That s a Wrap: Decibel s 2012 Campaign Trail

COMPANY NEWS, LIVE EVENTS

With the 2012 presidential election season over, we ve finally returned from another great year of campaign events. While on the road, we worked with some great agencies, toured the country and delivered some really amazing experiences for our clients.

Republican or Democrat, these political events present their own set of unique challenges and requirements. For corporate and planned stage venues, we need time to plan, draft, make revisions, and use a variety of rendering and mapping software, from Meeting Matrix to Vectorworks, to help ensure everyone on the team is executing from the same drawing. Many campaigns simply don t allow that luxury, and often we re forced to retreat back to pen and paper, whiteboards, or as shown in the photograph, even chalk on concrete walls.

Fishersville, VA

A perfect example of this was our campaign stop in Fishersville, Virginia on October 5th. We helped to organize and coordinate a venue for more than 15,000 supporters, together with a lineup of speakers, fireworks and musicians that included legendary country star Trace Adkins.

Finishing a separate event in Iowa, we had less than 24 hours from when we received the outlined sketch until we were supposed to be onsite in Fisherville. The staff lead from the campaign had a very specific idea for how he wanted the show to look. The idea was revised, edited, and set into motion.

We had an entire site to build out, as there was absolutely no infrastructure at the venue. We designed and printed side scrims, ordered the related services including power and tenting, additional av, fencing, bike racks, etc. and within 72 hours we were ready for the show.

Needless to say, it was a huge win.

It was the first political event of this scale for the campaign, and it set the bar for those to come. This event saw some iconic images captured, with over capacity attendance, an above the fold article and photographs on the local front page, and mentions in CNN, C-Span and several other national media sources.

Ames, IA

Another great event we produced was the rally at Kinzler Construction in Ames, Iowa on October 26th, though it too had a unique set of challenges. Because of busy schedules at the venue location, we weren t able to get started with onsite construction until 4pm. With the event beginning at noon the following day, we knew we d have to hustle to get everything in place.

This set the stage for an overnight build in freezing temperatures. We were ready for this, but wanted to have a working plan to maximize our efficiency, get done that evening, and get out of the cold.

Gathering around our whiteboard in the one building with heat (a natural gathering point), we came up with what we thought was a great plan that is, until we got a last-minute call from HQ changing our event from an informal rally to a more stately speech. Starting from scratch, we built a brand new event on the same site (using white boards one and two).

By the next day, the sun came out, it warmed up for the several hundred people in attendance, and the event was billed as a pivotal moment for our campaign.

Fredericksburg, VA

The next event production was one of the most challenging for our team.

In Fredericksburg, we began setting up the first site at 6am. Seven hours later when we broke for lunch, everything seemed to be in great shape. That s when a weather call was made and the event moved indoors, a half mile down the street.

While part of our crew began packing up the event site we had just set up, we took our initial walkthrough of the new site. Luckily, it had a fantastic load-in potential, including loading docks, flat concrete (something that we REALLY take for granted sometimes), and blank canvas with rig points. The audio was tough, but we made it work. What we really wanted to nail down was the setup. Our gear was at the other site, so we used what was available to sketch out the plan. It was from this rough sketch on concrete that we built the entire show.

We used a number of decor assets to make this work, including one of our larger US flags as a backdrop for the campaign bus. It takes two to rig something this size, but only one to pose for photos. It made for a long night, but the event was a success.

Despite these challenges, we had a great time out on the road. To respond to the dynamic and unique set of requirements we faced, we were forced to be resourceful, responsive and diligent. In the end it paid off. We met new friends, worked with some great agencies, and most importantly, produced and delivered some great events for our clients.

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