Heroic Event Productions Blog

Since 1973, Christmas in Christ Chapel has evolved into a much-anticipated tradition at Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, Minn., involving the talents of over 350 student musicians, dancers, actors and faculty. Each year, a new theme is brought to life through the use of music, dance and spoken word, with 2018’s theme of “Visions of Divine Mystery” utilizing the artistic concept of the northern lights. Heroic Productions has long-supported this event with dramatic lighting, audio and, more recently, a multi-camera HD livestream broadcast. 

We had a unique 360-degree view of this year's Minnesota Star Awards, the International Live Events Association's gala to honor the top performers in our industry. Not only did we have the opportunity to present one award and win another – which was a true honor – but we also handled the entire AV production. And if you don't think we pulled out all the stops for a ballroom full of our industry colleagues, you don't know us very well! 

It was a huge event, and working with industry insiders as both our "clients" and the "talent" only added to the pressure, yet that ultimately proved the value of some of our most trusty processes to pull it all together. 

You know your talent needs to rehearse before the event goes live, but did you know that your AV team also needs to rehearse? We, in the AV industry, call it cue-to-cue. In the same way that performers and presenters need to practice, your AV team wants to be sure that all the lights, sound, visuals — and, yes, the talent — are poised to do their thing at exactly the right time.

After all, your AV team wants your show flow — the end-to-end production — to be flawless. And they know you do, too.

Projection mapping is a great way for entertainers or speakers to engage with their audience. But have you thought of combining sight and sound by syncing projection mapping to music? We can do that. Talk about creating a cohesive and eye-catching AV element!  Your event is sure to be the talk of the town.

Music has a strong correlation to memories and mood. Whether you choose a DJ or live musical entertainment for your event, make sure their playlist and their style match the atmosphere you want to create. If you succeed, attendees may remember your event for years to come every time they hear a certain song or listen to a specific band. That’s the power of mood music.

Successful mood music is no afterthought. There are a number of factors that you’ll want to consider before making any musical decisions, and you’ll want to get busy with that as soon as you start planning your event. Not only is music integral to your entire event experience, the best DJs and bands often book up far in advance.

Here are four key elements you’ll want to think about:

A large event requires coordination among several vendors, many of whom will need to use the loading dock to get equipment in and out of your event. Most venues have rules and restrictions for using their loading docks. As an event planner, it's important to know those rules so you can communicate them to your vendors.

Here are some loading dock questions you should ask your venue. Do this as soon as possible because everyone (including you) will have to plan ahead to ensure loading dock activities run efficiently and safely.

The opportunity to work on Super Bowl LIVE festivities doesn't happen very often for Minnesota vendors. In fact, the last time we hosted The Big Game was in 1992, when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37–24 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. When The Big Game came to U.S. Bank Stadium last year, we were honored to have a seat at the table by being chosen as the lighting provider for all of Super Bowl LIVE 2018.

Super Bowl LIVE was hands-down the largest event we've participated in to date, and it challenged us in ways we've never experienced before. We learned a number of great lessons from our AV experience at Super Bowl LIVE that we wanted to share with others in the event production world. Before we jump into the lessons we learned, it's important that we lay out the details of this large-scale event.

It's every event planners goal to make things go as smoothly as possible at your event. So it's easy to follow a tried-and-true formula of branded colors, logos, and speeches from the CEO — no surprises there! But, think about it from your audience’s point of view. No one wants to attend the same event over and over again. So, if you're focusing on efficiency instead of your attendees, it's time for a change!

Here are six ways you can get out of your event design rut, freshen it up, and reignite excitement.

A lot of work goes into hosting a great event no matter what size it is, but larger events require bigger venues and more of everything. And more almost always means more complicated, especially when you’re talking about audio-visual requirements. So, what goes into AV setup for a large-scale event?

If you’re planning an event for your business or organization, load in and load out may not be the first thing that comes to mind. It may not be “your job,” but a smooth load in and load out process can make all the difference for your event. So it is up to you, as the planner, to do everything you can to ensure event setup goes well.