Behind the Scenes Look at the Romney NASCAR Event
COMPANY NEWS, LIVE EVENTS
Just a few photos and a quick video of setup for the NASCAR Technical Institute event. It was awesome to get the opportunity to have the vehicles up on stage!
NASCAR from Decibel Management on Vimeo.
National Book Festival Load In
COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
Load in for the 2011 National Book Festival began today. Thankfully the weather held out and we were able to get a great start on the week. Some photos of the build are below
As mentioned above, here are some photos of our Monday progress. Got a number of tents up and began the decor install. Great work by Select Events, Legacy Scenic and Productions and EventEQ, and a big thanks to Fleishman-Hillard and the Library of Congress for the event. We are hoping to post more photos throughout the week as the event shapes up. Check back to check out our progress.
National Mall: Keep off the grass
EVENT INDUSTRY
This piece from Liz Farmer at the The Examiner came out yesterday and details some of the changes that we will be faced with in working on the National Mall.
While the NPS is planning on re-sodding and adding irrigation, they also plan to fence off the entire area to visitors and tourists between events. They are also reducing the size and number of total events on the grounds.
While this was a unanimous vote from the committee, I am very interested to see if it will warrant public outcry from visitors, locals and taxpayers. There is a big debate in the iconic National Parks about use and rights (snow machines in Yellowstone, etc), but this is first time I can remember a park being restricted from walkers, runners, sunbathers, and picnickers. It will be fascinating to watch this unfold.
By Liz Farmer
It may be America s front yard, but that s not stopping the National Park Service from fencing it off.
The Park Service wants to enclose the National Mall s grass squares that run down the center of the Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol to protect the annual beating the turf takes.
The enclosure is part of a new plan for the Mall that is designed to limit wear and tear on the high-traffic grounds as well as provide more public amenities for the more than 25 million people who visit every year.
NPS spokesman Bill Line said Thursday the fence would be taken down for protests and special events but otherwise would remain up year-round to allow the ground to recover.
That means residents and tourists must take their sunbathing, picnics and pickup games elsewhere. Line said there are other open spaces on the Mall like by the Washington Monument where people can do those activities. Also, the NPS supports softball fields, volleyball courts and a rugby pitch near the Mall.
There s a balance there, he said. That would be an area that would be fenced off, except for First Amendment events, so as to purposefully keep the area green as best as we can.
The plan for the Mall was approved unanimously by the National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday and also includes a plan to limit the space protest organizers and event planners will have to work with. To protect the row of elm trees standing between the pedestrian pathways and the museums, tents and other event equipment will be limited to the center grass area.
That means events like the July Smithsonian Folklife Festival, much of which is set up in the shaded section of the Mall near the Smithsonian Metro station entrance, will be moved to the unshaded center.
The plan also calls for pedestrian pathways to be paved and an irrigation system to be installed below the entire surface of the Mall. The center grass panels would be dug up and replaced with new soil and sod.
The majority of the Mall is so densely compacted with foot traffic it is more highly compacted than concrete, Line said. So hence, not a big surprise that it s difficult to grow grass.
The plan also calls for improved amenities for visitors such as more bathrooms and concessions stands. The Washington Monument also would be reopened in the evenings throughout the year.
Linking the Mall to different forms of transportation like the D.C. Circulator bus and the new Capital Bikeshare program are also in the plan.
*Photo by flickr user Yotut
Some of the Event Industry s Most Unique Bookable Artists
EVENT INDUSTRY
You remember when you were in high school, and people used to ask you what you wanted to do for living, and you could only really think in terms of the major job groups you d heard of? Lawyer, doctor, astronaut. And then you graduated, and suddenly you meet people with jobs like user experience researcher and grant writer and you wonder how those people even knew those job titles existed. Event artists are kinda like that. Auctioneer? Really? That s a thing I can hire?
