Plan Your Meetings

Ever wonder how a general session is put together? After the opening general session of the 2010 PCMA Convening Leaders conference on Jan. 11, Freeman’s Design/Production Resource Manger Jim Irwin, CTS, MFA, led meeting and event planners on a behind the scenes tour and explained the process as it moved from the drawing board to the convention center.

“Planning began six months out,” Irwin said. During that first meeting, PCMA shared what their initial concept was: to have one large screen filled with all the things that are available to attendees on the Internet.

“The problem was, there was no way to get people on and off the stage,” Irwin explained. So one screen became three. Normally you do black drapes for entrance points, Irwin said, but because the clients wanted to give the audience a feeling of being in the computer, he decided it’d be more visually interesting to use stock metal set pieces he had that looked like the air cooling vents on a computer. Because the session was being held in a cavernous exhibit hall, Irwin chose to segment off the sides with 8-ft. drapes. “I did everything I could to [keep] the audience seating with the frame of the screen and make it feel a little more intimate, like we’re all in the room together.”

Perhaps the most innovative design element of the session was a touchscreen navigation system embedded in a downstage podium that allowed speakers to select any of the images on the screen to launch the corresponding Web site or presentation. “Touchscreens are not standard yet, so we built in a few safeguards,” Irwin explained. “We try not to put the client in a position where they can shoot themselves in the foot.” So, although the presenter could see many options to select, Irwin and his team only activated the one that would move the presentation forward.

Another fun element was the addition of an audience “plant,” comedienne Denny Siegal, who was hired by Freeman to represent the portion of PCMA attendees that might be uncomfortable with new media, social networks and other technological advances. “Excuse me,” she said, interrupting outgoing PCMA Chairman John Folk’s welcome speech. “Aren’t we supposed to be an association of face-to-face meeting professionals? I’ve done my business exactly the same way for 25 years.” Folks deadpanned, “So how is business?” “I need help!” she cried. During her appearance in the closing session three days later, she demonstrated newly learned techno-savvy skills, underlining what Folks said was the goal for this meeting: providing relevant information for PCMA’s members to help them succeed in a challenging environment.

In addition to talking about the design, technical and comedic elements of the session, Irwin and his team introduced planners to the behind the scenes staff. They met and learned the duties of the back of house staff (stage manager, lighting designer and audio operator) as well as behind the screen operators (video director, playback pro, PowerPoint designer and teleprompter operator).

Irwin also shared ways in which planners could reduce the cost of what they had seen PCMA do. “This set is only expensive because of the screens,” Irwin said. “They are 18-ft. by 32-ft. and cost $1,700 a day each. This is extreme because it’s for this group, and we have 18 HD projectors. But you could use smaller screens.” By using regular projectors, DV cameras and switchers instead of HD ones, planners could save a lot of money, but Irwin chose to go with HD equipment because people are used to watching HD resolution images in their homes. “Lighting and gobos make a big effect for low cost,” he added. “Gobos add color and texture. It’s a great way to get a good look from a cheap set.” For planners looking to be OSHA-compliant, Irwin said it’s much more affordable to avoid building wheelchair ramps and use a backstage lift instead. “Convention centers don’t have wheelchair ramps,” he explained. “So it has to be custom carpentry, which is expensive. We use scissor lifts and run them up and down. They’re rentable. Then, you just need to build an OSHA-approved basket.”

In closing, Irwin shared his top five tips for doing a general session:

1. Listen to the client. Talk. Then, listen again.
2. Be willing to change and listen to the opinions of other people. If you’re willing to be flexible, they’ll be more willing to be flexible if you change your mind.
3. The customer is always right … until they’re obviously wrong. You have to keep the client from making silly mistakes, so if you see something you don’t like, fix it, because chances are other people don’t like it either, but they’re being too polite to say anything.
4. Give credit to your creative team. If you respect and acknowledge contributions, they will help you achieve your goals and care about the quality of what they’re doing.
5. There really isn’t any limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t mind who gets the credit.

Here’s a short video of the session and behind the scenes tour.