Backstage Pass with Alford Media

On this episode of Backstage Pass, an Alford Media Services podcast, Voice of B2B Daniel Litwin was joined by a trio of events industry experts in Alford Media Executive Vice President and General Manager Tom Alford, President and COO of Snap! Event Productions Amber Jenkins, and Paul Johnson, founder of Paul Johnson, Inc. In the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus and the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic, the events industry, like all of the world’s industries, has felt the disease’s ripple effects. “It’s been pretty devastating to the industry,” Tom said. “There are virtually no meetings except for webcasting. … All of us are working to do the new meeting style.” The pandemic has not only inhibited in-person events and presentations, but has raised questions about the events industry’s preparedness, employee aid, adaptation for shelter-in-place protocols, and what level of demand the industry can expect after the dust settles and things return to what’s likely to be a new normal. To answer those questions, Daniel, Tom, Amber and Paul touched on how they’ve seen the events industry adapt and rebound from the initial shock, what protocols were already in place for a scenario like this and which will likely be put in place for the future, how their individual companies have responded, and what they expect to see in the industry on the other side of the pandemic. Many people in the industry are changing up their focus and traditional approach to their work. “We’re trying to pivot to do more content creation,” Paul said. “Those sorts of prudent pivots that you’re inventing for yourself to put your capabilities out there, are key right now” Additionally, we’re all looking toward the future and how this will change the industry. Tom states, “I think what’s going to happen when this is all over is the best of (digital) will be adopted in… Some of the things that really work well will become a part of our everyday life.” Amber adds how these digital adoptions can elevate events from what we’ve seen so far,“ “I think that events involving more of a digital aspect – webcasts and what have you – I think there’s a big opportunity going forward for these to become more robust. What we have now is great, and it gets us through, but there’s so much opportunity there, and I think that there are ways that these types of technologies can really complement live events.”

Steve Alford, President, and Tom Alford, Executive Vice President, of Alford Media joined Backstage Pass to talk about the events industry, evolving technology and what makes Alford Media successful. They also answered the burning questions listeners wanted to know. Over 35 years in the events industry, Alford Media has experienced the evolution and changes in the industry. Steve said the industry is trending up over the past ten years, and technology continues to change. “The big challenge today,” Tom said, “is finding new and exciting ways to present information that grabs people’s attention.” What do Tom and Steve think are the next big technological trends in the industry? Steve believes 5G will play an important role in increased speed and bandwidth in ballrooms and event spaces. Tom said there is now a backward trend in the utilization of lower resolution LED; people who want bigger screens at a lesser price-point. Due to advances in technology, lasers are now cheaper than before, which Tom sees as an old trend becoming a new one. In terms of what makes their organization successful, both agreed it is the people working at Alford Media that are the difference-makers in providing exceptional service and results for their customers. . As Tom put it, “If you don’t have the right people in place, all the best tech in the world isn’t going to get you there.” For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Pro AV Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

January is a big month for trade shows, pro audio, and event tech industries. That includes NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show. Ben MacKinney, Audio Services Manager for Alford Media, was Alford's boots on the ground for the event. He joins host Daniel Litwin on this episode of Backstage Pass to give us the NAMM 2020 recap, and shares all the exciting products and innovations that he saw at the event. Ben said that one trend driving the conversation at the show was providing more options in speakers. He said that one cool thing he saw was a small speaker that allowed individual control with signal and power coming from a single cable. Another trend he saw at the show for the event tech crowd was networking becoming more and more integrated with their systems. "We’re not far away from microphones having a network port on it, and we’re not plugging it in with an XLR anymore, we’re using a Cat 5,” he said. Some microphones with the port already exist, and Ben said that the trend is coming whether we like it or not. On the more quirky side of technology, he mentioned some interesting finds at the show. One was a soft release of a 360-degree camera on top of a Zoom 360 audio recorder. Another product he saw was initially a gag item -- a bed in a road case. What started as a joke to lure people to a company’s booth turned into a product they actually sold. One of Ben’s biggest takeaways from the show is that audio technology seems to be more or less settled. “We’re now just refining,” he said. “There’s not really a new way to put sound into the air, but you can refine the unit that puts sound into the air and make it better and more efficient.”

