Photo courtesy of Cutting Edge Productions
Bigger and better technology – at a smaller cost. This is what planners can look forward to, according to LA’s A/V rental specialists, who work the behind-the-scenes magic for events from glitzy show business award galas and mega trade shows to corporate sales meetings and medical seminars.
“Display technology at trade shows is getting bigger and bigger,” enthused Kim Webb, account executive for Culver City-based SmartSource Rentals, an A/V and computer leasing company. “Plasma screens are up to 84 and 103 inches. Video walls are expanding to 3X3s {nine seamless plasmas together} and 2X2s {six seamless plasmas together}.”
Digital signage and flat screen monitors are replacing traditional banners and posters, agreed Hugh O’Donovan, sales manager for McCune Audio/Video/Lighting in Anaheim, a California event technology specialist since 1932. “As the pricing comes down, exhibitors are showing slides, images and wording electronically. People are even using I-Pads as signage.”
Web streaming, driven by clients’ concerns with “getting the most bang for the buck,” is a top trend, said O’Donovan. By using web streaming, he explained, “a presentation reaches a wider audience. Employees across the country and the world can ‘attend’ from their desktops. Management saves money on a convention venue, lodging, meals and loss of employee work time. Instead of a space for 3,000 attendees, the client may only need to rent room for 300.”
O’Donovan also foresees enhanced use of the Internet as an interactive meeting tool. “Delegates already are doing Q & As from their desktops. This will increase,” he predicted. O’Donovan’s company is no stranger to innovation. Back in the day, McCune founder, Harry McCune, was one of the first to use stage sound monitors. The Beatles had never performed with monitors until McCune did the sound for their 1966 concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, O’Donovan related.
The heightened concern over budget has resulted in a misguided trend, pointed out by Bill Dedes, owner of Cutting Edge Productions in Torrance, which serves the corporate and entertainment industries with video, lighting and sound services. “Inexperienced planners are shooting themselves in the foot,” Dedes cautioned, “when they try to save money by booking a room for the shortest possible length of time before a big event. They end up paying more money than if they reserved the space for the entire day, because without adequate set-up time, I, or any good A/V company, have to hire more guys to get the job done right in a shorter time. Yes, I can get 10 hours of set-up work done in two hours, but I have to hire 10 guys to do the work of four.”
Webb of SmartSource Rentals is seeing an up-tick in the use of audience response systems at corporate sales gatherings. “Managers want to know their employees’ true opinions, and the ARS allows attendees to give it without being identified,” she explained.
“Lighting is the big thing right now,” said Jules Baker, CEO of AGF Media Services, with offices in Van Nuys, Universal City and Beverly Hills, serving the corporate and hospitality industries since 1967. “The new LED is phenomenal. The colors are more brilliant – and LED takes less power, so the planners don’t have to order (and pay for) extra power.” For sound, digital mixing boards are the way of the future, he added. “They’re so much better than the analog boards.”
HDV (High DefinationVideo) is gaining momentum for presentations, technical meetings and seminars, according to Baker and O’Donovan. “HD gives a more slick polished finish for any visual presentation with a screen,” Baker said. It’s particularly suited to medical meetings, where its high resolution is ideal for streaming live operations from remote locations. While HDV has gotten more affordable within the past couple of years, O’Donovan expects the cost to drop farther as innovations continue and the HDV cameras and equipment become smaller.
What’s the overall prognosis for the meetings and events industry? Webb is optimistic. “The event industry is making a comeback right now,” she said. “I predict that by next year, we will be fully recovered.”
Barbara Beckley is a long-time Los Angeles-based journalist, covering business, lifestyle and travel in Los Angeles and around the world for a variety of newspapers, magazines, websites and guide books.
