Event Planning Guide

To insure the success of your meeting, this document will provide basic information as you plan the logistics for your event. Since audience sizes, hotel meeting room sizes, and program agendas will vary dramatically, this information is intended to give you a basic information set that should help you deal with your AV company and hotel from a more knowledgeable position.

This information is just a guideline. Expect to deviate from the guidelines below as your own meeting is subjected to various influences such as audience size, budget, speaker requirements, etc…

Room Size & Reservations

For theatre style seating (all chairs in rows, no tables) you should allot approximately 10 square feet per person in the audience. But wait, before you multiply the length times the width of your room, subtract 42’ from the length of your room. This will allow for aisles, the actual stage, and backstage area should you use rear-projection video (recommended).

For example:

Room Dimensions: 100’ X 60’
Subtract 42’ from 100’: 58’ X 60’
Seating Area: 58 X 60 = 3,480 square feet
Approximate Seating Capacity: 3,480 / 10 = 348 people seated theatre style

This formula should give you a ballpark figure for a room’s capacity. Your staging requirements, doorway locations, and room shape will all have an effect. Consult with the hotel staff when in doubt, but they have a tendency to inflate capacities.

When reserving the room, allow plenty of time for setup, rehearsals, the meeting, and tear down. This cannot be stressed strongly enough! Your AV Company will need 4-6 hours to build your set, set up the equipment, and focus the lights. (Maybe more if your set is large or complex). It is also critical to rehearse each presentation on-stage with video playback and PowerPoint support. Don’t skip this. Allow 2-3 hours for tear down after the meeting.

Consult with your AV company before reserving your meeting space. Find out how much time will be needed for set-up, lighting, crew breaks, etc… At what point do you pay overtime? Can it be avoided? Maybe not. Don’t try to save money by cutting it close on the set-up and rehearsal time. You will take years off your life. It is in your own best interest to allow plenty of time for set-up and rehearsals. Calculate how much time will be needed and then add a few hours. When something goes wrong (and it will) you will be glad you planned for it.

Speaking of Rehearsals: Each presenter should be well-rehearsed BEFORE their rehearsal on-stage. Explain to each presenter that they must rehearse on their own and finalize their PowerPoint slides before their on-stage rehearsal. It is an enormous waste of money and resources for a presenter to be re-writing their script or revising their slides on stage while the entire crew sits idle. On-stage rehearsal time is very limited and expensive. This time is best used for the presenters to become familiar with the prompt monitor, lighting and stage layout. It is also an important time for the technical crew to familiarize themselves with each presentation and make sure there are no glitches. This is not the time for slide revisions that should have happened days earlier. Minimal revisions are to be expected.

Staging

The primary elements of your stage will be:

Stage risers
Podium
Decorative Backdrop
Screen
Pipe and Drape

Stage risers are used to build the stage itself. For a smaller audience (75-125) you will probably only need a 12” high stage. As your audience size increases, so should your stage height. 18-24” should be plenty. Very large audiences (over 300) may require 30” stages. Don’t forget to order steps for your speakers to get on stage—at least two sets. The stage should be at least 12’ deep and 16’ across to accommodate the podium and speakers who like to wander. Consider whether your stage will have to hold large groups of people—Q & A panels, award winners, etc….

Staging units are usually 4’ X 8’ in varying heights and are pretty cheap. The hotel usually provides risers. Reserve them early.

The Podium may be provided by either the Hotel or the AV company. Make sure you see it in time to replace it. Some podiums are truly ghastly. It should have a functioning light for speaker notes and a shelf for water. A small light can be added to most podiums if necessary. Suggest placing a company or organization's logo on the front.

The Decorative Backdrop is whatever design you decide upon. You’ll want to make sure that it:

Is visually appealing
Is easy to set up and tear down
Is size-appropriate for your audience and stage
Does not obstruct view of podium or screen

The screen is the surface that your PowerPoint slides and videos are projected onto. It is recommended that you use rear-screen projection (projector behind screen on opposite side from audience). This method takes up more of your seating space but has several advantages:

Projectors are somewhat noisy. Front-screen projectors can disturb the audience.
Easier to mount projector for rear-screen because it is out of audience view.
Speakers can not step between projector and screen.

