Not that many years ago, no one could have conceived of a conference like the annual SkySprout Summit, simply because its industry did not exist. It also wasn’t that long ago when few could have imagined lighting a “corporate event” quite the way Brent Schmidt did this two-day digital marketing summit at the 15,800 square foot Columbus Grand Hyatt Ballroom in Ohio.
The punchy, colorful looks that Schmidt and his team from Cleveland-based B Productions LLC cooked up were a far cry from the more staid approach to lighting corporate confabs in an earlier era. Not only was the demand for colorful lighting virtually nonexistent in that earlier era, the technology to deliver those looks wasn’t readily available either, said Schmidt, who used mostly LED fixtures and ran his eight-universe show over Art-Net. B Productions owns a large lighting inventory that Schmidt books out for corporate events, parties and concerts.
Still, when it came to corporate theater and lighting presenters on stage, Schmidt paid careful attention to detail, relying on a collection of Ovation E-190WW warm white ellipsoidals from Chauvet Professional flown 20 feet in the air about 40 feet from the stage. To make up for some less-than-ideal hanging points, he also used two Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Profiles from the FOH position (about 75 feet away) as front lights, when they weren’t busy creating special effects.
Planning the Details
Schmidt believes that planning is the key to making a modern event design come off, so it takes care of essential key lighting on stage, while still appealing to attendees who have come of age expecting to see exciting visuals every time they turn on their TVs, open their computers or attend a religious service. (That’s not to mention concerts!)
In the case of SkySprout, Schmidt spent more than six months meeting with event organizer Nick Francis to ensure that his visual presentation balanced the project’s diverse needs. He also worked closely with his designer, CJ Mellides who put together the Vectorworks floor plans and power draw sheet.
“What much of this came down to was attention to detail,” said Schmidt. “When designing a conference that has heavy content and spoken words, the stage cannot be overbearing with color and light, but at the same time, it needs to have enough light for both cameras and the live audience.
To engage the audience between speakers and at the start of sessions, he relied on beam effects from the GLP Impression F1 and eye candy created with Chauvet Professional Maverick MK Pyxis units, which were mounted on stage truss. He also had Chauvet DJ Intimidator Wash 350 fixtures on 3’ truss columns positioned just under the projection screens, using them for simple movements and ballyhoos during pre and post session intervals.
For added color during ballyhoo moments, his rig included Rogue R1 Spot and R1 Wash fixtures. During the post conference party, these, and all the other movers were used to create aerial effects and specials. “We were able to morph easily from conference lighting to party lighting,” said Schmidt, who controlled his lights via Onyx as well as on a Martin M2GO HD while using the Elation eNode8 to run DMX over Art-Net.
Preparation’s Payoff
Schmidt credits his production crew Renee Murry, Shawn Delaney, Joe Plovock and Tommy Carosielli with making this project a success. When the rig set up was completed, and before the conference started, Schmidt took a moment to survey what he and his team had just accomplished.
“I had been up for 42 hours and stopped to gaze around the room,” he said. “For me, it was amazing how our team had pulled together so many little details to create something so impressive.”
If the visual panorama seemed dreamlike to Schmidt, imagine how it would have appeared to someone suddenly transported from the event lighting world a generation ago.
