-of-a-kind event.

Ministry Venues – Elephant & Castle really allowed us to be creative with this theme and bring our ideas to life. As a wonderful blank canvas space, we were able to make the most of the space and transform it. Our staff love the fancy dress as well, so we leaned into the theme and had all sorts of fun and creative 50s and 80s-inspired outfits to match the décor. It was a fun night from start to finish.

Why did you choose Ministry Venues?

I love the venue, it’s unlike any other venue I’ve used before. It’s an amazingly flexible space to work with, but at the same time, it’s quite quirky and unique. My favourite room is The Box, which is where we held the event this time; partly because it has tunnel access into it, which gives us the opportunity to transport our guests from the ‘real world’ into the immersive, ‘make-believe’ world we created within the space. For this event, we used lighting to create a vortex-type feel when walking through. Winding through the tunnel through this set-up and round the corner into the big reveal for the space, the atmosphere was electric and was worth seeing everyone’s reaction upon entering. This was the third event that we’ve held in the venue, and each time it’s felt completely different.

So how did you find working with the Ministry Venues team?

Aside from the space itself, the biggest draw is the Events team themselves, they are exceptional. The team are always full of such wonderful ideas and I tend to think that they are more excited for the event than we are. From the initial meeting to assess the venue, right through to the end when we are dismantling the set, there is no doubt at all that we are in the best hands. They are completely hands-on and have such a positive approach to everything.

“No problem cannot be resolved, that’s the attitude”

I am always left feeling like not only are the Ministry Venues team a part of the SEGA family, but that we

have become part of the Ministry Venues family too.

I mean who wouldn’t want to keep going back to that?