If rear-projection is not an option, don’t panic. Many shows use front-projection successfully. When it comes to screen size, bigger is almost always better. Rule of Thumb: The last row of seats should not be farther away than 6 times the width of your screen. So, if the back row is 60 feet from the screen, the screen should be at least 10 feet wide. You will not receive any complaints about your screen being too big. But:

You may need a bigger projector to accommodate your screen.
Ceiling height will impact the size of screen you can use. It does no good to have a huge screen if the bottom of the screen is too low. Your presenters should not block the screen significantly. Placing the screen off to the opposite side of the podium is recommended. The bottom of the screen should be at least 4’-5’ feet above the floor. More is better.
screen size is an area where compromises are frequently made.

Video Playback

Make sure that your AV Company understands from the beginning that you will need to smoothly switch between video sources and a PC source during your meeting! There are a variety of ways to accomplish this as long as your AV Company understands your needs.

Videos on DVD format are a digital format that provides superior video quality. It also allows you to instantly cue up any video without having to fast-forward or rewind. Make sure to inform your AV production company that you will be playing back videos with a DVD player. They probably have one available. Work this out ahead of time. Test the DVD provided for you on the machine that will be used during your show. Some times there are some compatibility issues with some of the older DVD players. This year it shouldn’t be a problem, but…
Ask your video engineer if you can use the S-Video or RGB connector from the DVD player to the Projector. This will provide a better picture quality.
Insist that the video playback engineer familiarize himself with the format and use of the DVD you provide. Instructions will be packaged with each DVD. It’s not difficult but it is different.
If you plan to show any videos that are not included on the DVD, you will need to have a videotape player of the same format as your tape. If you have lots of extra videos to play, it might be worth it to use a Beta-cam format. If you only have one or two, save yourself some money and use VHS.
The video crew will need a small (8-inch) cueing monitor for both the DVD and tape deck.
You will need to place a 42” plasma on the floor in front of the stage so your presenters don’t have to look behind them to see what slide or video is on the screen. Insist on an RGB monitor or the fine text of your graphics will be very difficult to read. You will pay more for an RGB monitor but it is worth it.

PowerPoint Display

Load all PowerPoint presentations onto the same notebook computer for the rehearsals and for the show. To keep the meeting flowing smoothly, group multiple presenters’ presentations into one larger presentation.

For example:

Bill, Sam, and Karen are presenting consecutively after the morning break and before lunch break. So combine their presentations into one larger presentation. Be sure and place a title slide or name slide before the next presenters’ presentation. By doing this, there is no need to close one presentation and then go searching for the next presenters’ slides while the audience is watching.
During the lunch break you can load the next presentation.
If this is confusing or you need help get a person that knows the software.
If your PowerPoint needs are particularly complex, you may choose to hire a PowerPoint Computer operator from your AV company. You will need to provide clearly marked scripts so they know when to advance to the next slide. (This should be done regardless of who operates the computer).
Another good idea is to load the presentations onto two separate notebook computers and switch between them using an “A/B” switch (purchase at any computer store). The A/B switch gives you a safety valve. If one computer crashes you can quickly switch to the other computer. You can also load the next presenter’s presentation while the previous presenter is finishing up. Then, seamlessly switch to the first slide of the next presentation using the A/B switch. If you use this technique, you don’t need to group the presentations as mentioned above.
Some presenters will want to cue their own graphics changes rather than mark the cues in a script. Your AV company will need to set up a “dummy-light”. When the speaker presses a button, the light goes on in front of the computer operator and they advance to the next slide. Dummy Lights are no problem, but warn your AV company ahead of time. They may not routinely pack one among their gear.

