Conference AV Checklist: Sound, Lighting, LED and Stage

Delegates forgive an average lunch. They do not forgive a speaker they cannot hear or a slide they cannot read. This checklist covers the audio-visual basics for a corporate conference and how they change with the size of the room.

Sound

• Microphones. A podium microphone, cordless hand microphones for the panel and the floor, and collar microphones for speakers who walk. Always keep spares.
• Speakers. Small rooms work with two speakers on stands. Long halls need a line array or delay speakers so the back row hears the same level as the front.
• Console and engineer. A digital console with a trained engineer, present from rehearsal to the end.
• Recording and streaming feed. If the event is recorded or streamed, ask for a separate clean audio feed.

Screen: LED wall or projection

• LED wall. Bright enough for a lit hall and reads well on camera. The usual choice for ballrooms and large halls.
• Projection. Economical for small rooms where the lights can be dimmed.
• Confidence monitor. A screen facing the speaker showing the current slide.
• Switcher. To move between laptops, video and cameras without a blank screen.

Lighting

• Even front light on the lectern and the panel seats, so faces are clear to the room and the camera.
• Wash lights for the set and the branding.
• A separate look for awards or an evening segment if the programme has one.

Stage and set

• Stage height for sight lines: 12 to 18 inches for small halls, 24 inches or more when the audience is large and seated flat.
• Steps, ramp and a skirting.
• Lectern, panel seating and a backdrop that works with the screen.

By size of event

• Up to 100 delegates. Two speakers, two to four microphones, a projector or a small P2 LED wall, basic front light.
• 100 to 500 delegates. Line array, six or more microphones, a 16 × 9 ft or larger LED wall, switcher, confidence monitor, stage lighting, 18 to 24 inch stage.
• 500 and above, or several halls. Main and delay speakers, a large or multi-screen LED set, cameras for image magnification, a production desk and one team running every hall.

For AICOG 2023 we ran a dome hall, four breakout rooms and a poolside evening from one production desk with a single slide-management system, so a speaker could present in any hall.

Before you sign off

• Is there a technical rehearsal with the actual presentations?
• Who is the single point of contact on the day?
• Is the equipment owned by the company or hired in?
• What spares are on site?

See our conference work and the equipment we own, or send us your agenda for a plan and a quote.