MEN IN BLACK, TOO

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Production of
the Opening and Closing Sessions of the
Event Solutions Expo 2003

E. Through the Eyes of the Production Team and Entertainers

5. - Image Events

Robert Bottoms and his San Diego-based company Image Events produced the staging for the Opening and Closing General Sessions of the Expo. As the staging producer, he was responsible for working with the Convention Center to put the stage in, rig the trusses, set the room up and get it ready for MPG to bring in the lighting, projection and audio systems.

In an interview after the event, he made the following suggestions:

• 1. The coordination and the timetable of the sequence of load-in is absolutely imperative. If there is a failure anywhere, it can increase the costs.
  
• 2. You have to know the room and the individuals you will be working with. Things happen quickly. We have to be very careful and hold individuals up to what they say they are going to do.
  
• 3. If one thing falls behind, it has a ripple effect that impacts everything else and changes the budget. It doesn’t necessarily cost the client the money, but it comes off the top of the production.
  
• 4. You have to have a contingency plan – “know how to punt.”
  
• 5. Be very careful about who you pick to be on your team. We have to deliver ‘bigger and better’ all the time. Now we have to do it cost-effectively for the client and for ourselves. Most reasons for problems are out of our control, but we are a team. They see it as the team’s mistake. It takes hard work to get clients, but it takes seconds to lose them.

The value of good sets at General Sessions:

• 1. Conference managers don’t really see theming or design as important, but it’s usually the first thing attendees see, other than registration.
  
• 2. If we can come up with a way to make it cost-effective, it adds value to the session and “completes the job.”
  
• 3. Event Solutions gives people a vision of what people need to see in the marketplace – there was a presence there.
  
• 4. People take design elements for granted –but they do remember the impact of the sets, the dimension, the way the room was set.
  
• 5. We’re setting the standards for what corporate America can do.
  
• 6. Sightline is the most crucial thing. But you have to understand the room from a production point of view – what’s in the ceiling, pick points for the truss, how the room plays to the audience, what elements are in the production area backstage. The amount of people in the room has a lot to do with how I’m setting up that room.
  

Corporate theater comes out of theater, the days of live stage, where they used drama and special effects to entertain, give information and to sell.

• 1. Meeting planners know that they are losing people’s attention. They can’t afford to let their meetings get boring.
  
• 2. Conferences can have an impact when you take the time to plan. It’s endless what we can bring, and there are some serious professionals out there. We will find the right tool to do the right job.
  
• 3. Corporate people need to see this. If I was the CEO of a big company, I would make sure I was sending the right people to Event Solutions, because of the vast amount of knowledge you can get.
  
• 4. We work to get the audience to retain information, to remember. These techniques are proven. With them, you will not have just another “sleeper” conference.

Robert Bottoms
IMAGE EVENTS
9755 Distribution Ave., Suite A
San Diego, CA 92121
760-765-3712
www.imageevents.com