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The 10 Biggest Little Mistakes In Rental And Staging

As their vendor, AV rental customers not only want you to handle any problem that arises ? they expect you to prevent it in the first place. Anyone can make problems go away, but the art of mastering rental and staging jobs is in having the customer believe there won't be any mistakes.

The 10 Biggest Little Mistakes In Rental And Staging

As their vendor, AV rental customers not only want you to handle any problem that arises ? they expect you to prevent it in the first place. Anyone can make problems go away, but the art of mastering rental and staging jobs is in having the customer believe there won’t be any mistakes.

1. Sending the wrong cables, leaving out accessories2. Cables improperly placed or unsecured on the floor3. Failure to back up the equipment most likely to fail4. Placing the screen too low5. Putting controls where the customer can reach them — or not putting controls

As their vendor, AV rental customers not only want you to handle any problem that arises — they expect you to prevent it in the first place. Anyone can make problems go away, but the art of mastering rental and staging jobs is in having the customer believe there won’t be any mistakes. The extra time and effort it takes to avoid slip ups will pay back many times over in long-term loyal customers. But … no one is perfect. Here, in no particular order, are the 10 most common mistakes AV rental companies make in their execution of value-added services.

Audio/video technology has more options than ever for connecting pieces. The best way to avoid a dissatisfied customer is to send all the cables and accessories that could be used to a job. This especially applies to single-item rentals, such as portable video projectors.

The typical product can take a video signal via RCA video, S-video, BNC video, or YUV (in RCA or BNC connectors). Computer signals connect through multiple VGA or DVI connectors. Audio may use RCA stereo or 1/8-inch mini-plug stereo. Customers expect to be able to use any or all of these features, so you can bet the cable you forget will be the very one they were counting on.

Industry best practice for proper equipment packaging starts with checklists and ends with procedures (photo 1). Permanently place a list of all the parts that go with each item inside or outside the package for that item. Go through that list with the customer at the beginning and end of each rental. The most important accessory for any item — whether it goes out with a customer or your own technicians — is an after-hours technical support phone number.

Remember the top three priorities when placing cables. Protect the people who will use the space, protect the cable, and intrude as a little as possible into the space. Proper cable placement is both an art and a science — the goal is to balance the aesthetic choices against safety, as shown in photos 2 and 3. The good news is that safe installations also tend to be pleasing to the eye. Some basic rules to reach these goals:

Cable runs should follow walls wherever possible and extend into the room at 90 degree angles. Lines to podiums should first extend away from the side and then straight to the nearest wall or partition, crossing any pedestrian paths, at a 90 degree angle. This is to reduce tripping hazards — a person can better negotiate over a straight line than an angled one.

If placing a cable path in a high-traffic area is unavoidable, do so prominently to minimize the potential for tripping. If you have to choose between crossing a doorway that will be used by pedestrians versus one for equipment or catering carts, remember this: people will do less damage and pose a smaller risk to the integrity of the signals in the cable. In general, avoid the main doorway to the room whenever possible (photo 4).

Any cable in a pathway or traffic area needs to be covered and secured to the floor. Vinyl-cloth tape, also known as gaffer’s tape, is the cable cover of choice. Don’t confuse this product with duct tape, which will leave adhesive material on your cables and flooring. One to two lines of quarter-inch-thick cables can be covered with three-inch widths of tape. Larger groups or thicker cables need a rubber mat or carpet strip taped over the path, because they are more likely to pull up even the most careful taping job. It is also vital that no connectors fall within the pedestrian path. Reposition the cable or add extensions to move any connectors out of the way.

In the rental and staging business, there is no end to the gear that could fail. Experience will teach you when and where to back things up, but there are some usual suspects to always keep in mind. Voted most likely to fail in a meeting room are wireless microphones (or anything wireless, for that matter), projector lamps, and videotape machines.

