The control position: where everything comes together
Somewhere in the room stands the control desk, and everything runs together there: the microphones, the presentations, the camera feed, the lighting and, if the event is streamed, the broadcast. Together with the venue we decide where that desk sits best, with a view of the stage and of the audience, because a technician who cannot see the screen cannot correct it either. From there they mix the sound live, switch between presentation, video and camera, and bring the lighting down or up as the programme changes. On larger productions there is someone per discipline, with an intercom to the cameras and the stage, so a cut is agreed rather than accidental. We position the control desk so that it is not in your guests' sight line or walking route.
Preparation: site visit, running order and rehearsal
Most of our work happens before the first guest walks in. For a room we do not know we come and look first: where is the power, what can be rigged from the ceiling, how do the sightlines run, where is the loading bay and how much time do we get to build. We go through your running order line by line, who speaks when, which video is shown, when the lights come down, what has to happen online, and translate it into a technical plan. On the day we run a rehearsal with the speakers and the chair: microphones on, a moment to get used to the stage, vision cues walked through. Whatever surfaces there, we solve while the room is still empty.
Our technicians
Our technicians are professionals who know what is at stake at a congress: one occasion that has to go well, with a full room and speakers who want to think about their content rather than the technology. They arrive in suits, with laptop and service case, and stay the whole day, not only during the build. Spare cables, adapters, batteries and a second presenter are there as standard, so a problem is solved before it becomes one. For meetings in secure environments such as courts and government institutions, our people hold a certificate of conduct and work in line with GDPR. And because we have been doing this since 1962, almost every situation a congress day can produce has come our way before.
Project management for large and multi-day congresses
As soon as several rooms, several days or several suppliers are involved, a project manager joins the team. They are your fixed point of contact, from the first quotation to the last case leaving the building. They assign technicians to rooms, draw up the build and strike schedule, agree access, power and timings with the venue, and liaise with your other suppliers, the stand builder, the caterer, the set builder. If the programme goes differently than planned, you do not have to work out whom to ask: you call one number. At multi-day congresses the set-up stays in place overnight and we check everything again each morning before the first session starts.