POV: Ready for R&S Pros
Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM,
By Tom Stimson
There are more reasons than ever for rental and staging professionals to attend InfoComm 06 in Orlando, Fla. InfoComm’s Rental & Staging Council has been planning for months to provide a selection of seminars, courses, and special events to enhance the experience of technical, sales, operations, and management attendees. Plus, it is the biggest tradeshow of its kind, with more than 750 exhibitors in one location.
Education at InfoComm is designed by AV professionals for AV professionals. Super Tuesday seminars will feature six-hour pre-show courses in staging operations and general management. Super Tuesday includes a management track, which covers everyday financial analysis, human resource management, and risk management; an operations track, featuring leadership for supervisors, logistics for staging companies; and other courses that will provide immediate impact. Sessions are taught by leading professionals and hosted by InfoComm International’s Rental & Staging Council.
InfoComm Academy will conduct its world-class seminars and workshops, as well as three-day pre-show Institutes for Professional Development. Conference-goers can sign up for classes covering lighting, staging, and rental topics such as Sorting Loudspeakers and Array Arithmetic, Performance Venues, Integrating Lighting Design and AV Services, Working Successfully with Labor, and Power Distribution. Technical staff members will also find manufacturer training to complement InfoComm’s excellent programs.
Council members will also be highly involved in special events. J.P. Broznya, CTS, will host representatives of the local show community in The Anatomy of an Orlando Staging & Rental Event. Broznya will also share his marketing experience in Checklist for an Audiovisual Database Marketing Plan. Bill Magod will present three audio courses covering gain structure; wireless microphones; and limiters, EQs, and processing. I am also returning with Growth Strategies for Audiovisual Companies and a separate course for The Emerging Event Staging Operation.
InfoComm’s Exhibit Hall is still the best place in the world to see professional lighting, staging, rigging, and video display products all under one roof. The popular Lighting & Staging Pavilion returns with more than 50 exhibitors. New to this year’s show floor are live educational demonstrations of rigging expertise and technology presented by The ESTA Foundation.
InfoComm’s audio demo rooms, powered by some of the industry’s top audio equipment manufacturers, will greatly expand this year. Attendees will have the opportunity to really listen to products without the hubbub of the exhibit floor.
The Large Venue Display Gallery — the only one of its kind in the world — features high-definition, high-resolution display and projection solutions for stadiums, concerts, and corporate events. This year’s gallery will be managed by platinum sponsor Extron Electronics.
In 2006, InfoComm is teaming up with its host city for technology tours of area attractions and facilities. Behind-the-scenes tours will be available for Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba, SeaWorld, the University of Central Florida, and more. These one-of-a-kind opportunities fill up fast, so plan early to attend.
Networking is the first reason R&S professionals attend InfoComm. Nowhere else can you share ideas and rub elbows with hundreds of representatives from rental companies around the world. The Rental & Staging Forum is always a surprising peek into the solutions, insights, and trends of our industry.
Submit your rental & staging event for consideration by the Rental & Staging Systems Magazine awards committee, then attend the AV Communications Excellence Awards Banquet on June 6 and enjoy a fine dinner and lively awards show. And this year we’re going to party on into the night with national recording artists, The Smithereens, and the comedy of the Raspyni Brothers. Everyone is invited to the post-banquet party!
The Rental & Staging Council extends its invitation to the rental and staging industry to join us at InfoComm 06. At this year’s show there’s something to help everyone grow their business. Visit infocommshow.org for the latest information.
Tom Stimson,MBA, CTS, is chair of the InfoComm Rental & Staging Council.