Wireless mics always seem to work great during testing, but radio frequency problems can appear anytime, without warning. The best backup for a wireless microphone is a wired one. Always place a hand-held mic with a long cord next to the stage or podium, and brief presenters on when and how to use it. Wired lavalieres also can be a good standby, but are awkward to implement in a crisis.

It’s a mistake not to expect projector lamps to fail. Being ready for this is more an exercise in risk management than a direct backup, though that certainly may be an option. A practical approach is monitoring lamp hours, and replacing lamps when they reach 80 percent of their intended life or 60 percent of output. Keep backup lamps in stock for the inevitable. Premature lamp failure usually occurs in the first 10 hours of use, so it’s recommended to burn in new lamps at the shop for eight to 10 hours, then return them to the shelf as tested backups.

Believe it or not, videotape machines will be around a while longer, which means they will continue to jam or break down. This is another case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Cleaning tape heads regularly will thwart the most common failures. AV staging best practice is to have a redundant deck wired, tested, and ready for use. Customers also should be advised to bring two copies of any tape, CD, computer disk, or other software required for the event.

Rental salespersons spend a lot of time negotiating the proper size of the screen for the customer. A good rule of thumb on this front is: The vertical dimension of the screen should equal one-sixth the distance from the screen to the last viewer (for instance, 60 feet viewing distance equals a 10-foot-tall screen). Recommend a slightly larger image for computer application content, and know that a smaller image will work for video images. Everyone wants a bigger screen; the trick is fitting it into the room so that everyone can see it.

Most screen manufacturers recommend that the bottom of the image be about 48 inches from the floor, which means the image will be partially obstructed for viewers several rows away. The more densely packed the room is, the higher the screen needs to be. For every additional 30 feet (about eight rows of theater seating), add six inches of height, up to a total of 96 inches. These parameters will pose a problem quickly in many meeting rooms with low and high ceilings (photo 5). For example, a 50-foot by 75-foot meeting room will seat 400 people theater style. The depth of the room dictates about a 54-inch image clearance to the floor and 10 feet, six inches of screen height. The top of the screen needs 15 feet of clearance — a generous ceiling height in most venues.

Solving the screen placement dilemma while maintaining minimum viewing parameters is more art than science. If you were to set up the example room along the long wall, the necessary screen vertical dimension drops by almost two feet, and the bottom of the image height could be reduced by several inches. In extreme cases, adding smaller displays to the back of the room might do the trick — and enhance the rental.

The nature of the meeting will determine how much control the presenters will need over the hardware. Informal seminars A presenter usually can operate an informal seminar. Awards shows, shareholders’ meetings, and presentations by high-level executives generally require AV technicians to run them. For the rental salesperson, the number of microphones or video sources can serve as a guide, while the buyer should consider the intended experience for the attendees.

Even when presenters need to work the production, it’s not necessarily the best idea to give them control over all the technology aspects. Equalization and gain structure are best left to the technical staff to preset. Volume controls, on the other hand, are something everyone wants to have. The best user interface is a rotary knob (photo 6). Audio mixing boards with sliders and mute buttons — no matter how simple or well-labeled — tend to overwhelm even the most sophisticated presenter (photo 7).

Control over switching video inputs is an absolute necessity for today’s electronically empowered presenter. It is not unusual for multiple speakers to each have a computer to show, and perhaps a DVD or videotape. In these cases, a well-labeled switcher will reduce the times a technician will need to be called into the room. A preview monitor that displays the source and a confidence display that shows the same thing as the screen are becoming standard features at conventions and meetings.

Placing controls for easy access also is important (photo 8). Controls inside the podium seem like a good idea, until someone needs to reach them while another person is speaking. Sooner or later, a technician may need to come into the room and make an adjustment. Setting controls to the side of the stage anticipates this while leaving things accessible to the presenter.

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The 10 Biggest Little Mistakes In Rental And Staging

As their vendor, AV rental customers not only want you to handle any problem that arises ? they expect you to prevent it in the first place. Anyone can make problems go away, but the art of mastering rental and staging jobs is in having the customer believe there won’t be any mistakes.

