Students In Free Enterprise (now Enactus) held their 2012 USA National Exposition General Sessions in the spectacular Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center.
Prior to the event, 535 SIFE teams across the country immersed more than 20,000 college students in more than 5,000 life-changing projects clocking over 816,000 volunteer hours. PDC Productions’ objective for the sessions was to immerse the 3,000 students and SIFE donors celebrating this success in a dazzling visual display of these outstanding projects.
The ballroom’s white sculpted walls provided the opportunity to create a blended projection surface of enormous proportions. The chosen field of view demanded a resolution more than 22,000 pixels wide, creating a daunting task for PDC’s in-house graphics and video departments with limited lead time. A three dimensional mockup of the room was generated to display more than fifty clips of custom video content for client approval in advance of the show. Completing the visual impact of the blended video walls was incorporating the stage screens into the displays bringing synchronized content to a 270 degree field of view.
While the still photo showing the enormity of the projection looks great, the video link provided is a must-see. Fourteen Axon media servers were used to project the rich content that astounded the audience. High End Systems positioned a technician on site to be available immediately for troubleshooting, repair, or replacement of any of the servers.
PDC staff arrived two days in advance of load-in to begin setup of the server farm in the ballroom’s service hallway and deploy two one-ton air conditioners to cool the equipment. PDC’s Hog III lighting consoles took control of not only cueing the visual content and operating the conventional and intelligent stage lighting, but also implementing the ballroom’s brilliant LED chandeliers and wall washes.
The visual impact was supported by PDC’s crystal clear Meyer Sound cabinets playing audience appropriate music tracks produced by PDC’s in-house audio production department. All of this was tied to the client’s mission with thematic scripts written by PDC’s in-house event management team…organizing numerous award presentations and a 200-person parade of champions. With the exception of the server farm, all equipment was loaded in just the day before the show providing limited rehearsal time yet resulting in a flawlessly executed opening show.
While time constraints presented a formidable task for PDC’s entire production team, the most impressive accomplishment was working within a non-profit client’s budget while achieving the desire to take advantage of the ballroom’s physical features. PDC’s “It’s the way we think!” slogan meshed well with SIFE’s lofty goals and the mission was accomplished.
Rigging Equipment:
- 20—CM ½ Ton Hoist
- 8—CM 1 Ton Hoist
Audio Equipment:
- 1—Yamaha DM–2000 Digital Audio Console
Lighting Equipment:
- 1—High End Hog 3 Lighting Console
- 1—High End Hog
Video/Projection Equipment:
- 14—High End Axon Media Server
- 10—Christie HD18K Video Projector
- 1—Christie HD25K Video Projector
Design Team:
- Producer: Patrick Boylan
- Lighting Designer: Zac Muir
- Technical Director: Tony Pasquale
- Creative Content Designers: Matt Drake & Brad Benefield
- Audio Content Creation: Nate Huffer
- Audio Engineer: Brian Gwinner
- Event Director: Robin Mickel, CMP
- Stage Managers: Jane Anderson, CMP & Megan Smith