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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. 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. Let There Be Lighting, Part 1 of 2 – CRE RentalsJanuary 19th, 2010Whether it’s a presentation, seminar, conference or trade show exhibit – in small rooms, large halls or a stadium – good lighting can make or break an event. As a leader in trade show management and convention rentals, CRE knows the importance not only of good equipment, but good information. Here’s some on basic lighting. Good lighting gives presenters a more dramatic, more impressive stage presence, and also ensures that video or film recordings are clear and usable. Armed with a PowerMac G5 with Kona card rental from CRE, an artist could adjust lighting and contrast “in post,” but you always want to capture the best possible original image. Different strobes for different folks
For large meeting halls or dinner events, theater-style lighting adds color and drama to the atmosphere, and can transform “the usual thing” into something truly memorable. Many of the new, smaller, integrated systems can be controlled by computers available to rent from CRE. Let there be light Consider these basic lighting tips as you plan your next event:
In Part 2, we will show how to set up lighting for a press conference or presentation in a mid-size room (think conference breakout or company meeting). In the meantime, if you’re planning an annual shareholder meeting or exhibiting at a trade show, CRE is the one-stop shop. Our experts can help you with everything from lighting to computers, audience response system rentals to kiosks– just request a Quick Rental Quote today. We can definitely throw some light on the subject for you. How Projectors Handle HD ContentAugust 11th, 2009As a two-part article recently explained, there are still some important differences between “business” projectors and those intended for “home theater” use. However, some manufacturers are experimenting with product designs that join the best features of each type into a single device. Perhaps one of the last areas of divergence is the native (or “physical”) pixel count, which affects two very important specifications: (1) the resolution and (2) the aspect ratio. Simply put, “resolution” is the number of pixels that are packed into the physical dimensions of a projected image or monitor, and “aspect ratio” is the relationship between width and height. A four-foot by three-foot image has an aspect ratio of 4:3, standard for TVs from their introduction until just a short time ago. Now, a projection screen at that ratio could display an image of 800 x 600 resolution, or there could be more pixels packed in for a higher resolution and sharper image in the same dimensions, like a pixel count of 1200 x 900. Both have the same 4:3 aspect ratio, both fit on the 48-inch by 36-inch screen, but the latter has the higher resolution. Of course, CRE rents various sizes of Fast Fold Da-Lite screens to fit all situations. Wide, wide world The standard SVGA (800 x 600) and XGA (1024 x 768) business projectors Most of the basic business projectors are SVGA and are not up to the task of displaying HD images from your satellite, computer, cable tuner or other HD input. They simply do not have sufficient resolution to do the job right. The two primary HD resolution formats today are 720p and 1080i (1280 x 720 pixels and 1920 x 1080, respectively). An SVGA projector with its resolution of 800 x 600 pixels cannot display either of these formats without downscaling. Working it out Even DVD content, which at 852 x 480 has a lower resolution than HDTV, is a bit much for the entry-level SVGA projectors to do a good job. XGA, as its numbers indicate, has sufficient resolution to handle DVDs and can get quite close, needing only narrow top and bottom letterbox bands, to displaying 720p, as well. With just an XGA projector, screen and a laptop rental from CRE, you have a mobile presentation system that can handle a meeting or conference then head home for a DVD movie night with the family. Widescreen projectors for home and business come in both WVGA and WXGA. Choosing a lower-cost WVGA (854 x 480) projector will save you some money and cover all the bases if you will be watching only DVD movies. For displaying HDTV content, a WXGA (1280 x 800) projector is required. This pixel array will enable you to display any and all HDTV content up to 720p with no rescaling. You will even be able to view 1080i or 1080p material on the more-capable WXGA projectors, but the projected image will need compression so that the 1920 x 1080 pixels in a 1080i or 1080p HDTV image can be scaled into the native pixel array of the WXGA projector. Ask the experts Remember, image resolution is only one of many important factors in assessing your projector. Color balance, brightness (lumens), edge-to-edge clarity and other specifications may be even more important at times. Business projectors are becoming more media-savvy all the time, just as business people are becoming as sophisticated as the audiophile and videophile consumers that have driven the advancements in home theater technology. New business projectors will be debuting in the coming year from leading manufacturers, models that promise to bedazzle and amaze an audience of engineers or CEOs the way that home theater projectors wow the family with Harry Potter movies. Whether you contact one of our expert Account Executives now or later—by e-mail, phone or rental quote request—you will get state-of-the-art advice and equipment for your meeting, conference or presentation needs. Home Theater Projectors vs. Business Projectors, Part 1July 14th, 2009Part 1 includes Overview, Brightness, Contrast, Color, LCD or DLP and Portability, while Part 2 will include Connectivity, Resolution, HD Issues and Image Aspect Ratios. The popularity of video projectors such as CRE rents needs no explanation, as it is a simple matter of decreasing price and increasing image size. Compared to other big screens—like the plasma screens that CRE also supplies to numerous businesses—a square inch of image real estate is a bargain. Connect a Blu-ray DVD player for the most “movie theater-like” experience in home theater. Hooking up a different high-definition (HD) source, like a cable box or satellite dish, gets you a mammoth 100-inch HDTV for 50-inch-plasma money. Denizens of corporate boardrooms have already seen enough to know that the new digital multimedia projectors have saved business presentations from the slideshow graveyard. That these new models deliver massive, bright, color-saturated images even in normal room lighting conditions is a