The audiovisual industry is bursting with new technologies and innovations. These new developments debuted at LDI 2019 , the leading conference and tradeshow for live design professionals from all over the world. Backstage Pass has the first scoop on what AV professionals are saying about the show with guests Blake Taylor, Lighting Services Manager, and Aaron Walters, Lighting Service Technician, at Alford Media. Event technology is innately attention-grabbing, but the designs at LDI were both riveting and intriguing. Taylor and Walters noted the resurgence of throwback styles and retro lighting apparatus’, now powered with the energy-efficiency of LED. These stylized lights are finding popularity not just from the light they produce, but from the fixtures themselves, which often play a part on a set for film, tv, or theater. Walters remarks at the LED curtains, a mappable, series of lights chained together via hardware. Like a video wall, the larger LEDs are an interesting feature for unique set design. “Chunky,” older hardware is finding new life with LEDs, while delivering rich light, longer and more efficiently. Overall, the two lighting specialists agree that the event technology industry is working together to significant effect. Operators, designers, and programmers are asking each other questions, sharing data, and welcoming input from manufacturers. This sense of collaboration ultimately leads to creating product users want.

In this episode of Backstage Pass, Ali McMahan, Marketing & Communications Manager, and Dave Pooser, Director of Product Innovation, both from Alford Media, joined host Daniel Litwin, the Voice of B2B, to discuss the recent XLIVE Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas held Nov 17-19, 2019. McMahan and Pooser both attended the annual Live Events & Entertainment trade show. Tech with a purpose and audience immersion emerged as two themes that loomed large over the three-day conference. McMahan summed the technology part up as a shift from trying to chase the coolest and best technology to outdo the last event to ‘how does that technology enhance the attendee experience?’ “When people pay money to come out to a conference, a convention, an event of any kind,” McMahan added, “They want to go have an experience.” Pooser pointed out, in the B2B conference and event space, an attendee may be there because of a company mandate. But that doesn’t mean she or he is interested. It is the job of the company planning the event to immerse that attendee in the experience and get them engaged. Some of the industry trends McMahan noted from XLIVE were Bluetooth and RFID Tracking. McMahan said these methods, which are popular in the B2C space, are gaining a foothold in B2B as well. McMahan also mentioned the uptick of AR in mixed/merged reality as something with growth potential in the corporate market. Pooser’s most significant takeaway from the conference was the message of not relying on ‘technology itself’ to do the wowing of event attendees, but to use the right technology to create an amazing experience for the attendee. “Do that,” Pooser said, “and the social media follow-through from attendees will come.”

Corporate meetings and conferences have long been characterized by tedious power-point presentations echoing off the walls of fluorescent-lit hotel ballrooms. But thanks to new technologies and trends in the AV world, these long-dreaded symposiums are getting a makeover. Immersive audio, eye-opening lighting, and interactive engagement are just a few innovations changing the event industry. Exploring this rising trend on this episode of Backstage Pass is Ben MacKinney and Ali McMahan of Alford Media. The pair have their pulse on the rapidly changing industry of audio-visual entertainment and corporate events. “People are tired of sitting in front of a powerpoint for 90 minutes,” said MacKinney of traditional corporate events. As a result, audio-visuals that incorporate the idea of immersive entertainment have taken precedence. McMahan points to the influence of the entertainment industry as a major instigator to event changes, with clients requesting visuals they see on television award shows or integrating assets that make the experience “playful and fun.” Is this change here to stay? MacKinney thinks so. “It’s coming, whether you like it or not. And so you can either figure it out now or you can figure it out after everyone else already has," he said. Both end-users and industry clientele are demanding a more interactive, exciting event experience. Stunning productions with engaging AV components don’t necessarily have to break the bank. “It’s really important that event planners and producers know their goal upfront...there is not off the shelf option at this point, so much of it is custom," McMahan said. As AV designers are pushed to innovate, there’s no boundary to new, never-been-done-before audio-visuals. McMahan said it’s an “open playing field,” with the most creative AV experiences rising to the top.

