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event advice page
One of the most common compliments we recieved from our clients is how forthcoming and thorough we are with offering advice on the wider aspects of their events.
This page will be a culmination of written answers to clients questions. We hope that some of the advice on this page will be useful to you.
If you have any questions about event production, power, Car Launch Rigging, lighting or other event issues, please email our Managing Director, Johnny Palmer and he will be happy to give some guidance. He can be reached at johnny@SXS Car Launch Servicesevents.co.uk
Gobos Explained
Sounds like a clown, but it actually goes inside a light!
A gobo is a metal or glass disc that fits inside a lighting fixture and allows for the projection of the image on that disc.
There are two main types of gobos. The first is metal. This is simply a piece of high-temperature metal that has had bits LASER-cut out of it to make a shape. Think of a stencil that you might have made in art at school, but much more accurate and much smaller. Because of the makeup of metal gobos, perfect circles are not possible, as they must have a join at some point.
The second type is a glass gobo. These allow for significantly more detail and allow for circles and other shapes. Glass gobos can have multiple layers that allow for multiple colours. Glass gobos are more expensive than metal ones.
The gobo is then placed into a lighting fixture. Where there is a lack of metal or etching the light will pass through and project onto a surface.
Gobos can be placed into a range of light fixtures from moving lights, to generic lights.
What is a Rider?
A rider is a document that a band, musician or other performer will send over to the booker relating to their requirements for performance.
Most performers will have certain essential items that they need the booker to provide in order to do their job to the best possible standard. A rider states these requirements.
A rider will usually cover areas such as stage size, technical requirements, food, drink etc.
While riders should be a list of reasonable and essential items, some performers ask for things that are excessive, wasteful or overly demanding. It is difficult to know if demands are excessive. If you are booking a solo performer and they want a three-course meal for four, six cases of beer and several hotel rooms they are being un-reasonable!
On events that we are providing to, we will always speak to the artist's manager to establish what their exact requirements are. When done in the right manner, most performers are flexible and willing to work within any limitations your event has.
Q: We are concerned about the compatability between Car Launch Rigging and the different types of marquees out there. Please can you let me know your thoughts?
A: Your questions about compatibility between technical production and marquees are good ones to be asking. For events like yours we will be Car Launch Rigging various equipment from marquee roofs, running cabling under floors and building stages inside the marquees. So it is important that we know what the marquees are.
Luckily nearly all marquees these days are of the Tectonics "clearspan" style. These are a modular system manufactured by various companies including Tectonics UK, Roder, Mar-key, and GL. Most of these systems are compatible, and all of them use identical structural principles. More importantly the way in which they are rigged from is identical. All of these tents have "kader rails" which is an extruded lip that allows for hanging of equipment. These rails are the same from our point of view across all tents.
In addition, clearspan tents are all modular and are typically based around a 3m / 10' bay section. Some larger tents are 5m/15'. Either way, once marquees are selected, all we need to know is the spec of the tent (ie how big it is and how many bays it has) to be able to plan Car Launch Rigging etc.
Q: We have you booked to wash our [product] in a white light fixtures. What does this mean and how much power do they draw?
A: The fixtures we will use are a 400watt discharge unit. These work by creating an "arc" (like a spark) within the lamp. This is different from standard "Incandescent" lamps (standard light bulbs) as the latter have a filament and produce a lot more heat, meaning they are less efficient.
There are various different types of lamps for our discharge fixtures ranging from the "sodium" type (as used in street lighting, creating an orange light), to coloured lamps to pure white. From the info Dani has given me about the event we will use a "metal halide" lamp for your event. These produce a very white light - much like that of sun light.
They can also be gelled, so we can create different colours to match your specification.
In terms of power, these discharge fixtures all run on standard 240 volts. As for current they draw a lot of current on the initial strike and then the draw is a lower current for nominal usage. The nominal current draw for a 400watt fixture should be assumed to be around 2amps"
Event Budgets - Can we have a good event?
