Playing Both Sides

EventDesigningmag.com

For years, lighting an A/V teams have been leveraged independently but expected to work together. In some cases, the two sides come together as one team. In others? Well, not so much.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Step up and get the two sides to play ball as one team, and you might just see the overall production value get kicked up a few notches. Three big things to keep in mind that will keep lighting and A/V teams happy and productive:

1) Communicate. Obvious, perhaps, but not always practiced: Make sure all of your contractors are informed from the very beginning of a project is critical. Put vendors in touch with one another as soon as they join the team, and keep all lines of communication open to avoid potential problems down the line.

"Designers need to get everybody who will impact how the event is going to do on the same page," says Jeff Rudner, president of Exhibit Lighting Group.

Talk about the project and client's overall goals, and foster discussions about how to best address the environment's lighting and A/V needs. "The event designers are critical in the process because they're the glue that holds the whole team together. Conflict between disciplines on the day of the event is just totally unacceptable," says Bill Beltz, president at Pleasant Valley Audio.

2) Share Everything. Share the specifics of the design's layout, technical specs, and the venue with lighting and A/V teams as early as possible-they're itching to get started and can only work with the information that's given to them.

Lighting designers need to know footprint specifics so they can get started on a truss and rigging plot for the lights, and audio designers want to take a peek at that rigging plot to see where they can hang sound equipment. "[Lighting designers] are going to want to see that feedback as soon as possible to make sure that speakers aren't going to be blocking shots of fixtures," says Paul Fine, principal at Fine Design Associates.

A lack of coordination in hanging equipment can spell disaster. "Ceilings cannot hang unlimited amount of weight. There are some remedies if you have too much weight in one place, but if you wait until the last minute or until you're on-site, you've got bigger problems," Rudner adds.

Create a separate control areas for lighting and A/V, if possible, as both disciplines utilize sensitive equipment that can create electrical interference. Generally, there is some interference between the lighting dimming systems and A/V gear, which is why electrical and audio cable should be kept as separate as possible.

3) Keep Lines Open. Keeping everyone involved with a project's production can be a challenge, but it's necessary for success. To help ease the process, A/V outfit Stamm Event Technologies has implemented a Web-based project management system to keep everyone talking, and allows its clients and partner contractors to log on, as well. "When we update drawings and timelines, everyone on the list gets an email providing instant access to the web board. The partnership vendors have an opportunity to do the same thing," says Brendon Kochoshek, Stamm's president.

But all it takes is a phone call to make sure every aspect of your project is moving along according to plan. "If you have a large project is moving along according to plan. "If you have a large project at hand, one conference call a week is not unheard of. Not only is it easier, it will cost you less money to fix problems than it will later on," Rudner says. So turn on the speakers and hit the lights, it's show time.

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