One of the oft-overlooked aspects of producing largescale business events is lighting design. As brands look to find creative ways to capture tradeshow audiences with content, audio, and visuals, the right lighting can enhance an immersive experience like no other. In this new episode of Backstage Pass by Alford Media, host Daniel Litwin sat down with Blake Taylor, Director of Lighting Services to discuss creative ways to light tradeshow events that'll leave a memorable impression on consumers. Blake, who has more than 25 years experience in light direction and programming, says art often imitates life. Innovative lighting effects you might see at a concert or film will often make their way into business event design. "Our industry as a whole is being pushed by other arenas of entertainment," Blake said. "You go to a touring concert, for example, and you see things that really open it up visually." While business events are taking visual cues from entertainment, there's still a lot of subjectivity when it comes to what clients want. "A lot of clients don't necessarily approach a project with specific lighting needs, so it's up to us to work with creative directors and creative types to develop what that project wants to look and feel like," Blake said. "Lighting is so objective. People know what they like and what they don't like, so it just depends on how they view it." Also, in this episode, Blake shared what lighting design concepts he's seen that work and are especially impactful, as well as what kind of lighting fixtures create specific moods or effects.

In the past, event technology specialists at AV companies had to manually scan each item of gear making its way out the warehouse. Some still manually scan to this day; it's an antiquated system that takes days, or even weeks, and is prone to human error. But as Alford Media can attest to, that has changed with RFID asset tracking technology. On this episode of Backstage Pass, Alford Media’s Melanie Reed, vice president of business operations, and Billy King, director of operations, share how Alford is leading the charge in asset tracking for AV gear, and how RFID revolutionized logistics at the company. Reed and King each have twenty years of experience at Alford Media and know the disadvantages of manually scanning barcodes for millions of dollars worth of equipment. When humans make a mistake, like misplacing essential gear, it can cause headaches at the show site and stop expensive productions in their tracks. To optimize its processes, the company started looking into RFID tracking solutions in 2005, King explained, but the technology just wasn’t ready. As advancements were made, the company went back and started developing a custom solution that would allow scanners to instantly read and log tagged items as they were loaded on the truck. As Reed recalled, perfecting the technology wasn’t easy and took countless meetings, experiments, and trial-and-error. But now their RFID system provides real-time tracking of gear – no manual barcode scanning required. It dramatically speeds logistics and removes human error so that crews can help put on the best event possible. Reed said all the hard work developing the software was worth it and Alford’s culture of integrity and openness is the reason the company is happy to share what they’ve learned with other organizations looking to set up an RFID tracking infrastructure of their own.

On today’s episode of Backstage Pass, MarketScale is joined by with Dan Thompson, Senior Account Manager, who gives us a look at Alford Media through his eyes, as someone who’s been with the company for more 23 years. Alford Media was founded in 1984, and much has changed since then in terms of technology. When Thompson started in 1996, the products were in the throes of analog, and the peak input for video was component. Digital video was a brand-new concept that people were very excited about, and the world was listening to laser discs and CDs. Video Projection was handled by 3-gun CRT projectors that topped out at 3000 lumens. Almost 40 years later, the company has added another ‘0’ onto that lumens count, has gone to digitally based projection, and digital smart audio that has every component seamlessly networked. While much has changed on the back end, the one thing that has not is how Alford treats its employees, a feeling that Thompson said is “one of the best.” “Crew First” is the Alford way, which is a term that means a lot of things -- first, to pick crew members that are the best and brightest; second, to let them have autonomy in terms of what they would like to do as long as it benefits the customer; third, to support them wholeheartedly in everything that they do, whether it be to have an on-call manager while they are away on service calls, or to help them out when they need someone to walk their dog. That level of family atmosphere, combined with the freedom that staff have, really contributes to Alford’s success. “As long as you’re making a move that will benefit the client, the company will back you up on that," Thompson said. He also credits the Alford brothers, their leadership, and their ability to choose a superior team with being other unique drivers for success that the company has up its sleeves. “When you hire the right technical talent and you listen to that technical talent and what those people are seeing in the field, you can stay ahead of the curve," Thompson said.