dream come true for veterans of the “overhead projector” days. Still, home theater and business projectors have to meet entirely different expectations and work in markedly different environments. Some of the “specs” of home and business models are close if not precisely equal, while others differ dramatically. Let’s take a look. Brightness Brightness as measured in lumens indicates the level of light produced by a projector. Since many presentations take place in conference rooms with standard office illumination, rather than the reduced ambient light of a (home) theater’s “semi-darkness,” brightness is more important for business use. The projected image will look washed out if it is not bright enough. In small rooms with normal daytime ambient light, a brightness level of 1000 to 2000 lumens is typically sufficient. For safety’s sake, factor into your projector brightness requirement the projected screen size and ambient light level. In home theaters you can pretty much forget all this, as high brightness levels are not necessary. In fact, some home theater projectors allow users to dim the light source when watching in a darkened room, as it helps to produce richer blacks and more saturated colors. Contrast A high contrast ratio of 5000:1 sounds very impressive until you watch a minimal amount of ambient light make the image appear as if it were 500:1 instead. Although a certain minimum amount of contrast is required for the human eye to perceive brightness, high contrast is not an important factor in business use—and is only needed in the home theater if you will completely darken the room during viewing. The fact is that the eye cannot perceive much more than a 400:1 contrast ratio unless the viewing environment is completely darkened. In addition, the eye’s “contrast sensitivity scale” means that, say, a 1000:1 ratio is not perceived as being 2.5 times “better” or “clearer” than 400:1. You should only pay more for a high contrast ratio in your home projector, and only then when viewing will be done under tightly controlled lighting conditions. Color and Smooth Video Playback These attributes are more important to the home viewer. Color accuracy is extremely important for natural skin tones and for achieving “the film look,” characteristics important when viewing movies and TV shows and less so when reading pie charts and graphs. A projector’s ability to display smooth video playback without “motion artifacts,” in fast-action sports and movie scenes, is certainly important to home theater viewers. Any modern projector is going to do a decent job, at any rate, so spending extra money on these features in a business projector is not necessary. LCD or DLP
DLP, of course, remains the favorite technology with home theater users due to its “blacker blacks” and “smoother” looking projected images. These characteristics help DLP projectors more nearly approximate the movie theater experience. Portability Now this is a major consideration when it comes to business projectors. “Small and light” is good, particularly for people who travel to make presentations. Many business projectors weigh but a few pounds and come with carrying cases that hold cables and a cordless presenter, too. In this “lightweight travel” category of multimedia projectors, models typically have integrated speakers, and various option features. Portability is a complete “non-issue” to the home theater enthusiast. At home, the projector might even be semi-permanently installed into the ceiling, wall or custom cabinetry. The typical home theater projector is never removed from the home—until it’s replaced with a new model, that is. Watch for Part 2 of this article, appearing on July 16, 2009, which will cover Connectivity, Resolution, HD Issues and Image Aspect Ratios. Event Producer PotpourriJune 2nd, 2009Here is a roundup of some helpful tips, practical insights and valuable resources for the event planning professional. CRE is your headquarters for projectors, displays, computers and all your event production rentals and service needs, as well as your trusted source for good advice. Consider today’s blog a buffet and take just what you want. Let us know if you like “the food,” and we can make the buffet a regular feature. Two computers are better than one If you are making a presentation at a meeting, conference or tradeshow, take a lesson from the military and use the “redundant system” approach. All that really means is, whether you are using a laptop or a computer rental, make sure to bring a second unit with the same videos, PowerPoint presentations or other materials on it. Any computer can malfunction at just about any time, for any (or seemingly no) reason. A backup is cheap insurance. You should have someone working with you so that as the main computer makes its way through the programmed material, your helper is keeping pace with you. (The backup, ideally, should be a laptop, regardless of what the main computer is, as the laptop will be easier to move and set up if needed.) If the main computer crashes, you will be able to switch to a backup that is right in sync. You are then faced with a manageable 10- or 20-second fix – disconnect the main computer, connect the backup – rather than a show-stopping tragedy. Make the speaker comfortable There are plenty of professional speakers who make presentations over 200 times annually, and are poised and relaxed at all times. Others like to rehearse, sometimes for hours, and tend to fret. You should do your best to make them all comfortable, and here’s how you can do that:
New networking resource An internationally known event professional, Italian veteran Julius Solaris, has a blog especially for event planners where he shares his many experiences and insights. The Event Manager Blog is written with an international readership in mind, and Solaris offers suggestions for reading and study, interviews a number of industry experts and asks tough questions of the virtual “event pro” community. Solaris, a strong supporter of “open source” software, is presently working on an open source software solution for event planners. While that is being finished, Solaris debuted another terrific resource, a LinkedIn group called, appropriately, the Event Planning & Management Group. With more than 1,000 members worldwide, it is definitely worth a look! |
There are many leading specialty lighting makers offering a world of lighting products for every situation. Event lighting can include fluorescent, incandescent, strobe and LED lights, and are available in banks, spots, tubes and other shapes, in all sizes and wattages. No matter what type of lighting you need, there is a light that will meet your needs.
