Event: Catholic Schools Office, Wagga Wagga, Whole of System Conference
Location: Mater Dei Primary School and Mater Dei Catholic College
Requirements: Full Conference Support and AV Management for 1000+ Delegates
What we delivered:
Working closely with the Professional Conference Organiser, PCC Events, the CDS team spent over 18 months assisting with the planning, design and delivery of all the Audio Visual equipment for this conference.
With over 1000 delegates, it was vital that the main plenary sessions (held in the school hall) were clearly heard and all content visable to the entire audience. This included 58 local and international musicians, keynote presentations, lighting and projection. In addition we worked with both schools AV/IT departments to manage screens, computers and sound systems in 35 breakout rooms, outdoor breakout sessions, the Welcome Reception Dinner and outdoor Lunch Marquee area. The event was spread across two school campus, creating additional logistical challenges to overcome as well!
Promotional Video
Plenary Sessions
- 1000+ Delegates
- Audio PA System
- Over 15 Radio Microphones in Operation
- Support for 58 Musicians on Main Stage / Band Stage
- 2 x Operated Live-to-Screen & Recording Video Cameras
- 2 x Fixed Live-to-Screen & Recording Video Cameras
- Full Theatrical Lighting Rig for Main Stage
- Full Atmospheric Lighting Rig for Main Stage
- Full Band Lighting Kit for Band Stage
- 2 x 20,000 Lumen HD Flown Projectors & 20′ Wide Screen Projection Screens
- Lots of Draping!
Rigging
The Plenary space for this ev
ent was the school assembly hall which is also the school basketball stadium. To setup this room we had to research the construction of the building and obtain certification that the room structure could support the weight of the flown truss, projectors and lighting systems. In addition, the floor of the hall is a sprung sports floor – so we had to carefully source and manage the lifting equipment as well as source custom-made boards to distribute the weight of the lift in order to prevent damage to the underlying structure. And, on top of that, we had to ensure that none of the equipment damaged the polished floor itself!
AV Operators Position
In order to accomodate the size of the audience, we had a custom made Ops Stage designed and built over the stadium bleachers in order to provide space for the AV Audio and Vision Operators as well as the camera position for the live-to-screen feed.
Audio
We utilised a flown line-array speaker system to provide audio coverage to the entire space and the audience of over 1000 delegates.
Flash Mob – Microphones
In order to accomodate the 20+ participants in the ‘flash mob’ we had to have 15+ radio microphones in operation at the one time. Research was performed to identify the allowable frequencies in the Wagga district and careful selection of the appropriate equipment ensured we had no interference nor drop-outs at any time over the entire event.
Band Stage / Side of Stage Mix
In addition to the main audio operators position at the back of the room, we setup and ran a ‘side-of-stage’ audio operators position beside the Band Stage, allowing effective and careful management of the extensive musical component for this event.
Videography
Utilising both operated and fixed camera positions, we captured all of the keynote sessions from the Plenary space and provided a professional, dynamic video production to the client, both for posterity and education purposes post-event – over 16 hours of professional video in total. Check the promo video above for a small taste!
Welcome Reception – Hall 2
- 500+ Delegates
- Distributed PA / Sound System
- Coloured Theme Lighting
To help create a fun, relaxed ‘party’ atmosphere, we provided a distributed sound system for background music and announcement as well coloured theme lighting to set the mood.
35 Breakout Rooms
As leading high-tech schools, both locations had an extensive range of computers, networking, large TV Monitors and other equipment. Our team worked closely with the schools IT staff to distribute and manage the equipment, ensuring that each room had everything the presenters needed – including outdoor PA systems.