Vanessa Thanos, Auctioneer
Yes, that is a thing you can hire. Man, some of these guys get into auctioneering as a side gig, something to fill the holes between bit parts on network TV. Not Vanessa, though. Vanessa is auction-specific. She is full-on, 100{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} auction-dedicated. Starting out her career on her parent s Christmas tree farm, this lady has intered at Christie s in Beverly Hills and Sotheby s, and is a graduate of the Missouri Auction School (that s a thing, too), and a member of the National Auctioneers Association. She will get your fundraising benefit stuff sold, by jove.
Mystery Productions, Acrobats
No mucking around here: this is one of the top event performance troupes in the United States. You need someone to do aerial rope dancing? Check. How about someone to hang upside down from the chandeliers and wiggle around in a leotard? Done. Belly dancers? Fire eaters? Insane Venetian costumes? Yup, yup and yup.
Dan Meyer, Sword Swallower
Dan Meyer thinks swords are super delicious. And he s not picky: this guy ll nosh down on daggers, light sabers, rapiers, broadswords, multiple swords at the same he ll do it in front of anyone, anytime, anywhere. On top of fairs and festival bookings, Dan has also done some motivational TEDx talks, underlining just how possible the impossible can be.
Dan Clairmont, Square Dance Caller & Instructor
No, silly, you can t have any old jerk up there yelling do-si-do your partner round over and over. You need a guy with line dancing experience. A guy in a real cowboy hat who can give the whole thing some authenticity, get the first timers pointed in the right direction, and make the shy ladies at the back join in.
Travis Allen, Elvis Impersonator
Sometimes, there s nothing for it: you just need The King. And when you need The King, you call Travis. Travel Allen is one of the most booked Elvis acts on Gigmasters, specializing in Young Elvis, and has some heavy entertainment credentials. Based in Las Vegas (naturally), Travis is also available for travel.
Everyone s the Speaker: Two New Ways to Share the Floor at Your Event
EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Is the traditional I-talk-you-listen lecture dying? Probably not we ve been silently listening to speeches for a few thousand years or so but these days, technology is filling up our toolkit with interesting ways to pass the mic. Maybe this is the result of shortening attention spans and an inability to shut out mouths for an entire hour, maybe its our natural and frenetic desire to innovate, maybe this is just the way we start cresting out of the me-me-me cultural narcissism that social networks facilitate. Who knows? But more fluid audience participation methods during conferences and talks are definitely becoming a trend. Here s a look at two of the new tools available for getting listeners involved.
Catchbox
Created by a team of young Finns, Catchbox is the world s first throwable microphone , a highly engineered mic built into a padded cube that doesn t mind being tossed around the lecture hall. Psychologically, I think this plays well across a couple of dynamics: for one, as the video notes, it s a good icebreaker, but I also like it for its techy take on the Talking Stick whoever s got the Catchbox has the floor. Feels egalitarian somehow. Neat bit: the creators of Catchbox built in some software that edits out the sounds that would typically be generated by the mic as it sails through the air and lands hard in someone s grip.
Price-wise, the thing ain t particularly cheap, with boxes starting at 495 Euros (or $591 USD), but good A/V gear is worth the shell out.
Crowdmics
Crowd Mics turns audience smartphones into wireless microphones, no internet connection required. A detailed inside look via SquadUp blog (and check out their post for the back story behind the creation of Crowd Mics):
Everyone downloads the free Crowd Mics app and connects to the same wireless router, which can be via a venue s Wi-Fi or a stand-alone wireless router device. Crowd Mics doesn t require an Internet connection because it only uses the router to push data back and forth. The presenter on stage plugs an iOS or Android device into the room s sound system and creates a name and access code for the event in the Crowd Mics app. Audience members download the app and enter the code to join the event. When they want to ask a question or make a comment, they tap a Request to Talk button on their devices, and the presenter will see a list of people who want to talk in the order they requested. The presenter can enable an individual microphone, mute a microphone, or put the system in open mic mode so anyone can comment. Audience members can also submit text comments to the presenter through the Crowd Mics app. The presenter can also use the basic polling functions.
