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Basic to Best Breakout Room Equipment – Conferences & MeetingsFebruary 11th, 2010The breakout session is a mainstay of the modern conference. It is a chance for exhibitors, sponsors and invited speakers to bring good, usable information to attendees, who can range from special guests and industry colleagues to possible collaborators and potential customers. Media events, presentations, panel discussions and such audience participation activities as Q & A sessions and polling involve various (and numerous) pieces of equipment, all of which need to be in place and ready to go. For smooth sailing, you need a basic breakout room package that will fill the bill.
In the process of familiarizing yourself with some pretty nice audiovisual equipment and computers, never forget that the most important thing is the content. In many cases it will be a PowerPoint presentation and/or some Flash animation. One of CRE’s laptop rentals with the Microsoft Office installed will be plugged into the 3K projector, set on a cart/stand with a power strip and locking wheels. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a backup laptop running the presentation simultaneously on its own screen. If the presenting PC crashes, the other will be in sync to continue. With all the included cables and power cords properly attached, you’re ready to roll. On a 6-ft. tripod screen (with skirt) you can showcase your product or service with a presentation including video clips, bullet points that follow your script and/or a slideshow, all controlled by a cordless presenter. If your message is as high-quality as the presentation system, you have the ingredients for a great session. Stepping it up a notch If you anticipate a large crowd, you may need to consider some supplemental equipment, for starters a cordless microphone and powered speakers, and other kinds of audiovisual rentals. Depending on the room, you may need some lighting equipment, too, and for archival and/or training purposes you could also bring in some video recording gear. CRE’s digital recorder rentals can be used to hold digital media for use in your presentation, record the session or capture attendee contact information. If you’re going to have a table in the room for registration, collecting business cards, getting contact information or providing sell sheets or brochures, CRE’s office equipment rentals could be a big help. Some of the best help you can get in a breakout session, of course, is from your audience. With one of CRE’s Audience Response System rentals, you can interact with attendees and poll them during and after the presentation – or base the presentation around an audience Q & A session in the first place. Whatever your breakout room plan, our experienced Account Executives are ready with the ways, means and expertise to bring it to fruition. Call, send an e-mail or fill out a Quick Rental Quote form and we’ll break out, bring over and set up whatever you need, whenever you need it. March 2010 Trade Shows Spring ForthFebruary 9th, 2010
Nothing pulls people to your booth like the impressive plasma rentals for Game Developers Conference, offering up to 65 inches of high-definition pizazz. You can use one (or more) to display promotions, animations, Flash and PowerPoint presentations, or the biggest, brightest version of your company logo. Since you can connect most any digital device to the monitor, you can show DVDs or even use the screen as a huge browser window to show off your Web site. With upwards of 17,000 attendees expected at Game Developers Conference, you can try any number of approaches to reach the widest possible audience. Game Developers Conference is the primary annual grazing ground for artists, game designers, programmers, producers, audio/video pros, business owners and others in the game industry. If you want to capture as much contact information as possible, and multiply your effectiveness (whether you’re short-staffed or not), interactive kiosk rentals can be a great help. If you have more than a few people going, you might consider standardizing on CRE’s wireless MacBook laptop rentals to stay in touch throughout the five-day extravaganza. - – -
Whether you’re a multinational corporation or an independent consultant, if you’re one of the 450+ exhibitors at this year’s event you need to stand out from the crowd. Holding a breakout session or tutorial? You’ll want to check out CRE’s Westec plasma rentals and Audience Response System rentals. They constitute a powerful one-two punch for showing off the goods, then getting usable feedback. WESTEC puts you face to face and right in the midst of all the experts, vital suppliers and industry innovators. If you’re bringing a convention team, you may want to have some of your staff check out the speakers, panel participants and other exhibitors while you hold down the fort. With CRE’s digital recorder rentals and digital note-taking tablet PC rentals, they’ll get all the important info that you need. Whether you’re planning to exhibit, attend or both, as one of the leading convention and computer rental firms CRE can help you maximize your presence while minimizing the cost and complexity. Our Account Executives are experienced professionals, and good listeners, which means you will get first-rate help, often in ways you don’t even anticipate. Let them help you make the most of your trade show time by calling, sending an e-mail or filling out a Quick Rental Quote form today. Let There Be Lighting, Part 2 of 2- CRE RentalsJanuary 21st, 2010In Part 2 of “Let There Be Lighting” (read Part 1 here), we will give you some suggestions when setting up lighting for a presentation in a mid-size room (conference breakout, company meeting). Of course, if you don’t feel comfortable with lighting, CRE Rentals’ technical staff can assist to get you what you need for your particular situation.
