N&M supports the ceremonies staged at the Leipzig world championships in vocational skills
"WorldSkills" is a world championship that is all about the skills and creativity required in various professions. Over 1,000 young employees from 53 countries and regions came to Leipzig in July to compete for gold, silver and bronze in 46 different trades. Florists, hairdressers, chefs and bricklayers took up the challenge along with web designers and technicians in mechatronics and polymechanics.
The event at the Leipzig Trade Fair was run along the lines of a major sporting contest: national teams showed off their skills and were judged by international juries. Over 80,000 square metres of floor space were given over to the facilities for the competitions - from a goldsmith's atelier to CNC machines - where the young people were put to the test and performed their tasks.
And of course Hall 1 at the Trade Fair saw an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony at which the medals were awarded. WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 GmbH commissioned Neumann&Müller Veranstaltungstechnik's Leipzig office to manage the overall technical realisation of the opening and closing ceremonies while FAIRNET GmbH engaged them for the subsequent farewell party in the Glashalle. Having put in a successful tender, the team surrounding Sebastian Schreiber and Dirk Ziervogel assumed responsibility for rigging, lighting, sound and video in Halle 1 as well as for lighting and sound in the Glashalle.
On the opening evening over 7500 guests representing the competing nations found their way into the hall before the fight for the medals took centre stage on the following four days. Over 200,000 visitors watched the young employees tackling their set tasks and took part in the events accompanying the WorldSkills event.
The presentation of the awards at the large-scale closing ceremony provided one or two very emotional moments, as it wasn't until the ceremony itself that the winners found out that they were among the medals. This part of the event also presented the team from N&M with something of a challenge: over 180 sound files had to be integrated into the proceedings. "We used a combination of a Yamaha CL5 mixing desk and Nuendo Live for the numerous files so that we could play them directly from the desk via the virtual soundcard of the Dante network to make them fit in with the show," said Dirk Ziervogel.
South Korea was the most successful nation with the most appearances on the victory podium. Competitors from the country won gold, silver and bronze in 23 disciplines. They were followed by Taiwan and Switzerland with 18 and 17 prizes respectively. Germany won nine medals - twice as many as at the previous world championships in London. Incidentally, it was a regional competition between apprentices in Portugal and Spain in 1950 that marked the beginning of the championships, which now take place every two years. More and more countries then wanted to join in the world championships in the various trades. The competition has also been held twice in Germany - in Duisburg (1961) and in Munich (1973).
Photos: WorldSkills International