Crowd Mics is free for events with under twenty participants over that, it s $50 for 50 participants or under, up to $198 for 200 participants or under. If you need Crowd Mics to support more than 200 participants, you ll need to contact them for custom pricing.
The Dark Arts: What Happens at a Hacker Conference?
EVENT INDUSTRY
Hacker conferences aren t your typical industry get-togethers. Here are some of the traditional and unique activities you might find at an underground technology meetup.
Spot the Fed
Maybe the longest running and most notorious hacker conference of all, DEFCON, held each year in the United States (usually Vegas), has traditionally included a segment called Spot the Fed , where attendees take turns throughout the conference trying to unmask the undercover federal agents who are inevitably there keeping tabs on the hacker community. Anyone who correctly spots a fed gets an I spotted the Fed t-shirt, and lots of cred. The Fed, we understand, gets a t-shirt too.
Social Engineering Panel
Social Engineering is a term used to describe basic con-man tactics to gain access to restricted information. A social engineer is skilled at, for example, calling a hosting company pretending to be the owner of a website account, saying they ve forgotten their password, and trying to get the host to read someone else s password to them over the phone. Social engineering often happens over the phone, but it can happen in person as well.
Wanna see it in action? Check out this video, whose description reads: Since the very first HOPE conference in 1994, the social engineering panel has been a huge draw. We basically round up a bunch of people who like to play on the phone, tell some stories, and make live calls to strangers who wind up telling us things they really shouldn t in front of a huge crowd of people who are trying very hard not to make any noise. It s all a lesson on how insecure information really is, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes that some unsuspecting person someplace will inevitably make when this panel randomly calls them.
Lock Picking
Physical security, for example in terms of keeping servers and other corporate computer hardware protected from breakins, requires knowledge of basic locks. That s why most hacker conferences include a Lockpick Village, complete with lock-picking lessons and practice spaces.
Would you like to schedule a lockpicking lesson at your next event? Contact Toool.us! Check out this video for an overview:
3 Innovative Ways to Find and Book Cool Speakers for Any Event
EVENT INDUSTRY
We re not gonna waste your time, here: no one needs to tell you how to Google how to find speakers for your event . And doing that will turn up all the basics: databases of speaking professionals (Gigmaster!), speakers associations, blah blah blah. But there are plenty of fascinating, confident, articlate people that don t speak for a living and are outside . Here a few unique ideas on how to find and connect with them.
Look up Inventors on Kickstarter
There are a lot of very interesting people in the world who are driven to create very interesting things. And interesting people know that they have a strong chance of funding their good ideas on Kickstarter. We re gonna go out on a limb here and say that every one of those people is a potential event speaker. Since Kickstarter is geared towards helping potential funders find projects that they re inspired to support, the site is segmented by categories dare we say topics? making it easy to narrow down a list of people who might add some spice to your event would, in fact, probably welcome the opportunity to promote whatever they re working on. Plus, many Kickstarter inventors and creatives make videos in which they explain their projects, so you can get a sense of how well they string a few words together.
Search for Speeches on Slideshare
If someone s got a speech on Slideshare, it means they ve already spoken in front of a group of people, and may be willing to do so again. It doesn t necessarily mean they re good at it, but the upshot here is that you can preview their speech before you even contact them, and get a pretty solid idea what the content would be like.
Hire a Consultant or Bureau
Companies like The Speaker Group specialize in having a wide body of speaker resources at their disposal, and they can help you nail someone down. Needless to say, this is a great option if you have a budget, need to find multiple speakers or don t have the time to suss out the right fit.
Event Design Inspiration: Gorgeous Place Settings to Inspire You
EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION
Sometimes you just gotta look at beautiful things to get the ol synapses firing. Here s a selection of some gorgeous settings from Flickr Creative Commons.