6. Incomplete testing of equipment after setup or at the beginning of each day7. Trusting the hotel spec sheet for vital information8. Not checking the power for proper voltage and grounding9. Performing critical rigging functions yourself10. Neglecting to verify and monitor recordings

Technicians often check equipment as they install it, but it’s vital to review the workings of the entire system once everything is in place. When possible, have someone other than the technician who installed the equipment do the final checks. This will ensure the room is truly ready for use.

Meeting rooms often are used over several days. It is tempting to assume that if no one complains, then everything is in working order. A better practice is to return to check the setup at the end of each day in case any adjustments are needed. Return the next morning to make sure all units power up correctly, and that nothing has been altered, albeit accidentally, by overnight cleaning crews, security guards, or the clients themselves.

This reminds us how important it is for your customer to know how to reach you. Leave a business card or tent card, and their confidence in you rises exponentially.

Hotel and convention center brochures want to emphasize a room’s size and capacity. Meeting room occupancy limits, while not inaccurate, probably don’t leave any space for AV equipment. It’s not unusual to find ceiling height specifications that refer to the highest point in the room, yet mention nothing about architectural elements, such as chandeliers or air wall tracks that hang several feet lower (photos 9 and 10).

Visit the job site before you confirm a plan; always submit proposals with a clause stating that the budget is “pending verification of venue requirements.” Take along a site survey kit that includes an electronic tape measure (photo 11), digital camera, and documentation form. With accurate information, you can work with your customers to meet their needs within space constraints.

Always confirm that the temporary and permanent electrical service at the venue is wired correctly. Manufactured distribution systems and well-labeled power connections are not guarantees of proper wiring. Either request the house electrician to meter the power in front of you, or do it yourself. While most venues employ or contract reputable electricians, the consequences of improper wiring include seriously damaged equipment, costly delays, even injury.

To check for proper wiring of a standard AC outlet, first use a simple tester (photo 12) found at any hardware or electronics store. This will tell you whether or not the three wires are appropriately connected and that there is an Earth ground. Some testers also have a voltage readout. The safe range for most electronic equipment is 115VAC to 125VAC. If you’re familiar with proper voltmeter use, tests for proper ground and correct voltage are easy.

When it comes to rigging, the health and safety of employees and bystanders can be compromised in a split second by a mental error or hardware failure. At minimum, AV companies should require a rigging safety course for any employee or contractor that comes in contact with rigged equipment. Persons responsible for hanging anything over peoples’ heads should be supervised by a trained and — preferably —certified rigger. Learn more about certified riggers at http://etcp.esta.org/.

Fortunately, rigging safety importance is catching the attention of building owners who frequently work with outside rigging services providers to manage flown equipment. AV providers should welcome the opportunity to let someone else provide the expertise and assume responsibility for rigging. Insist that the provider inspect your rigged equipment and materials for safety defects, and work with them toward acceptable solutions.

The two biggest lies in AV are “the check is in the mail” and “the recording is for archive purposes only.” The Internet, digital audio, and computer editing have conspired to change recorded audio and video from a luxury to a necessity. More importantly, the average customer now expects broadcast quality.

The best defense is to establish high standards for recording, and stick to them (photo 13). Paying attention to meters is important, but inevitably useless if the signal is noisy or unbalanced. Regular (if not constant) monitoring of audio signals through high quality headphones should be a minimum. If the equipment won’t let you to monitor the signal as it is recorded, rather than at the input, then make it a practice to run a test recording and play it back for verification. Then at each opportunity, reverify that the recorded signal is what you expect.

Video adds another dimension, but the standards are the same. Verify that what goes in is what is being recorded. There is no substitute for good engineering, but a good engineer knows that constant monitoring will catch problems as they occur.

Tom Stimson is president and principal consultant of The Stimson Group, a Dallas management consulting firm that specializes in AV. He is chairman of InfoComm’s Rental & Staging Council, a member of the Entertainment Technician Certification Council, and a frequent contributor to industry publications. He can be reached at [email protected].

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