Scouting locations and lighting needs When movie makers scout locations, they check more than just “look and feel,” and immediately assess the place, inside or out, in terms of lighting. This is what light meters are for – a great all-purpose tool for checking light levels, and assisting in developing lighting setup plans. Depending on the meeting type – screen presentation or speech, a dais up front or a podium – you will set up lights in a particular way. If you can’t hang lights from the ceiling to illuminate a podium, you can use freestanding spots from the sides. If the focus of the audience is a presentation on a large-screen, then you would keep that area dim and perhaps throw a small spotlight on the speaker. Interactivity needs light If you are using an Audience Response System rentals, your challenge is to keep lights low enough not to interfere with the screen image, and high enough for people to see their handheld response devices. This can be accomplished, somewhat counterintuitively, with more, not fewer, lights. With sideline lights every few rows, keep the rear lights a bit higher than the middle ones, the middle ones a bit brighter than the near-front ones and create a “lighting gradation” to achieve your goal. Alternatively, you can use an indirect approach, such as illuminating the room walls with bottom-up spots, even colored ones (choice of color matters). All of these maneuvers, of course, will depend on what the built-in room lighting offers, but if they are not “dimmable,” it is better to leave them out of the equation entirely. Speaking of control… Today’s lighting components, from ceiling-mounted spots to colored ones on stands, all connect to central control panels that can also run the audiovisual equipment – including a high lumen projector rental if you need one. The basic lesson is that more lights means more control, and greater flexibility in directionality, brightness, color and other variables. You don’t have to believe in Feng Shui to know that such room characteristics as size, paint and carpet color, seating arrangements and ceiling height affect your lighting plan – and mood, too. Our expert Account Executives can put you in a good mood by helping you put together a great meeting, so give a call, send an e-mail or fill out the Quick Rental Quote right now. CRE is in the solutions business, and we have one for you, too. Tradeshow Roundup for JanuaryJanuary 7th, 2010
The NAMM Show starts each morning with music and the informative NAMM University Breakfast Sessions. The theme for both days of seminars is the “new normal” that has been created by the economic upheavals of 2008-2009. It’s always “normal” to put your best face forward, which is why exhibitors rely on interactive kiosk rentals to get the message out — and get contact information in return. Live, up-to-the-minute Web coverage of the NAMM Show will be streamed at the NAMM Web site. You can also follow the NAMM Show on the group’s Twitter page. CRE is proud to be affiliated with NAMM. LabAutomation2010
Key educational sessions concern detection and separation, micro- and nano-technologies, and informatics. Over 400 booths will showcase the top automation technologies, a perfect job for a LCD monitor rental from CRE. Networking opportunities abound, of course, as educators, researchers and manufacturers discuss the hot topics of the day. It’s a perfect place to bring a Motion Computing Tablet PC rental to take notes, get names and addresses, and access the interactive conference schedules and maps via WiFi (saving many a tree in so doing). SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering
The symposia will cover biomedical optics, lasers and applications, micro- and nano-fabrication, and integrated optoelectronic devices. Photonics West covers all the bases, from product roll-outs that save you money to free courses that offer training and a healthy dose of “value added.” Attendees can use laptop rentals to stay connected while exhibitors display their wares in various ways (including a 61″ plasma rental available from CRE Rentals). The SPIE event actually comprises two separate, world-class exhibitions — with a total of 1100+ exhibitors — at SPIE Photonics West, North America’s essential photonics and laser exhibition, and SPIE BiOS, the world’s largest biomedical optics exhibition. For these events, or others like them, remember that CRE is your one-stop shop for computers and audiovisual gear. From audience response system rentals to the latest laptops and office equipment, we have whatever you need, and not just to “make the scene ” — but to make the scene brighter and better for your business. Call, send an e-mail or fill out a Quick Rental Quote form right now. We’ve got you covered. CRE Rentals – Tech Product Update, Part 1 of 2November 3rd, 2009The pace of technological change is not only relentless, it’s breathtaking. Every day, new kinds of devices make work (and play) less time-consuming and therefore less costly. It’s too much for the average person to stay abreast of, so CRE Rentals brings you monthly updates from every corner of the Tech Universe. Whatever kind of technology you’re using for video, post-production, event planning, conferences, meetings or just plain office work, CRE has you covered when you’re in a crunch. From advanced Audience Response System rentals for meetings and marketing focus groups, to a dozen wifi-enabled Tablet PC rentals to keep your conference staff connected, we’re here with solutions. Pro specs at a consumer price
Smartphone for video pros? Philips is set to debut its latest Google Android smartphone, the V808. It is the firm’s second Android-powered unit and has a bright, detailed 3.2 inch touchscreen display, support for microSD storage cards up to 8GB and a full-featured 3.2 megapixel camera. Video post-production pros that use AJA Io HD rentals from CRE can now get up-to-the-minute samples of projects sent to their phones, as the device offers both “widget” support and an audio/video multimedia player. The V808’s 1000 mAh battery should give several hours of service at full-on use, and its GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity will interface every which way. MacBooks get a boost
If you have questions about how the new technologies can help you, call one of our expert Account Executives today, toll free, at (877) 266-7725. You can also use our Contact Page or Quick Rental Quote web form for immediate assistance. We’re here to offer first-rate service and support, and get you the solutions that you decide you need. Watch for Part 2 of the CRE Tech Product Update, set to appear on Wednesday, November 4th. October Conferences from Audio Engineering to Oracle Open WorldSeptember 22nd, 2009For over 60 years, Audio Engineering Society (AES), founded in 1948 by a group of forward-looking audio engineers, has been the major force promoting the discovery, analysis and distribution of technical information for the recording industry. This year’s conference—AES New York 2009, to be held Oct. 9-12 at NY’s Javits Center—is the 127th AES convention and, as always, is the most important annual gathering of audio professionals in the world.