Backstage Pass is back with another engaging episode featuring Eric Hagström, Senior Project Manager for Alford Media. Today, we chatted with Hagström about the exciting possibilities, unique challenges and best practices for putting together an international event. It is, both literally and figuratively, a new world with different rules, languages, and infrastructure when crafting a show abroad, not to mention the actual locations can be older, which could impact logistics and structure. “Transitioning from domestic to international is a distinct process. While working in the U.S., we’re all familiar with our surroundings and the rules. You can’t be hardline in how you come into a new environment. You have to respect that country’s process and go with it, not against it,” Hagström said. It's a mine field to maneuver, but one that Hagström said is always worth the investment. One of the biggest challenges an international show brings is units and values. The U.S. still uses the imperial system while almost the whole rest of the world uses the metric system. “The best way to go about the unit conundrum is to create CAD 3D models for your setup. When I do an international show, I create one model with the imperial system for my internal team then create a second one using the metric system for the professionals on site,” Hagström said. Language barriers can also be an issue. Hagström gave a unique perspective, recounting a show he worked in Portugal where there were many different teams there; some from France, others from Switzerland, and then Portuguese staff. “Language is critical in setting up an event. Not everyone is going to be on the same page. It’s something you have to find solutions to so that everybody is on the same page,” he said. He also shared that learning from others in international settings is critical. “They know the location. They understand the fundamentals. My team has always been ready to embrace learning. From logistics to acoustics, even the most seasoned veterans have the ability to learn from others,” Hagström said. Listen to the full podcast for some of the most engaging international AV show stories, and what professionals and clients can take away from putting together a quality show abroad.

The nature of the end-user experience at live events is changing and it is up to companies to get creative about how they digitize live events to get maximum impact. On today’s Backstage Pass with Alford Media, Daniel Litwin, the Voice of B2B chats with Dan Thompson, Senior Account Manager for Alford Media about its growth into a company that embraces outward trends in a holistic fashion. The rise of analytics available in the computing and data industry has given more user data that companies can use to build presentations, and the evolution of technology has made speakers, displays, and audio systems more integrated and more efficient, so the client expectations are changing as well. A lot of people prefer to stream a show or presentation as opposed to attending one at a venue, for example. The multiple screen approach is also becoming more prevalent due to end users not wanting to part with their phones and being starved for as much data as possible. Thompson gives the example of watching a movie on Netflix at home, viewers are no longer just watching the movie; they are looking up synopses, characters, who plays which character, and related information at the same time. And the industry is beginning to realize that we aren’t dealing with passive viewers anymore.

Running a live AV event seamlessly is the bare minimum in today’s event technology world, and nothing is making that a more confusing mix of simple and complicated than digital audio networks. It may be easy to think that these types of live event configurations are second nature to professionals who live and breath "audio is life," but challenges arise daily with these networks. There’s still a tremendous amount of skill required to be able to make all the moving parts work. Like any other type of AV installation or technology, there are two different brain functionalities required. The technical side is more important than ever as audio engineers become network engineers, but the artistic side is what pushes the content over the top because, let’s face it, we can’t just push a button and make something magically awesome. It requires some finesse for things to look and sound amazing.

Communicating with your AV team during a live event is crucial for success. Communicating effectively with your clients during the development of an install often makes or break client retention. In essence, communication is key for the AV industry. But does the platform for that communication always get the love and attention it deserves? If not intentional, companies might adjust their entire business process just to match a communications platform; communications should be assistive, not demanding.