CCSSA refresher course

Description:

A three day international medical conference for health care professionals hosted by the Critical Care Society of South Africa.

The challenge:

Provide sound for 300 people in an auditorium with raked seating. The international faculty will bring their multimedia presentations on flash drives or on their own laptops  which could be Apple Mac or laptop. Strict time keeping must be adhered to and the auditorium must be set up in a way that allows the room to be split into two for parallel sessions, with minimal  time  delay.

The response:

The sound system was in the form of 6 Community speakers, 2 pairs in front of the stage to give adequate coverage in the wide room and another pair further up the stairs to compensate for the height difference in the auditorium. Lapel microphones where used and their was also a stationary microphone for those who preferred to talk from behind the podium. Hand microphones were on stands in the isles for questions and answers and they were patched through to stage monitors to allow the panel to hear the questions clearly.

One big projection screen was used for the plenary sessions and two smaller screens was moved into position when the room split for the break away sessions. Windows based laptops were networked at the back of the room, which allowed the technician to use one to display the presentations on the big screen and another one to load  talks during the sessions. Two additional data points where provided, one at the podium and another one at the back of the room. These were used by presenters who had Apple Mac machines or those who preferred using their own laptops. Seamless switchers allowed the technicians to switch between these multiple data inputs.  All presentations was controlled with a remote clicker with a built in laser pointer and confidence monitors was used by the panel and the presenters.

Time keeping was done with LED countdown clocks, at the back of the room, out of sight of the audience but clearly visible to the chairman and the presenters. A duplicate setup was done, one on the left and one on the right side of the auditorium, to ensure that the room could be split  and run independently or combined within a matter of minutes.

The event ran smoothly over the course of the three days with many compliments from members of the faculty as well as delegates who attended.

What they said:

It is our great pleasure to once again thank the Corporate Event Staging team for the outstanding professional AV service at the recent Critical Care Refresher Course held at the BOE Conference Centre, V&A Clock Tower Precinct, Cape Town. Feedback from delegates has been very positive with many commenting on the excellent audio visual aspect of the event, which contributed enormously to the success of the meeting. As always, we enjoyed working with the CES team.

Sue McGuinness - Owner - Sue McGuinness Communications