The primary Audio elements are:

Audio Mixing Board
Microphones
Speakers
CD Player

The Audio Mixing Board (sound board) is what the audio engineer uses to control the levels of all your sound sources. You probably won’t have much choice here, and that’s okay. The important thing is that it has one channel for each of your audio sources. For example, a typical show might have the following audio sources:

Podium Microphone
Wireless Lav Mic (A)
Wireless Lav Mic (B)
Wireless Handheld Mic (A)
Wireless Handheld Mic (B)
DVD Player Left Channel
DVD Player Right Channel
CD Player Left Channel
CD Player Right Channel
VHS Player Right Channel
VHS Player Left Channel

That’s eleven different audio sources. You will probably need a 12-channel audio board. Your meeting may require even more audio channels. This should be no problem.

Quality Microphones (mics) are critical to the success of your meeting for obvious reasons.

The podium mic is mounted on the podium and is for use by speakers who will remain at the podium. A wired microphone is recommended to reduce costs and improve reliability.
Wireless mics are very convenient and easy to use. There is no cable for speakers to struggle with. However, wireless mics are quite a bit more expensive. Plan ahead. Review your agenda so that you don’t pay for more wireless mics than you really need.
Wireless Handheld mics and Lavaliere (lav) mics are for use by speakers who roam across the stage or into the audience. Handheld mics are necessary for use by audience members (such as during a Q & A session.)

Quality Sound Speakers are also extremely important. Don’t skimp here. Speakers are relatively cheap and if the audience can’t hear, nothing else matters. Small audiences may get by with 2 speakers. Most audiences probably need at least 4 speakers depending on their power. Follow your audio engineer’s recommendations but make sure he/she understands your uncompromising demand for crisp, clear sound with enough volume for the entire audience. Be wary of recommendations to use the hotel’s “house” audio system. Unless your meeting is fairly small, resist the temptation to rely on two huge speakers at the front of the room. If they are loud enough for the back row to hear, the front row will be bleeding from the ears by lunch.

Lighting

You will need to rely upon your AV company to determine your lighting needs based upon your set design, power availability, and ceiling height.

Expect to pay for about 6-12 ellipsoid lighting instruments, a lighting control board, dimmers, lighting stands (trees), and possibly lighting trusses.

If you feel the need, a little budget goes a long way with some decorative lighting, this could include some moving lights for color and or some Gobo’s with your slogan or logo.
Be vigilant during the set-up that the stage lights don’t “spill” light onto the video screen—making it difficult to see. Minimal spillage may be unavoidable, but don’t be afraid to be a pest about this.
Establish a comfortable light “level” before the meeting begins. Presenters will want the lights dimmed because they are shining in their eyes. The lighting tech (and audience) want the lights brighter so they can see better. Establish a compromise position. Usually the lights can be dimmed significantly and still provide plenty of light on the stage. Stand at the back of the room and observe for yourself. Preset a level.
Predetermine levels for the “house” lights. You will need a “walk-in” level, which is brighter, as the audience comes in and finds their seats. You will also need at least one “show level” for during the meeting. If the house lights are too bright, it may be difficult to clearly see the video screen. If the house lights are too dark, your audience may fall asleep. Find a compromise. Do you want to dim the house lights all the way during the videos? Usually you can find an appropriate level and keep it throughout the entire meeting.
Assign someone (from your group) to control house lights. This is frequently overlooked. You may need more than one person if the house lights controls are scattered around the room. This is often the case in larger meeting rooms.

Miscellaneous Notes

Plan for a control booth to be placed at the back of the room. This is where the lighting board, audio board and possibly more will be positioned during the meeting. It will consist of one or two 8’ tables and chairs for each operator.
Be sure to time each presentation (including videos) well before the meeting date. You can’t squeeze 7 hours of presentations into a 5-hour slot. Better to find out early that you have timing issues that need resolved.
Allow 2 minutes of on-stage rehearsal for each minute of presentation. This allows for multiple read-throughs and other adjustments.
It is highly recommended that you do a complete run-through in the office with all presenters a few days before the meeting. You will discover any redundancies and reduce the need for extra on-site rehearsal time.