What’s the number one skill needed in live event production today?
Flexibility.
When we produce an event, the absolute LAST thing I ever want to say is, “no, we can’t do that.”
Only when it is 100% impossible to pull off will I say that to someone - presenter, exhibitor, doesn’t matter.
Our job isn’t just to get the slides and remote presenters onto the screen.
Our job is to make sure our presenters, exhibitors, and sponsors are SEEN, HEARD, and REMEMBERED by their audience.
And everything we do MUST enhance their presence at our events.
We might not be serving food or making beds, but the audio/visual team is damn well part of the hospitality business - and it would behoove us all to act like it.
I’ve worked with many AV teams, and not everyone shares this attitude.
Here’s an example - in many events, we’ll have a dedicated “PowerPoint laptop” with a remote clicker. Standard, right?
Well, sometimes presenters want to use their own laptop.
At the front of the room.
Whether it’s because they’re more comfortable with it, they’ve got notes there, the reason doesn’t matter.
Some presenters like using their own laptop.
At one event, the local AV team didn’t want to put a laptop at the front.
“We have a laptop at the back for them.”
Great. But the presenter wants THEIR laptop at the front.
“But we have a confidence monitor for their notes.”
Great. But the presenter still wants THEIR laptop at the front.
At another event, when the setup done by the local AV team didn’t meet the needs of some presenters, my team and I ripped up the cables and re-ran them so presenters could use their own laptops at the front.
(This is why my bag always gets pulled for secondary inspection at the airport - that checked luggage bag is always chock full of extension cords, converters, adapters, HDMI cables, and other miscellaneous items that always come in handy.)
This is also why I’m bullish on tech like NDI - all I need to do is run some network cables and I can send whatever signals I want wherever I want them to go. But that’s another story.
The days of showing up, plonking down a laptop, running an HDMI to the front of the room and calling it a day are over.
Clients DEMAND flexibility from their A/V team, even if they don’t realize it.
It’s that little detail that may be a bit more work in the moment, but makes the event that little bit more memorable for the right reasons.
“But Elias! We have a tested setup! We can’t just plug stuff in and expect it to work!”
Yes you can.
You just need to test these scenarios.
Figure out what adapters you need. Plug different sources in.
Because one day, you WILL get a presenter who’s made their presentation in some niche app only available on an iPad. And you need to get that up on the screen for everyone to see.
Be flexible. It’ll make a world of difference to your clients.