Rallies Made Easy

It’s no surprise that the number of rallies in Washington, D.C. is on the rise.  Everyone deserves to be heard, and recent issues have varied from political and healthcare to human rights and religion.

When you want to get your point across, Event Tech has experience producing rallies at all the major sites around Washington, D.C.  We help clients understand National Park Service permits and we have solutions that comply with the latest NPS regulations specific to each location.

We are ready to help you pull together all the details, knowing that planning usually happens at the last minute.  Event Tech offers complete, turnkey rally packages including stages, sound systems, lecterns, press risers, bike rack barricade, and temporary power solutions.  Some of our events run entirely on batteries!

In the last few years we’ve produced events at:

  • West Lawn of the US Capitol
  • Upper Senate Park
  • Freedom Plaza
  • Supreme Court
  • Washington Monument Grounds
  • Sylvan Theater
  • Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool
  • National Mall
  • Lafayette Park

…and in other cities

  • Baltimore
  • Brooklyn
  • Manhattan
  • Cleveland

Largest Living Arrowhead

Our most publicized and largest event this year was the orchestration and creation of the World’s Largest Living Arrowhead. We solicited and gathered over 1,000 people to create the record-breaker for the National Park Service National Mall’s 100th birthday in August. Guinness has the record at 323 from two weeks before our event at another great national park, so we’re still awaiting the official word as the new record holder.

Event Tech Welcomes Petra Compel

At Event Tech, we are always trying to build the strongest possible team and there is a certain reassuring, warm feeling you get when you’ve found the right fit.

Event Tech is proud to have Petra Compel on our team as an Account Executive.  Petra brings twenty-five years of special events experience along with local market savvy in the Baltimore/DC region.  We have had a long relationship with Petra, including many years as our customer.  A director at Feats Inc. in Baltimore, Petra produced hundreds of events for corporate, educational, and convention clients over a ten year period, and many times would rely on Event Tech to provide the technical equipment and staff.

“Petra’s energy and spirit is infectious and we knew right away that she would integrate seamlessly,” said vice president Matt Totaro.  “Petra will be spending her time both supporting existing clients as well as developing new relationships.”

Open House a Success

On July 29th, more than 75 customers, vendors, and associates attended our open house to get a firsthand look at our unique facility, interact with staff, and spend the afternoon enjoying complimentary food, beverages, and live music.

Despite the early rain, guests congregated in the parking lot to enjoy the Ed Lauer Band playing on our Stageline SL250 while the SL100-Mix was setup as the front-of-house position for a Digico SD8 console.

 

In the warehouse, we showed off new gear like the Chauvet Rogue R2 and Eternal Lighting’s battery powered ECHOedge LED fixture.

Everywhere you looked you could experience something interesting such as gig photos, lighting plots, and 3-D renderings.  Event Tech staff were available to lead tours and answer questions throughout the day.

We all enjoyed a great afternoon chatting with friends and meeting new people.  We would like to send a special thanks for everyone who attended our open house.  If you missed out, please contact us to setup a visit.  We can’t promise live music, but we can provide an excellent tour!

Thanks to our associates who helped to make the day a success:

Ed Lauer Band
Sultan Food Truck 
South Carolina BBQ
Moveable Mixtures
Events Bum
Creative Video of Washington
VER
Presentation Media
Select Event Group 
Grand Rental Events

USO’s 4th of July Pitbull Concert at the White House Celebrates Veterans

Contracted by the United Service Organizations, Inc. (USO) for the sixth year to integrate the sound at the 4thof July concert on the South Lawn of the White House, live production company Event Tech deployed Harman’s JBL VTX line arrays, Crown amplifiers and dbx signal processing to meet the strict demands of the venue and to deliver high-quality sound to the honorable audience.

International pop star Pitbull gave an hour-long performance for the 1,200 US servicemen and servicewomen that were present, as well as their families and the White House staff. Besides the show, there were various activities such as barbecue, lawn-games, photo stands and meet-and-greets. However, the annual event would have not been as successful without Event Tech’s ability to bring high-level production quality to the events.

Sound System Design

Because of a gradient on the South Lawn, it was a challenge to balance the sound between the two ends of the stage; stage-left was elevated two feet above the ground, and stage-right was elevated five-and-a-half feet above ground. To provide precise coverage of 280 degrees, Event Tech used four stacks of six ground-stacked JBL VTX V20 loudspeakers and one VTX S25 subwoofer per stack, as well as six VTX G28 subwoofers per side in cardioid arrangement as the main PA. Two VTX F12 and two VTX F15 loudspeakers were deployed for front and out fills.

Four VRack 4x3500HD and two VRack 12000HD amplification systems powered the entire PA system. A dbx DriveRack 4800 unit enhanced the signal processing and routing for the overall system. The system was configured and controlled with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™.

The Results

“We did a lot of pre-show work at our office with the VTX rig, because we wanted to make sure that the coverage was precise and make it drop off 300 feet from stage left, so that the sound did not penetrate the White House,” said Jeremy Meyers, Account Executive and Audio Systems Designer for Event Tech. “I was very impressed with the output from these small V20 boxes, given their relative size compared to those from other manufacturers that I have worked with in the past. The detailed coverage from JBL’s patented waveguide and the precise frequency output of the D2 drivers allowed us to accomplish our goal.”