The landmark event is expected to bring attendees and presenters from more that 100 countries together for a full schedule of seminars, workshops and exhibitions. Many exhibitors of hardware, software, instruments and equipment will demo their products on the Apple Mac Pro computers that CRE rents. They can also display their wares on AES plasma rentals or bright, clear LCD monitors, while others will opt for standalone kiosks to capture attendee information and present their product lines. You can do one or all of these things with CRE’s help. The show offers participants a unique opportunity for forming new, innovative business partnerships. Journalists as well as corporate sales and marketing personnel can use wireless tablet PC rentals to stay in touch, take important notes and get up-to-the-minute information over WiFi. In a departure from previous years, top recording artists will broaden the view from engineering to a musical-and-technical take on such recording processes as choosing studios and producers, nurturing creative relationships, and using Macinstosh and PC computer rentals for audio recording. The Platinum Mastering panel will focus entirely on the cataloging, repair and preservation of landmark recordings. Other Platinum Panels will share new insights, behind-the-scenes stories and audio clips from classic sessions on such historic albums as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” A MicroTrack Digital Recorder from CRE could come in very hand to capture all of the information being dispensed at this amazing conference. Of course, all the things you need to make a good impression as a presenter or exhibitor—projector rentals, displays, PCs—are available from CRE. Oracle OpenWorld 2009 From October 11th to the 15th, Oracle OpenWorld 2009 will feature over 1800 sessions, 400+ partner exhibits and keynote addresses from global technology leaders at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Hands-on labs, special networking events and other interactive opportunities give the many OpenWorld attendees and exhibitors a chance to meet new people and old friends, field questions and hear comments. If you are making a presentation at this important event, you can survey your audience responses and get crucial data with an audience response system rental. Well-prepared exhibitors and presenters will gain tremendous advantages by considering the entire event an “adjunct marketing opportunity,” and the information you can collect from the top global professionals in networking will prove extremely valuable in all facets of your business. Although Oracle will not hold onsite testing or the popular “exam cram” this time around, the OCP lounge will fill in some of those gaps. With a MacBook or MacBook Pro rental from CRE, recording these sessions will be a snap with the built-in microphone and iSight camera. Oracle will also put on two certification-related Power Sessions for all those interested in pursuing Oracle certificates, at any level. Members of the Oracle Certification team will attend OpenWorld this year. Their stated intent, per Oracle’s PR materials, is to mingle in the OCP Lounge with the people that they “communicate with throughout the year” by phone, fax and e-mail. This presents smart exhibitors the opportunity to do some effective, one-on-one interaction. Whatever you need for OpenWorld, from laptops to plasma displays, CRE will help you make just the right impression. Get the right help with ComputerRentals.com CRE’s own professionals, the well-trained Customer Service Representatives and Account Executives alike, can help you get whatever you need to outfit your booth(s) at one or both of these events. Fill out a Quick Rental Quote and get an even quicker answer, right now! Audience Response Systems: Interactive Tool for Business (Part 2 of 2)June 11th, 2009Read Part 1 here if you missed it! Although there are a few kinds of Audience Response Systems (ARS),
The computer that is running the ARS software connects to the base station/receiver and, as it also runs the presentation software, to the projector itself. The various ARS software applications have different minimum computer system requirements, so make sure you are using the right combination of components. A typical ARS-enabled presentation would run like this:
Types of ARS’s Early systems used wired keypads but most professional ARS applications now use wireless models. The two technologies used are RF (radio frequency) and (IR) infrared. The newest offering is browser-based software, which routes response data via an IP address, a system that obviates the need for keypads—wireless laptops, netbooks and hand-helds (Palm PDA’s, Pocket PC’s or browser-equipped cell phones) can be used instead. Let’s take a look at each. RF systems are well suited to larger group environments. The base stations and keypads are typically larger than infrared models and, despite being bulky, can accommodate a larger number of participants and longer ranges. No line-of-sight is required because radio signals are used. IR systems are good for small to medium-sized environments such as