Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse
Did I mention rehearse? Technology plays a major role in your meeting. Don’t take it lightly. If things are to go smoothly, your technical crew must know exactly what you are doing, and when. The only way this will happen is if you conduct a technical rehearsal.
I’ll assume that for your meeting you will have a few hundred guests, a half-dozen presenters each with a PowerPoint presentation, an emcee, a large viewing screen, a projector, stage, podium, lighting, and sound system. Hopefully you’ll be making your meeting interactive with an audience response system.
The presenters should arrive on site by mid-morning the day before. Have a separate room available for presenters to rehearse their content. That process should begin by late morning, scheduling one presenter at a time. Check content, spelling, grammar, and timing. Trim as much as possible from the presentation making certain that it can be done with at least 5 minutes to spare in the allocated time.
Right after lunch, your technical crew should begin their setup. The hotel banquette staff should also start about then. By about 5:00 pm your presenters will have finished, the tech crew will be ready, and tables and chair will be set. Schedule a one hour dinner break. At 6:00 pm provide the tech crew with the final agenda, script if you have one, and a printed version of each presentation. Then, begin a technical rehearsal.
This is the time to figure out who is getting wireless microphones versus who will speak from the podium. You should also have 3 or 4 wireless handheld mics that will be used for audience Q&A. Plan on 2 or 3 runners who can bring those mics to guests.
Each presenter should literally run through his slides. The tech crew just needs to confirm presentation order, PowerPoint file names, and transitional lighting. I strongly suggest that a technician run the PowerPoint presentation from ‘control deck’ at the back or side of the room. The presenter should have a wireless remote (pickle) that tells the tech when to advance or reverse. But, please don’t make your presenter run his own PowerPoint from the podium. He or she should be left to speak, not run technology.
You should be able to run through your 8 hour meeting in about two hours, tops three. If after this there are still some issues to be resolved, take a short break and dismiss the tech crew for the night. These people will have had a full day, and need to get their sleep if they are to be up to a top performance the next day.
At this point, resolve any issues that might still be open, but avoid major changes. Also, avoid many small changes. A few small changes are fine. Make sure the technical producer is aware of them so he can get word to the crew when they arrive in the morning.
If you follow this plan, the technical aspect of your meeting is certain to run smoothly.
I’ll assume that for your meeting you will have a few hundred guests, a half-dozen presenters each with a PowerPoint presentation, an emcee, a large viewing screen, a projector, stage, podium, lighting, and sound system. Hopefully you’ll be making your meeting interactive with an audience response system.
The presenters should arrive on site by mid-morning the day before. Have a separate room available for presenters to rehearse their content. That process should begin by late morning, scheduling one presenter at a time. Check content, spelling, grammar, and timing. Trim as much as possible from the presentation making certain that it can be done with at least 5 minutes to spare in the allocated time.
Right after lunch, your technical crew should begin their setup. The hotel banquette staff should also start about then. By about 5:00 pm your presenters will have finished, the tech crew will be ready, and tables and chair will be set. Schedule a one hour dinner break. At 6:00 pm provide the tech crew with the final agenda, script if you have one, and a printed version of each presentation. Then, begin a technical rehearsal.
This is the time to figure out who is getting wireless microphones versus who will speak from the podium. You should also have 3 or 4 wireless handheld mics that will be used for audience Q&A. Plan on 2 or 3 runners who can bring those mics to guests.
Each presenter should literally run through his slides. The tech crew just needs to confirm presentation order, PowerPoint file names, and transitional lighting. I strongly suggest that a technician run the PowerPoint presentation from ‘control deck’ at the back or side of the room. The presenter should have a wireless remote (pickle) that tells the tech when to advance or reverse. But, please don’t make your presenter run his own PowerPoint from the podium. He or she should be left to speak, not run technology.
You should be able to run through your 8 hour meeting in about two hours, tops three. If after this there are still some issues to be resolved, take a short break and dismiss the tech crew for the night. These people will have had a full day, and need to get their sleep if they are to be up to a top performance the next day.
At this point, resolve any issues that might still be open, but avoid major changes. Also, avoid many small changes. A few small changes are fine. Make sure the technical producer is aware of them so he can get word to the crew when they arrive in the morning.
If you follow this plan, the technical aspect of your meeting is certain to run smoothly.
posted by longcall911 at
7:26 PM