Since the stage was set up between the fountain and the White House, space was tight and the FOH position was at an awkward location. Also, the crew was forced to use smaller sized loudspeakers in order to fit all the equipment onto the stage. However, compromising on power was not an option either, since Pitbull’s music has significant output requirements, especially for low frequencies.

“The VTX V20s were truly perfect because of their power-to-size ratio and the Crown amplifiers were also compact and powerful enough for this event,” said Raul Gonzalez of Harman. “The front stacks could throw the music 225 feet to the back of the audience, and the stacks on the side were so powerful that we did not need separate loudspeakers for the FOH position. Overall, the performance was great and we were able to deliver everything in a compact, tightly-integrated package.

“We were also impressed with the VTX F12 and F15 fills, which had amazing output, even when compared to the V20 boxes,” said Meyers. “Thanks to our experience in live corporate events and the incredible caliber of these JBL loudspeakers, our veterans received a terrific 4th of July gift.”

Event Tech

Event Tech is a nationally recognized leader in providing production services to the  entertainment, industrial, and special events industries. No matter the location or project size, Event Tech meets and exceeds the needs of its clients through the use of the latest in audio, lighting, power distribution, mobile stages, roof systems, staging and structures, and is supported by some of the industry’s leading professionals. Event Tech carries a wide array of Harman brands’ equipment for sale and rental, and proudly uses Harman brands on their own productions around the country.

Harman designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and integrated control solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets.   With 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson ®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a global workforce of 15,200 people and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last 12 months ended March 31, 2014.

You can read more about the USO’s events here.

Stage Achieves 90mph Wind Rating

Event Tech provided the staging, load-bearing roof system, multiple structures, and rigging package at an employee appreciation party for a local Maryland company and their 3500 employees and friends at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry National Park.

The main stage consisted of:

  • a 48’x35’ stage deck
  • an 82’x14’ downstage thrust
  • covered production sound wings
  • a load bearing 6-post climbing roof system
  • FOH control position
  • multiple single-tower lighting positions

In addition, Event Tech provided turf protection flooring to protect the historic grounds from production traffic.

FBT (Folding Ballast Truss) System

Using our FBT system under the stage deck, more than adequate ballast was provided for the roof system. We were able to meet the IBC (International Building Code) requirements of 90 mph wind ratings for the structure.

Since we were building on a historic site, no ground penetration was permitted. The FBT system uses no stakes or ground anchors. Guy wires connect the roof to the ballast without exceeding the main stage footprint.

At previous events, this roof system would have required over 56,000 lbs. of water as ballast and a minimal stage height of 6’ to conceal the ballast system underneath. With the new design features of the FBT, we were able to achieve the same 90 mph wind rating with only 7200 lbs. of water ballast and a 4’ stage height.

The key to the FBT system is the ability to connect the bases of the roof towers together.

Event Tech Director of Production, Alex Wells remarked, “Tying the tower bases together provides additional stability to the entire structure. It increases safety and allows our designs to achieve the same wind ratings with less overall ballast weight.”

Tower bases connected with FBT and the crew poised to raise the 4th tower

Weather Monitoring Service

This event was also an opportunity to take advantage of a private meteorologist firm to monitor the weather conditions at Ft. McHenry.

Event Tech contracted Weather Decision Technologies to monitor the weather around the clock. Gone are the days of technicians looking at the skies and checking onsite anemometers for wind gust readings. WDT gave us precise weather data regarding upcoming weather events on our show site.

Even more, WDT saved the client money! On the first build day, lightning was moving into the area. Because of the localized data and alerts from WDT, we decided to break the crew early for lunch. When the crew came back, we were building once again without losing any time for what would have otherwise been a weather delay.

WDT provided weather updates via text message, email, and phone calls to onsite supervisors.

Lighting Towers

In a different application, the FBT System allowed us to build single-tower lighting positions in the audience areas. Fixtures hung 30’ in the air with an unobtrusive, low-profile 10′ x 10′ footprint. Most notably, no guy lines were specified by the engineer.


One example of a FOH lighting tower incorporating an FBT base.

Above all, the event was a success for the client, producer, and Event Tech. We are continually improving our systems making them easier to transport, faster to deploy, and safer for crews and patrons.

 

 

Patrón Secret Dining Society Dinner

On the eve of the Grand Prix of Baltimore, the Patron Tequila Secret Dining Society hosted 22 lucky guests to a luxurious 5-course meal along the Grand Prix track outside of the Babe Ruth Museum.

Event Tech rigged five crystal chandeliers over the 80’ long dining table, provided accent lighting, and the audio system for the pop-up dinner.

Special thanks to BESPOKE for sharing the picture prior to the guests’ arrival.

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Event Tech was selected to be the primary event production services provider for the 50th Anniversary March on Washington.

The rally, which took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, commemorated the historic, “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.  The historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963.

The day of the show was a beautiful August afternoon. The event featured speeches from some of the nation’s most distinguished civil rights speakers and a musical performance by Tony Bennett. The crowd was estimated at over 250,000 people and extended the length of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Event Tech provided:

  • production management
  • line-array audio systems
  • multiple audio delay positions
  • all staging and structures
  • National Park Service approved ground protection
  • generators
  • RF and microwave communications systems

CSPAN coverage of the entire event can be found here.