Recent content by marmer

We have one for the organ hall. It works as advertised but takes a while to set up. It is not a proper solution for venues with aisle steps or seating risers, however, not by a long shot. There's no safe way to lift it.

Oooh, good point. That may be exactly why the original hardware, as described, seemed to be latching but non-lockable fire doors (a la exit stairs, as another poster pointed out.) If the original clients didn't see a need to keep people out or think they realistically could, they might have...

Mike is absolutely right. Heavy stuff is often best stored close to where it will be used, which may be why the seats and risers are there (although what I said about code still applies.) The electrical stuff may be in the booth because it needs to be secured out of classrooms pending...

In Houston, when we want to do haze, we have to pay for and get a permit through the City, have an inspection by a fire marshal, and pay a City firefighter to watch the panel during the event. Then we can override the affected detectors. Our system is old enough that false alarms are kind of...

If your exits are at the back that stuff against the back wall may be against code. You may have to have a certain amount of clear square footage back there depending on the hall's capacity.

I would have guessed that it was originally the sanctuary. I think there's a perception about everyone being welcome and about no one being excluded that makes some churches uncomfortable with locks on sanctuary doors. If you can get in the building you can get in the sanctuary. I wonder if...

I'll be interested to see what Bill says. It seems to me that the best solution is to replace all the fire door sets with lockable fire door sets. I think that securing the fire doors as described is probably a code violation. I guess the architect or engineer didn't think that space would...

Yeah, exactly. In my building any room big enough to hold several vendor tables is going to have fire rated walls and doors. And besides, everyone who's ever been in a public school knows you don't lock a fire door with zip ties, you do it with a chain and lock! ;-) Just kidding, of course...

What's the occupancy of the big center room? I thought anything big enough to require multiple exits had to have latching doors, too. If they do latch, then adding locks and panic hardware hopefully wouldn't be too hard. And, while you can appeal to the AHJ to get a ruling, the truth is that...

I agree, asking someone to help with EQ is probably going to help a lot, although it's not likely to give you twice as much headroom. Depending on the position of your portable speakers and mics, you might also benefit from a little sound-absorbing material in certain areas, like maybe the...

I'd like to know the answer to that, too. We charge our Genie lift indoors all the time; in fact I think the manufacturer specifies indoor use only for our model. I've never noticed any outgassing or sparks, and certainly no battery leaking. We'd replace it in a hurry if that happened.

Yeah, my experience with Wenger is that they want to be helpful. I'm kind of surprised they haven't had you send some pictures to one of their engineers. I agree you need to escalate. They send install teams around the country a lot, maybe they could piggy back a quick site visit to you. Or...

What can you do? Not much. Non-performing arts facility managers generally don't care about temperature complaints. They have to hear it from members of the public, especially influential ones, and it may have to appear in reviews. "_West Side Story_ at Enormous High School is one of the...

Isn't that up to the sound designer and the director for each show? Or, if it's not directly related to the show in some way, how about nothing? There's nothing at all wrong with having the first sounds your audience hears be the show. Generic background music is not necessary. Sometimes...

I've seen show choir done with mics hanging over the group and a jazz big band. That is quite a challenge for the board operator, let me tell you. Also, if there is going to be dancing on the risers, be sure the manufacturer is OK with it or you build them extra strong. Traditional "choir...