I always enjoy learning about other industries through the speeches and product demonstrations, and quite often find myself personally motivated by the guest speakers. While corporate events can be fun to work on and pay well, they also have their own sets of requirements for the automated lighting programmer. Many elements are common for all these events, and it is important that you are aware and prepared.
That Wonderful Ballyhoo
Everyone loves to see lights move around wildly in the audience. This always helps to build excitement, enhance awards, and provide interaction with the audience. No matter the type of corporate event you are programming, it as always a good idea to have a standard open-white audience ballyhoo ready to go. You can almost guarantee that you will use it at least once, if not a thousand times during the event.
As with any ballyhoo, you will want to fine-tune it so that it covers just the audience and does not sweep across the stage, walls, LD’s eyes, camera positions or other unwanted areas. You should also ensure that important fixtures are excluded from this ballyhoo, such as podium fixtures or key lights for the stage. Generally, the ballyhoo should be basic, with open beams, no color and no strobing or other effects. Of course there may be times for specialized ballyhoos with rotating gobos, but a general open bally is the most common.
Those Pretty Colors
Everyone loves colorful looks on stage, and most programmers try to keep different looks fresh and inviting throughout the various cues. The first rule of corporate work is to learn the corporate colors, as well as those of the competition. I will make custom palettes/presets for the company’s primary colors. This way I can program all my cues and I don’t have to worry about the executives coming in to tell me that the shade of blue is not their official corporate color.
I can easily update the custom palette/preset, and all cues using the corporate colors will then automatically update to match the executive’s choice. I also try to find out their primary competitors colors and shy away from those. How embarrassing would it be to make all the truss toners and set washers “Verizon Pink” when the AT&T CEO is on stage?
Speaking of colors on stage, for productions with multiple speeches, I like to assign colors to the different people speaking. This way, I know that every time the CEO is on stage, I will use the same color look. This provides consistency for me and for the audience. In fact, I will even make a custom palette for people that are on the stage many times. This way I can ensure that, if I need to make changes to their particular look, it tracks through the entire show.
Most corporate events make use of I-Mag to show all the executive faces up close. So these events often need to be treated more like a television production than a live production. You will need to ensure that your color palette looks good on the I-Mag screens and that it does not affect the particular looks on camera.
Positioning for Success
While the basic building blocks of a corporate event are often the same as any theatrical or concert event, there are unique characteristics that you must consider. For instance, for most concert events, I always build an “up and out” position focus that places the light beams above the heads of the majority of the audience. It makes for a great look during a ballad, or when used for flyouts.
I will create this same focus position for corporate events, but I usually find that I need to tweak it, depending on how it will be used. I find that, as I build my cues, I will use this position to create big looks during speeches or demonstrations. However, with some venues, the lights end up pointing directly into the eyes of the audience.
This is rarely a problem during a concert, as the lights do not sit there for a long time. On the other hand, in a corporate event, they may remain in that position for an hour or more. No one wants to try to follow a PowerPoint speech while a 1500-watt fixture points in their eyes. So I will modify my “up and out” focus to a much higher position than I like to avoid blinding the audience. While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing, it is much more functional for the particular event.
Another positioning trick that I use on corporate events involves the main speaking area. Usually, this is a podium, although in recent years, many corporate events are doing away with podiums in favor of just having an open stage. In either case, I will focus ALL my fixtures to the podium or primary speaking area. They may not ever get used in these areas, but I have them ready if needed.
Often, the LD will use conventional fixtures for these speaking areas, but if a lamp goes out or a dimmer rack fails, light will be needed. This is why I always take the time during pre-production to focus my lights into these areas. Then, if something does go wrong, I can manually grab a fixture or two and quickly get them to the correct location.
The “Video Look”
It is nearly impossible these days to have a corporate event that does not involve video playback. In almost every production, there will be a number of video clips that need to be shown to the audience. When this occurs, it is standard practice to dim down the look on stage (usually go to a dark blue color) and then restore at the end of the video. This helps the audience focus on the video and provides stagehands an opportunity to clear the floor.
Similar to the unique palette/preset for a CEO’s look on stage, I will create an “all parameters” palette/preset for the video look. Then, anytime this is needed, I can be assured that they all look the same.
While I usually build a cuelist for the entire corporate event, I will also keep an emergency playback available to drop me into the video look at any time. Plans always change on corporate events, and you never know when someone will just suddenly ask for a video to roll.
Another tip is to always clearly label your video looks within your cuelist and include the duration of the video if possible. This way, you can see when they are coming up and know how long they will last.
Maintain Professionalism
Corporate events employ production professionals, yet they are still organized and run by the business people who are presenting at them. You must remember this, as they will have misunderstandings about how our industry works and what is possible within a certain period of time.
It is best to always maintain a professional attitude and relationship when working on a corporate event. You must consider the nature of the show and keep your front-of-house area clean and think of how you look to those around you. While it is okay to check your email in the middle of a one-hour speech, it is not a good idea for you to sit at FOH, in clear view of others, watching The Simpsons on your phone during the event.
Going Corporate
I personally find corporate events are a blast to work on. Some people find them slow and boring, but I actually enjoy listening to the speeches and watching the reaction of attendees that are not expecting theatrical magic.
Sometimes, you also get to combine disciplines, as these events often hire bands to play, have dramatic entrances, or stage elaborate product launches. The aspect of creating an entire show environment for just a few days is also very appealing and different from standard theatre or touring.
It is important to understand the unique characteristics of corporate events and be prepared for the common elements. With a little bit of knowledge, you, too can be ready to take on any corporate event.
