More details from XL Video (www.xlvideo.com):
The event was project managed on site for XL by Bill Hughes and for Outlook by their Head of Events, Iain Liddiard. It was designed by Outlook and attended by around 750 of the client’s top executives and sales teams within the EMEA & Canada region.
The gala dinner took place on the first night in the hotel’s Congress Centre and the room then had to be transformed into the main plenary and conference session for the following day.
XL’s crew also rigged sound and lighting systems for the evening after-party in the Skyloft at the hotel.
XL and Outlook have worked together for about 11 years, and Iain Liddiard comments, “It is a relationship based on mutual respect, exceptional levels of technical support and exemplary crewing and project management”
For the plenary session, XL installed a twin screen projection solution to display presentation, live camera and VT playback content. The screens were 5 metres wide in 16:9 format and were front projected onto by two Panasonic PT-DZ21K projectors rigged on a truss at the back of the room.
To meet the requirement to replay two separate sources simultaneously, a GV Turbo hard drive player was used for control.
The room and set design for the event was based on 27 different sized 16:9 shaped rectangular white panels which were flown as a backdrop and to the sides of the stage. Two 6K Panasonic projectors rigged over the stage, projected images and abstract designs onto selected panels, whilst all the remaining panels were cleverly lit so the mood and feel of the entire space could be changed in an instant.
XL supplied a PPU with three Sony HXC-100 HD cameras, two positioned at the back of the room fitted with J70 long throw lenses, and one stage left on a tripod specifically to capture side shots of key and guest speakers.
The camera mix was cut by Jerry Rosenfield using a Panasonic AV-HS450 mixer and the event was TX and ISO recorded across four AJA Ki Pro hard drive recorders with two DVcam recorders for added backup. The resulting edited show footage will be distributed to all delegates who were unable to attend.
A d&b Q series PA was specified and installed by XL, complete with Yamaha LS9 32 channel desk and 12 channels of Radio microphones. The Q series was chosen for its high clarity output and excellent handling of the spoken word.
Lighting was designed by Nick Knowles, a regular XL programmer / operator and consisted of around 60 moving lights – a mix of Robe and Clay Paky – plus approximately 150 x LED battens and around 30 x LED up-lighters dotted around the room with an Avolites Tiger Touch for control.
Lighting and projected texturing and abstracts were combined with the clean modern definition and lines of the set helped turn a standard prosaic conference room into both an energizing business environment and a special space for the dinner.
The technical challenges included dealing with the low ceiling height in part of the room and limited weight loading for flying. The impact of these restrictions was minimised for everyone working on site by detailed pre-planning and a meticulous prep of all the gear at XL, who also co-ordinated all the transport logistics.
After the dinner and entertainment, those delegates wanting to continue the networking and fun into the night could rock-up at the after-party in the hotel’s Skyloft bar. Here XL installed a D&b C7 sound system and Yamaha LS9 16 channel console, accompanied by a full DJ set up plus funky lighting provided by Robe multi-purpose Pointe moving lights, Robe’s little LEDBeam 100s and Clay Paky A.Leda K10s LED washes with another Tiger Touch for control.
XL’s Sound Engineer was Alistair Westell, their Senior Rigger was Eric Porter and the video Racks Engineer was Gerry Corry.
Iain Liddiard concludes, “As producers, we and our technical partners like XL, bring the ‘art’ and the nuance to the party”.
“Working together we created a flexible presentation template on which to project any mood and style, which was rigged quickly and safely offering a space in which individual presenters could flexibly communicate. Teamwork like this is a true collaboration that unites the best partners and is about sharing expertise, opinions and know-how. Conceptual art is easy… but creating workable art takes considerably more effort!”.