East Coast Beach
Umber Earth Tones
High Contrast Ceramics
Presidential
Country Gypsy
Rustic Nautical
Image Sources: East Coast Beachy, Umber Earth Tones, High Contrast Ceramics, Presidentia, Country Gypsy,Rustic Nautical
6 Must-Follow Tips For Selecting an Event Venue
EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION
Finding just the right venue for your event has often been compared to buying a house, given the methodical preparation needed. Hopefully though, finding a venue involves fewer encounters with realtors and solicitors. Here are a few tips to follow that should make the selection process easier.
Specifics, specifics
Check the venue s ability to display advertising and banners. Verify prime advertising spots around local roads. Can venue staff work your event for catering and security or do you need to bring people in? Will the business center stay open a little later to accommodate guests should your event run long? Don t hesitate a second to run these venues ragged with questions, that s what they re there for.
The right hours: putting the space through its paces
Be sure to check out your venue at the same time of day (and ideally, time of year) that your event is scheduled to take place. Little things that go unnoticed during an ill-timed inspection can turn round and bite you during your event. Visiting a venue at 2pm, for example, will not give you an accurate idea of how much outside noise will filter in at rush hour. Visiting in the evening will not tell you how well the curtains will block out daylight. Countless little details that can thoroughly disrupt an otherwise meticulously planned conference can be done away with early on.
Ahead of time
Conference centers are usually fielding inquiries from a dozen companies at a time, all of them looking to book floor space. The closer you are to the date of your event, the less TLC you ll receive from any venues you have chosen to scout. Starting your search a year or more ahead of time is not something that most people do (and not always possible), but it is very effective in securing prime locations at excellent prices.
Bargain
This hardly needs to be said. Venues are not put off by those seeking to drive a fair bargain, especially a long way out from the event as mentioned above. Entire package deals are the best option but negotiation on single pricier elements are more common. And don t forget, play venues off against each other to drive that bill lower.
Layout and supporting spaces
The actual area in which the main event is being held is not the only consideration when it comes to layout and floor plan, and it s likely that you ll need more space than you think. Trade shows, for example, will require one large open space, like an easily converted ballroom, to place tables that s the easy bit. But you ll also need to ensure the venue you select has space for guest registration, a first-aid area, and potentially a press room. Wedding reception venues may need separate changing or storage areas for the bridal party.
To ensure your venue has all the facilities you need, go through your event itinerary from the perspectives of all comers guests, clients, event staff and venue staff. Mentally plot out what each attendee type may need to do during the course of the event.
Graphing out the layout might help ensure you ve got the space you need
Best Way To Get There
Much as a soon-to-be father practices the drive to the hospital to find the best route for his wife, make sure you know the best ways to access your venue by car, bus and subway. This is particularly important for out-of-town participants if you cannot put them up on site.
10by10: New Startup Will Connect Vendors & Venues
VENUES
We re excited about an up-and-coming concept we heard about over on the Event Manager Blog Event Startup Pinterest feed (and if you ve never been over there, check it out, it s invaluable).
In the words of founder Christa Huntley:
I own a business and frequently I attend expo events to reach a broader audience. I ve attended very successful events where I was able to generate significant leads and I ve attended others that have been time wasters. The results vary but really I just want good results, more leads, and increased sales.
I also want to be able to find events, valuable events, without having to Google them, search 15 online calendars, call countless venues, and speak with every friend who has ever attended an event in my local area.
I don t want to miss events. I beat myself up when I didn t know about them, didn t hear about them until too late, or made the decision not to go because the event sounded lame.
And so 10 10, named after the average size of your basic expo booth, was born to solve these problems.
The Skinny
10by10 hasn t fully gotten off the ground yet, and their database isn t rocking a full roster of items at the moment, but they re on the upswing, and adding new events to their listings as we speak. Potential exhibitors will be able to search events by date or category, knowing that those events are actively seeking participants, then book event space directly through the website.
Event listing and browsing is free 10by10 makes their moolah by charging the event host a percentage fee for each vendor registrant.
Keep an eye on this one, folks: it would be a pleasant game changer.
