Not really sure where to post this...

[photoatdv]

Okay, so I'm planning this large outdoor charity event. The event is overnight and will have between 1500 and 4000 people. Can't say much more as many details are not public knowledge yet (especially the problems we're having...). But I need help...

We are bringing in (hopefully) the stage, 2 truss, about 6 movers (may go up to 8 or 12), full audio system, tent to cover the stage, and a projection system. All of this is being donated by a company that said 'we can use anything they are not using that weekend'. When should I expect them to tell me exactly what we are getting? The person in charge sent them the list and they said they 'should be able to help us out'. Also (believe there were some miscommunications) they were planning on having one guy show up 3 hours before the event started to set all of this up with some help from one other hs tech (who hasn't ever seen moving lights...) and myself (which I have lots of other stuff I have to get done as well). We were able to move it back to about 5 hours out, but cannot start setup until about 7 hours before no matter what (becuse it is dark out). How do we get all of this done in that amount of time? Is it possible?

This company seems to be handling it as unprofessionally as possible. Communication is practically nonexistant. How do I gently tell them I HAVE to know what we are getting ahead of time because I will be running either lighting, sound, or video and need to have a chance to read manuals for the equiptment and probable program on offline?

 

[soundlight]

Considering the wildly changing desires of many production company's clients, they may very well not know what you're getting until that weekend's other gigs are tech'd and packed during that week.

Having worked at a production/rental house, I can say a few things: you're lucky you're getting it for free. If you push them, they may just drop you. You have a better chance of asking them what is most likely to be available.

It's quite possible that the company is swamped with paying customers (well, that doesn't usually happen around this time of year, but you never know...) and/or having a hard time with some of them and is having a hard time getting back to you due to their busy schedule.

 

[photoatdv]

I guess I should have phrased that a little different. I meant that I need to know a general idea of what they have (mainly console wise...) that would likely be available. On said company's website they do not name any brands only 'state of the art'. I just feel like I'm in way over my head on this and that they may or may not really do it. Then I had a pro that I know imply that any equiptment that they own likely is old and not very reliable... which doesn't make me feel any better about this.

I should add the reason that they are doing it is because a person involved in the event is in a position where she routinely give them large contracts through her company. Sounds like the main person she works with who is fairly important in the company said to help us with this and the local person is a little less that helpful.

Oh and by the way the event isn't til April, but we plan this event very early(we've been working since August...). The other issue is the size and complication of the staging dictate the number of technicians and/ or volunteers we will need for set-up. They are providing a system tech/operator, but that's it.

 

[photoatdv]

Actually another thing. Can anyone help me out with the things I need to consider for an outdoor gig. I have only done indoor ones, and have only assisted on the rental ones.

I told them it is an outdoor event, but do I need to specify each piece of equiptment to be for outdoor use? Would it even matter if the equiptment isn't designed to be used outdoors given that it is only for about a 30 hour event? How specific do I need to be on the requests (do I need to include the number of dmx cables, ect, or is that a given)?

Does anyone have a sample equiptment request from an outdoor gig about this size that the could post? Thanks guys.

 

[Eboy87]

No, I don't think you need to specify that each piece of gear will be used outdoors. If you already told them, it should be fine. Most gear can be used outdoors. For instance, during Manifest back in May, we had a full ETC Sensor rack backstage, Midas XL200 at FOH and an XL250 at mons. Not exactly what I would think of as outdoor gear, but this stuff's pretty robust. Just have plenty of tarps and garbage bags on hand should it rain.

As far as specifying the number of cables and such, when I spec a system, I always include something like, "Enough cabling to wire the system." I consider telling the production company how many cables they should bring for their system bad form. Besides, you never know when you might need some extra, or that the run you thought would be 25' is actually 30', and you have no extra cable.

As for the consoles you'd be using, is this a big production company or small and local? Most rental houses I've come across have the usual standard sound consoles in their inventory, LS9, PM5D, Verona, Venice, H3000 (doubt you'll see that one), GL2400. I would assume that the same goes for lighting consoles.

Good luck with the event.

 

[photoatdv]

National, and they have a regional warehouse here that will be supplying the gear. As far as sound goes I'm hoping for analog unless we get a couple of local pros to help out at the event because I've never ran a digital audio console (would like to learn, but with just one other tech on a 30+ hour show... probably not a good idea). As far as lighting would they be likely to have hogii (the only ML console I have any experience on). I could likely learn hogiii or something else as long as its rather intuitive and has an offline program that I can play with (and they tell me a week or two out or narrow it down to a reasonable number in which case I guess I get to learn multiple consoles). I asked our person with the conncetion to them if she has a gear list for them lying around.