executive meetings, corporate training and college classrooms. As IR keypads need line-of-sight to the base station, they won’t work in large rooms, and sunlight affects IR transmission outdoors. Although not as powerful as RF systems, IR systems are lightweight and affordable. Browser-based ARS’s are an emerging technology in early development. A software-only system, they are compatible with existing wireless devices. IP addresses are assigned to polling sessions and participants log in via their own wireless devices (phones, PDAs, laptops). Data is transmitted by wi-fi then displayed for the audience by the projector, as well as on every participant’s device. Final considerations In both the world of business and higher education, Microsoft’s PowerPoint is far and away the most popular presentation software. More than a few companies have developed plug-ins enabling a presenter to seamlessly integrate polling data into pre-fab PowerPoint presentations. ARS’s don’t just collect data for display. They also have reporting functions to help analyze it. The pre-formatted reports export Excel and other common file formats, making possible participant tracking and grading for those in training and education environments. For corporate environments, the advantages are clear—an ARS is a “hearing aid” that gets good information and ideas that would otherwise be missed. CRE can equip your next conference or meeting so you don’t miss out on any great new ideas! Audience Response System: Interactive Tool for Business (Part 1 of 2)June 9th, 2009Everybody’s talking at me, I can’t hear a word they’re saying… At times it seems that listening is an endangered skill. But the better the salesman, and the wiser the business owner, the more apt they are to keep their mouths on standby and their ears wide open. Salesmen know that buyers will tell them everything they need to know to make the sale, while enlightened executives know that some of the best new product ideas, as well as solutions to existing problems, come from their customers. A meeting, seminar, conference or convention can provide a wealth of good information because the hosts know who will be offering the input. If they want real-time feedback from a staff of 12 or a convention hall of 1200, they will need an Audience Response System (ARS). Part 1 of this two-part article will give you the background, the overview and the rationale for using an ARS, while Part 2 will delve into the technology itself and how it works. The “back story” Briefly (and simplistically) an ARS combines hardware and software to bring interactivity to group settings. In a typical ARS setup the presenter and/or a technical assistant makes a presentation with which participants interact by means of handheld keypads, usually wireless. ARS’s have been shown to improve learning in classrooms and build consensus in corporations. These systems can track and identify the participants, or collect data from them anonymously. There are good reasons to do both. When convention delegates are voting, anonymity is important and privacy can be respected. When a company’s board of directors is making decisions on important matters, especially for a publicly held firm, the meeting minutes need to identify them. An ARS can go both ways. Better input, better output The unique versatility and simple flexibility of ARS’s have made them popular across a wide range of industries. Large corporations use them for shareholder meetings and employee conferences. Marketing firms use them to conduct focus groups, do polling and present “mass questionnaires,” while educational institutions employ the technology in small classrooms as well as huge lecture halls. The possible uses for an ARS are virtually unlimited and, as with most technology most of the time, the systems are getting faster, smaller, better and more dependable all the time. Buying an ARS, however, is still a substantial expense, which means larger firms with ongoing needs for the technology are buying most of the systems. Fortunately for SMB’s (Small and Medium-sized Businesses), there is a healthy audience response system (ARS) rental market. If you know you need one, drop CRE’s ARS specialists a line and they can tailor a setup just right for your event. If you’re still not sure, surf around the Internet while you wait a few days for Part 2 of this article, and learn how using an ARS “hearing aid” could be good for your business. |
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The Association for Laboratory Automation’s annual conference — 
SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering, presents 
Panasonic’s newest, most compact “Micro Four Thirds” camera is the Lumix GF1, which has 12-megapixel resolution, a 3-inch LCD viewscreen and integrated flash. Professional photographers and filmmakers, many of whom have 
When presented with questions and a number of possible responses, the participants make their selections, the data is fed into the computer running both the presentation and the ARS software, and the numbers are “digitally crunched.” The results can even be displayed graphically right 
