Event Showcase
Event Wows High-Tech Attendees With High-Tech A/V
by Michael Dang | Published in February 2006 Departments
LAS VEGAS—When 3,000 conference attendees entered the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to learn about new technology in the software field, the first thing they noticed was the stylized Elvis/’50s look that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the “Entertainment Capital of the World.” What they encountered next left them awestruck: a beautiful stage set composed of a 50-foot by 15-foot center screen surrounded by two 20-foot by 15-foot side screens – all projecting video images in spectacular high definition.
“We needed to give a new, dramatic look that was also capable of presenting very technical information,” said John Fernbacher, executive producer of Fernbacher Productions. “We wanted wild entertainment combined with a lot of wow effect mixed with communicating IT-type information.”
The stage set created a large palette for Fernbacher and his team to mix motorcycle stunts with intricate pyrotechnics (with the help of the Las Vegas Fire Department), which were enhanced with video clips shot in high definition. Multimedia staging company AV Concepts brought sophisticated, easy-to-use technology that gave Fernbacher’s team the ability to try a variety of techniques: picture-in-picture, widescreen PowerPoint and a wide-range of multimedia formats – all done in high definition.
“The color and brightness were like high-definition television,” said Fernbacher. “This was all from a single HD source and everything was bright. The presenters onstage had a gorgeous background behind them. The quality of the picture was mind-boggling, and our client without a doubt on the first day said, ‘We’re doing this again next year.’”
The conference attendees were so impressed that many of them wandered to the tech booth to figure out how the jaw-dropping visuals were being produced. “I’ve never had so many people who don’t know who I am or what I do come up and just want to know what was going on. It was just something they had just never seen before,” Fernbacher recalled. “The only complaint I have ever heard about high definition is that it looks better than life itself.”