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Oftentimes meeting and event designers of business theatre take their lighting cues from other mediums including night clubs. What makes club lighting work? Energy! “The visuals in the room should match the energy of the music. A wash fixture with a shutter chase is usually a great way to keep the beat of a song. It wouldn’t be prudent to tell you not to use your frost, focus and all of the other attributes, but they don’t really have much punch. And club lighting is all about punch,” says Morgan Landrum, from “So You Want to Run Lights in a Nightclub?” (PLSN Magazine, March 2008). Other times we may borrow from the tour concert scene.
Bob Peterson, a lighting guy on the Bob Seger tour last year set up panels of soft LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and hi-def video walls for the manager to look at in a club in Chicago. When the manager walked in, he looked at Bob and the others like they were out of their minds and told them to "take that expletive down, just use good old-fashioned lighting," he said. Technology may not be for everyone in every situation.
In spite of this, recently we have seen some amazing changes in entertainment technology for meeting and event conventions. Entertainment now uses everything from self-powered speakers to digital consoles. How does this affect the planner when their favorite corporate entertainment company stays on top of the technology curve?
“In December 2007, scientists at Glasgow University claimed to have found a way to make Light Emitting Diodes brighter and use less power than energy efficient light bulbs currently on the market by imprinting holes into billions of LEDs in a new and cost effective method using a process known as nanoimprint lithography,” according to Wikipedia. As registrants hear with their eyes (think about it), this advancement in LED technology is now more affordable on the corporate and association level for their meetings and events.
“LED lighting produces no heat and uses very little power”, says Dennis Smith, band leader of Party On The Moon. “Each lighting fixture can change into a wide variety of colors, so a small amount of equipment can produce some very creative effects. Although this technology has been around for a while, we are now seeing LED with a brightness that was once only achieved with standard incandescent lighting,“ continues Smith.
IACEP (International Association of Corporate Entertainment Producers) member Ed Duncan adds, “with low power consumption, this eliminates the need for extra power in a hotel ballroom, which saves energy, eliminates headaches and in many cases, saves the organization money.”
Sound reinforcement too has seen changes. From big bulky speakers to small self- powered units. Meeting and event planners no longer must use their creative juices to hide those large scratched up black boxes. A wonderful example is the Yamaha Series of digital mixing consoles. The concept is saving valuable real estate in the property’s function space for additional tables, seating, dancing, etc. A small sound console is now placed on the stage and the sound engineer mixes the entertainment from a wireless laptop computer as he/she walks throughout the room. Furthermore, if permission is granted, this technology allows the artist or client to save the sound mix on a memory card. Lastly a show can be produced using just the property’s 20amp wall outlets. (approximately 5 dedicated circuits for up to 1000 guests).
On the subject of saving power…with the advent of (DPSS) Diode Pumped Solid State and (OPSL) Optical Pumped Semiconductor Lasers, laser display systems no longer require large quantities of power and water to operate regarding laser display technology.
In the past, a (5-10) watt conventional RGB or monochromatic ion laser system would need at least (100) amps of (208V) three phase power as well as 3 gallons of water per minute to cool the system. This would not be a problem for most venues to supply, but many venues, especially convention facilities would charge considerably for every amp and drop of water used. These systems created beautiful laser effects, but they took up a rather large footprint, they were heavy, and were usually trapped upstage center behind a projection screen, needing support equipment, such as fiber fed remote scanners to obtain optimum effect locations,” remarks the guys at YLS Lasers.
In contrast today a (5-10) watt RGB or monochromatic DPSS/OPSL laser system operates on a normal 120V Edison circuit and is air-cooled. No water necessary! They are small, about the size of a small microwave, greatly reducing unsightly displays while looking at the stage, and are very light, usually between 10-25 pounds. Another great thing about these systems is that because of their minimum weight, size and technical requirements, they can be easily mounted on trussing and flown above the stage for projecting graphics reducing to zero any extraneous items on the stage. “Producers, designers and planners can easily place them wherever they like to create multiple laser point sources that will produce vivid color fans, beams and graphics,” notices David Belenzon, IACEP member and president of David Belenzon Management, Inc.
There may always be a need for ion laser systems today and in the future, depending on the laser effect desired, but the new DPSS/OPSL laser systems are proving to be a more creative, practical and cost effective approach for planners to creating stunning laser effects. Hence…producing your meeting or event like a concert!
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Industry News: Kountry is King!
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featured artist: Faith Hill
 Mark
Sonder, CSEP is the Chief Entertainment Officer of Mark Sonder
Productions, an award-winning leading national entertainment agency designing
headline talent and production services for facilities,
corporations and associations. In addition, Sonder sits on
the faculty of George Mason University, University
of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), The George Washington University, Stratford
University, Northern Virginia Community College, and The University of the West
Indies. Event
Entertainment and Production is the book published by
Wiley authored by Sonder.
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