2017-11-23 – SNB 80’s Tribute – EO Reunion Dinner

The Entrepreneurial Organization is a company of people which represents young and successful Entrepreneurs. Membership includes mentorship, coaching and association from alumni and current members. This event was a dinner aimed at reminiscing about the Organizations history. Hosted at the Red & White Club in Calgary, the event included: Dinner, Powerpoint Presentations, Product Demos, a Photo Booth, a panel discussion, and live music.

This was one of the first events where I was able to successfully (though not without some learnings) employ a second hand, and provide enough information to him such that I was able to step back and work on setup in parallel with him. This allowed me to cut 25% of my setup time away in order to fit within a tight event schedule.

The Panel Discussion was also filmed at this event, so I was able to pass some business onto my friend Reg Gothard of Masterpiece Video Productions and provide him with a clean audio feed for post production, eliminating the need for a pre-show test run to the video equipment.

Successes:

• Efficiently employed a second hand with no prior experience. Utilized pre-planning and effective presentations of information. Allowed him to setup the stage, while I set up the booth, cutting setup time by 25%-50%.
• Provided a clean audio feed to videographer which allowed his video’s to be uninterrupted by issues we were having live in the room. The video will be a timeless memory free of the errors we experienced in real time.

Learnings:

• Be more diligent with line checks. I missed an incorrect connection on one of the speakers causing a volume mismatch in the room. Results were one corner of the room was in a dead zone.
• Verify that no secondary systems are causing issues with my system. I was having trouble EQing out some feedback during the panel discussion that had not been there when I tuned the room. Unbeknownst to me, the venue staff had enabled the venue’s PA system, which caused a feedback loop that I did not have direct control over.
• Be more generous with my setup time. Ask for it if needed. We were pretty rushed for setup. With more time, I may have been able to iron out the issues that happened during the event.