Tom HallA selection of spokespeople from global events and production company Protec run Access through some recent events the company was involved in.
Protec were called upon by their clients Envie Events to provide audio, lighting, scenic, staging, and rigging solutions for what can only be described as one of the most elaborate music festivals on Earth.
What made this a challenging gig? Well, the entire premise of Unite with Tomorrowland is to unite 400,000 music fans around the world to simultaneously share the exact same experience.
These fans weren’t just listening to the same music through the same audio setup, or simply dancing under the same lighting design and fixtures, they were joined by satellite link up live to the home of Tomorrowland, Boom in Belgium, experiencing a live audio and video stream and synchronised lighting and special effects.
The lighting console was taken control of remotely for this part of the show. It was a truly a global festival with sites in Italy, Malta, Spain, Taiwan, Mexico and Lebanon also connected to the Tomorrowland main stage.
Protec delivered the event with reliability and professionalism for the second year running. The lighting spec was outlined by the main Tomorrowland show designers and Protec’s broad inventory had all the required fixtures. These included Robe Pointe, K10 Wash, Scenius Profile, VL3500 Wash, Stormy CC Strobe, SGM P5, and Molefay 4 light/Par 36.
The hangs Protec used were L’Acoustics 4 x K1-SB and 18 K2 per side ensuring depth, richness and clarity of sound identical to each UNITE venue worldwide. The delays were 6 x L-Acoustics Kara and 2 x SB18 per side. Protec chose 24 x SB28 for subs. For communications Protec used 3 x Clearcom Helixnet master stations networked together and 10 x Clearcom Freespeak II wireless comms.
These have the ability to maintain a strong and continuous wireless connection with clear audio across an expansive area making them an ideal system for this event.
Protec were also trusted with the creation and build of the iconic Tomorrowland set and had to tailor it to fit the DuForum venue ensuring the visual effect was exactly as requested in order to maintain a uniform look across all global sites.
Overall, the Protec team were delighted with how the event went and the client echoed this:
“Our goal is to bring people from all walks of life, countries, backgrounds and unite them as one with the power of music. That is exactly what UNITE with Tomorrowland did once again and we are very happy with the feedback. It is with the help of strong partners like Protec, and many others, that have made this concept such a huge success in the UAE.” director of Envie Events, Barry Pavic
Gitex Technology Week (TRA Stand) – Dubai 2018
GITEX, the annual consumer computer and electronics trade show, exhibition, and conference attracts 150,000 spectators to the Dubai World Trade Centre. Its exhibitions in the Middle East attract big industry names to unpack the latest solutions in AI, robotics, blockchain and other major technological developments.
It is a multi-sensory experience of ‘Future Urbanism’ taking place across 21 halls. Protec were happy to assist their client ‘Trade Centre Dubai’ to create an impressive addition to a very extensive exhibition stand for the TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) at the world renowned GITEX Technology Week in Dubai.
Protec had just 2 weeks to come up with a creative concept that would draw a crowd and most importantly, engage them. They wasted no time getting their design team to create an immersive concept to fit the tight 5m x 5m space. A ‘Man Vs Machine’ darts competition sprang to mind. With advanced technology being the focus of GITEX, Protec looked towards their latest robot addition, the compact and lightweight k10 model as the ideal option.
It didn’t take long to program the robot to throw incredibly accurately. Slight deviations were added to the program to spice up the competition and keep it interesting! This robot is perfect for exhibitions as they take up so little space while still managing to hold up to 10kg.
The stand was lit up using a combination of Robe Robin Spikies, Clay Paky A.LEDA B-Eyes, and 102 Schnick Schnack LED strips. Protec used two large screens with cameras focused on the dart boards to show the action live.
Their design department also created the content for the screens which included a leaderboard listing the top 10 players of each day and updated in real time. An audio track was recorded in house with all your well known darts sayings and responded to a variety of cues whilst midi files were included to trigger the lights.
Announced as one of the top 5 attractions to visit at GITEX by The National news, the Man vs Machine robot dart exhibit even attracted a visit from the Dubai Crown Prince himself. The Protec robots always drum up plenty engagement both on site and across social and conventional media platforms. Both the TRA and Trade centre were delighted with the stand and the attention it drew. It stood out for its consistent reliability all week and the ever present technical support from the Protec team.
Canon LFP Conference and Exhibition – Berlin 2018
Two hundred and twenty guests from across EMEA gathered at the Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin for a large scale event for Canon Europe.
This event had four distinct parts, a conference, a product reveal, an exhibition including demonstrations of the new Canon large format printers followed by an evening gala dinner and networking event. The client wanted a visually engaging conference element but the look and feel of the exhibition area was key to draw in and engage the Canon resellers who made up most of the guests.
Protec stepped up to the mark ensuring our client was supported from the planning process right through. Protec’s client centred approach ensured Canon could rely on them to put a lot of careful consideration into designing the layout of the gallery and exhibition, as well as the coloured graphics on all the backdrops always keeping their vision at the forefront.
Protec handled every element of this event from the set and stage design, the lighting, video and audio, right down to the design and printing of the of the delegate badges, handout packs and brochures.
Audio used 18 Nexo Geo m620 array boxes, supported by 4 LS18 subs and PS10 as fills. Ben Waters, (HOD audio) explained “The subs were configured as a central mono cluster, which was key for two reasons.
Firstly, even coverage avoiding a power allay as with left right subs but also for saving space behind the set. We had six hangs of array, due to height constraints mainly.” When asked about any challenges from an audio point of view, Mr. Waters explained how part of the show required some extra consideration.
“One particular difficulty was mid-session when everyone turned around to watch a lengthy demonstration from the rear of the hall. The kabuki drop opened up a new gallery and exhibition area. To overcome this we added extra speaker hangs facing from back to front. Obviously, being 75 meters away from the stage also causes radio difficulties which needed careful RF co-ordination and managing key line of sight to receiver paddles.”
Video chose three Christie 14K HD-M series projectors because of their compact but powerful design which suited the weight restrictions and kept neatly to our client’s budget. Christie Spyder X20 was used to manage the pixel space that was required for the event and playback was handled by Christie Pandoras Box.
The lighting department used Avolites power cube for LX power and control, ETC source 4 fresnels for stage wash effects, ETC source 4 profiles for lectern spots, 16 Clay Paky A.Leda K10 B EYEs for set back lighting and room effects, ETC Source 4 Parnel zoom wash lights for the gallery lighting, TR LED Color Blast kits for set up-lighting and sim trans wall lighting, and 20 Day light studio Par ML’s for exhibition lighting. Lighting was designed by Protec and operated by Scott Bell using Avolites Tiger Touch.
Wayne Jackson, project manager, applauded his team on what was a very successful event.
“The sound quality was perfect, the data projection through Spyder onto the 14m x 3m IMA screen was stunning and gained lots of comments from the client and from delegates. Everyone really showed incredible commitment and teamwork in order to overcome challenges and find solutions.”
The feedback from the clients mirrored Jackson’s views with Protec being commended:
“Protec European Events provided excellent support in Berlin and offered terrific pre event planning advice and support. We have had very positive comments from the attendees, and also our senior leadership team who attended. The screen looked fantastic, the kabuki drop and the exhibition area were a great success. The crew did a wonderful job and we really appreciated how flexible they were onsite with changes. Thank you very much!” Subbaiah Kuttanda, marketing projects Lead / Brand Identity & Experiential Projects, Canon Europe.