Aruba Networks Kickoff Event

For the past few months, it's seemed like we've spent half our time in the San Francisco Bay area, yet this week found us back there again. Once more, we were working with the wonderful team at Aruba Networks. This time, they produced a large, multimedia kick off event for over 500 employees and staff to help get their teams excited for the new things to come, and showcase the great things they've accomplished so far.

An event this size allowed us to work with an additional A/V team, who were nothing short of impressive. They were a pleasure to work with, and we were able to assist in recording while also giving them an IMAG video feed to project on the room's three large screens. It was one of the biggest events we've ever done, which resulted in new challenges to conquer.

 

We arrived early to set up our switcher box (which is quickly becoming one of our favorite production tools) and prepare for rehearsal. However, this event had a complex environment that required meticulous care of plugging everything in, and a tenacious attention to detail in organization and management. With the limited space taken into consideration, the first challenge arose with regards to the placement of cameras. As a result of this, we placed one of our cameras on top of a doorway and kept the others close to our station. To provide exceptional coverage, we brought five cameras: 1 Sony EX1, 3 Robotic Sony EVI-HD1 cameras,  and 1 Sony CX550 for handheld shots.

 

Our newest production resource was Wireless HDMI, which is system for transmitting High Definition HDMI signals back to our switcher with no wires, allowing an unprecedented freedom of movement.  This proved to be an excellent tool to get close-up and handheld shots fed directly into the switcher.  During the presentation, one of our speakers walked through the crowd, allowing the use of this new technology. This was no simple task; as soon as the presenter left the stage, several things needed to occur at once. First, the robotic cameras needed to follow the speaker. Second, the auxiliary output to the IMAG had to be switched to the handheld camera when it came online. Finally, the switcher needed to change to the new camera input in order to update our recording device. All of this occurred within seconds, and our highly skilled production team was quick to conquer this ambitious challenge.

 

As we continue to use new and advanced technologies, the event depended on our team to stretch into new territory. Moving forward, we used almost every input of our switcher, which meant we had to pay close attention to each camera. Here's the breakdown:

Camera 1: Back up Power Point Slides

Camera 2: Wireless HDMI (Shown here at our table with our Production Coordinator)

Camera 3: Sony EX1 Manned Camera

Camera 4: Blank

Camera 5-7: Robotic Cameras

Camera 8: AJA Ki Pro input of slides and Demo screens 

 

In addition to new gadgets and bigger events, we are actively using our Twitter account.  Be sure to follow us and see what we're doing in real time. This coming week, we will return to San Jose for Networking Field Day which will be live streamed, allowing you to let us know how the feed looks.

This powerful event couldn't have gone any smoother, and we were pleased with the successful and incredible outcome. All in all, we left a client happy and we're excited to work with Aruba Networks again in the future. We do work for all kinds of events across the country and internationally. If you would like to request our services, please call us at 480.240.9270