AV Services During Gala & Award Ceremonies
Partnering with ESP Presents and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), AV Chicago played a major role in the annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards on June 29th, 2022. As a proud Chicago-based business, AV Chicago was able to provide full event production support for the festivities that celebrated the developing neighborhoods of Chicago and the businesses and individuals supporting their growth.
The gala dinner took place primarily in one main event space that included three large LED screens and an immersive lighting and audio system. This network gave the event the ability to share videos and informative slides highlighting the organization, nominees, and award winners. In addition to the main event space, an overflow room, called the Pink Room, was outfitted with an LED wall, raised stage and podium, and compact audio and camera network to account for additional, unexpected event attendees.
The Pink Room was also configured with the ability to be able to “talk to” the main event space. Each room had the ability to see and hear what was going on in the other event space, including giving LISC the ability to conduct interviews with individuals located in the Pink Room from the main event space. The video wall in the Pink Room also had the ability to display the same content as the main room. This allowed us to offer the same high-level event experience no matter what room you were located in. Each room had their own event MC, who was able to interact personally with the in-person attendees in each space.
A middle hallway area was set-up to be used for pre-reception and post-reception festivities. When guests arrived at the event, they were escorted through the hallway, which was outfitted with a full sound system to provide pre-event music and entertainment. After the event, local entertainer Lady D entertained event attendees with a DJ set that kept the celebratory vibes going after the awards show concluded.
The AV Chicago team conducted pre-planning meetings, including site visits and planning calls, with ESP Presents to help confirm event flow and proper coordination for the event. We worked closely with ESP Presents during the pandemic and this event was our first fully in-person partnership with them.
AV Chicago provided a crew of 17 technicians for set-up and a team of 10, which included operators and stage managers, for day of support and to manage the overall production flow. The run of show was professionally managed and timed, providing a polished and professional presentation for all event attendees. Stage managers were responsible for coordinating with award winners and presenters, bringing them up and down from the stage, and a large number of cues that needed to be seamless for a smooth event presentation.
Many things came down to the wire, with a show script finalized at midnight before the night of the ceremony. By that point, AV Chicago had finished the load-in process and many standard tech issues were addressed during the six hours leading up to the event. We pride ourselves on always being show ready, no matter what. With minutes to spare before the start of the event, we were able to confidently address the last-minute changes and issues, proving once again there is nothing we can’t overcome to provide high-level event production and support
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