Production Plus showed its versatility and talent for high-tech work at a major conference at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin.   Long time producer/client Source Line (partnered with Unison, an electronic information gathering / distribution  company), and Production Plus teamed up to create a full, working broadcast studio.  This studio delivered the meeting’s content to its 2000+ attendees, who were spread throughout 16 rooms across the two hotels at the Swan and Dolphin.  Production Plus also managed the meeting’s general session, providing all scenic and AV elements for that event.

A gorgeously lit general session background started off a conference powered by high digital connectivity and up-to-the-minute content adjustments.

Ron Lamb, and Executive Producer Nicole Beukers from Source Line set the expectation that the interactivity between the break out rooms be very high tech and instantly reactive. “The challenge was that we had one central broadcast room,” said Alex Jacobs, A/V specialist for Production Plus, “Two cameras, full audio, full video, teleprompter, graphics, the whole thing–a mockup of a news studio where the company would broadcast their training and initiate group learning projects for their attendees.  We had to get that broadcast to those sixteen rooms across the two hotels, which are physically about 200 yards apart from each other.”

Traditional methods of delivering this broadcast, such as long runs of fiber optic cable, would not work here.  After some research, Jacobs decided to use IPTV–Internet Protocol Television.  “We decided that we could use the hotel’s existing network infrastructure to throw the audio and video where we wanted it,” he commented.  He credits the Swan and Dolphin technical staff for their strong internal network and skills in helping make this happen.  “We were able to have one transmitter send out a signal over the hotel’s Ethernet cables, and set up a receiver in each room to pick up the signal,” he explains.  “Sort of a multi-cast, rather than a broadcast.”

The scene behind the scenes in the central broadcast room, where the messages came from.

The multi-cast was coupled with questions, projects, and timed tests sent to computers on each of the desks in the breakout rooms.  Each room also had a traditional staging set up with scenic, lighting, audio and projection. The conference’s “emcee” would announce the upcoming events via the A/V broadcast which the attendees would receive via computer and stage.  The attendees would complete their tasks and send the results back over the network.  The results or scores would be tallied, logged and communicated to the broadcast booth, and the conference would continue to its next phase.  Unison was the company that executed the interactive portion of this process, using an extensive network of over 500 computers brought in specifically for this event. Each team of attendees shared one computer in their particular breakout room.  Unison’s control over the data and responses enabled the company to tailor portions of the conference on the fly. If it was discovered that something needed to be addressed in greater detail, changes to the content were made immediately, and inserted into the broadcasts.  This created quite a dynamic situation in the central broadcast room for all people involved, including Carl Purvee, the floor manager of the broadcast booth and Production Plus principal on-site. 

One of the breakout rooms.

Not all conferences are like this currently.  But using this type of highly interactive event is increasingly what big corporations are looking for. Source Line has been offering this type of creative, high energy format to their clients for many years. Production Plus continues to help clients like Source Line make this sort of event happen.  For Production Plus, this represents a new facet to an old business.  Design, project management, scenery, lighting, audio, video, and projection are all established parts of the event business that Pro Plus has offered its clients like Source Line for the past thirty years.  Providing solutions for these new networking challenges are becoming more and more a part of Production Plus’ standard list of available services. Production Plus sees these challenges as opportunities for learning, and for growth.  People like Alex Jacobs epitomize the company’s dedication to providing its signature impeccable service in these new arenas.  With Pro Plus on the job, a seamless solution to a new challenge is what our clients have come to expect and appreciate.

Another shot of the general session