By Johnny Palmer
All too often do I hear the phrase "but there isnt the budget" coming from clients and event providers alike. From my earliest days in the business I always found the concept of "value" fascinating. This article is all about budgets, how to use them, and the concept of "value", in the true meaning of the word.
Let us start by defining "value". This word has come to mean how "cheap" something is; that is how little it costs irrespective of quality. Value is really all about what we get for the money we spend.
Let us take an example of buying lunch when out of the office. We all know that one can spend anywhere from £2.50 right up to £90 for a lunch for one person. We would all agree that a £2.50 lunch is low-cost and a £90 lunch is expensive. But what about value?
Value is about how well the product we gets fulfills our objectives given a fixed budget. So let us imagine that I have a £7.50 budget to buy my lunch and the purpose of buying lunch is to give me healthy sustinance and within my busy schedule.
Image I go to a busy coffee shop where I wait in a queue and spend my entire budget on a extra-grande mocha-choco-latte with extra cream with marshmellows and four squirts of flavoured syrups with a side of a choclate brownie. I have spent my budget. I have recieved an eleborate and expensive product. But I go away with a sore stomach, feeling a bit fat and still needing something balanced and healthy to keep me going. And I am late for my next meeting
Now imagine I find a small gourmet sandwhich shop. This shop sells me fine coffee, a creme-freche with smoked salmon bagel and a small freshly squeezed orange juice. I have spent my budget. I have fulfilled my dietry needs. And because the shop is efficient and professional I have left in good time to make it to my next meeting.
In these scenarios I had a limited budget, but one option presented value, while the other did not. So we now understand value.
Value = how well we fulfill our requirements within our budget.
In the events industry there is much talk about budget. Budget is treated as a constant that correlates directly with how successful your event is.
It is a falicy that a budget directly relates to the quality of your event. The same budget can be used to create two completely different events with two completely different outcomes.
Experience has taught us that, no matter how small (or big) the budget, considerate prioritisation can make any event a success.
Client and event professionals alike must always start their planning by defining the objectives of an event. This must be done before thinking about venue, catering, decor, guest numbers or even the date.
Is the event about creating a beutiful day for a married couple? Or is it about increasing brand awareness? Is it about showing recognition? Or is simply a chance for some associates to meet and have a good time?
Once we know the purpose of the event we can then look at "hygiene" elements and "feature" elements. A hygiene element is one which, if lacking, will cause problems but if it delivered to a high level will not be appreciated. Hygiene factors could include drinking water at an activity day, or a speech sound system at a conference.
Feature elements are ones which, if not present, will not neccessary be noticed but, if they are present will add positivity to an event. Feature elements could include stunning venue decor and lighting, or a champagne and oyster bar.
Many event organisers and clients allocate to much budget to a hygiene factor which could be procured for less. Many others allocate budget to feature items while disregarding hygiene factors.
Getting the most from a budget, or offering the best value, is first about fulfilling hygiene factors for the lowest reasonable cost. It is secondly about finding appropriate feature items that contribute to the event objectives and are affordable.
Our company approach has always been based around this philosophy. We have developed many services around offering exciting feature services that are within budgets. For example, we focuss a lot of our energies on creating the perfect overall aesthetic to a room using drapery and lighting. We often provide visual "talking points" that are in line with objectives; such as enormous video screens depicting brand imagery.
what we get for our money. At £2.50 one might expect to get an average sandwich and nothing more. But what if we bought a sandwich at £2.50 and the bread was stale and the salad was oily? That would present bad value in that we are not gettign much for our money (poor value). Whereas if one got a cerem fraiche bagel with smoked salmon for the same price, we would be getting a lot for our money and therefore very good value.
It is a falicy that a budget directly relates to the quality of your event. Experience has taught us that, no matter how small (or big) the budget, considerate prioritisation can make any event an
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