Fins to the (stage) left

That’s a wrap from Margaritaville! Between two separate crews, we were on site for 21 straight hours to produce AV for the annual SEFAA (South East Florida Apartment Association) Circle of Excellence Awards in partnership with Paragon Events. The scene was set in the Compass Rose Ballroom on the 9th floor of the hotel with set, show, and strike all same day.

Our first crew began loading in at 6:30AM working with the in-house riggers to fly our projectors, speakers and lighting fixtures. Our custom stage featured two distinct sections, one for presenters to announce award nominees and winners and one for winners to come to the stage for a photo opp.

We enlisted our digital lectern stage right for presenters to highlight the event theme and sponsor branding. Additionally, our lighting team hit the walls with multiple gobos to alternate between sponsor logos. Two manned cameras were positioned at the back of the room to display IMAG shots of award winners and to capture full program records. Our video director was also able to switch between some fun shots during the DJ-led after party.

The run of show was very heavy in audio cues, with all the awards being pre-recorded as VOGs and all the stingers and celebratory music coming from a curated list of songs. The rest of the show was a switch between graphics and camera shots, all while ensuring the stage directions were on point.

Our strike didn’t begin until the after party concluded so our load-out crew wrapped at 3:00AM. It was a busy and very full day, but with our staggered crews the team was able to make magic happen!