Truss and Ballast for Outdoor Events – A New Product Showcase

The staff at In Depth Events like to flatter ourselves that we engineer products that improve the production industry as a whole. Occasionally, we’re right! Some of our innovations really have been influential to the industry. The best example is our LED Dance Floors – which was one of the first available in the rental market when we began designing them seven years ago. It’s in this spirit that we are beginning a New Product showcase series. Sign Up Here to receive information on our New Products as we discover them!

“Necessity is the mother of invention”

The Development of the Rental Truss and Ballast

About three years ago, a tour with a 5K run required a more immersive experience for their attendees. This client asked us to design a series of outfield towers that could be placed up to 200 feet from the stage. Each tower would be required to hold a significant amount of lighting as well as holding signage. It would also require certified engineer documentation.

Engineer Drawing of Truss and Ballast Design

A side view from one of the engineered drawings used in the initial product design.

Our engineers got to work. Using trussing from our rooftop department, we began with 20 foot vertical truss towers. This pin-together truss (sometimes called fork truss) is 30 inches x 24 inches and is part of the perimeter truss of our monster 70’x50′ rooftop. Now, we have the vertical space and strength. But how do we anchor it to the ground to keep it from falling over?

Using the concept of a typical truss and base (which uses 70 pound steel plates as ballast) we set to design the mother of all truss and base. Using 3/8″ steel plate, our welders built a box 4 feet x 4feet x 36 inches tall with fork lift receivers. Then, using rebar and a piece of the perimeter truss, we set a die for the fork ends. Finally, our stagehands mixed 3200 pounds of concrete, and poured it into each box.

The end result is a surprisingly good looking product with more than it’s fair share of weight. The steel base is painted black and looks great on site, but it can’t disguise the 3600 pound nature of it’s being. Our final engineering review allows the towers to be used in almost any weather environment with virtually no danger of them falling over. Of course, the trussing looks great – it’s a vertical tower of aluminum that holds several hundred pounds of lighting in the air as well as flat vinyl banners with three times the signage space as mini-beam towers.

The multiple uses of Truss and Ballast in outdoor events

Image of Ballast and base supporting lighting and signage

Ballast and base supporting lighting and signage during a spring 2016 tour stop not too far from the Vegas strip.

When we unveiled the new Truss and Ballast, the client was thrilled. Our engineers had created a product that allowed for the immersive experience their attendees demanded (later, we carried that design to over 150 cities in the United States – but that’s another story). However, as we started using them on other shows, other advantages of our 3600 pound Truss and Ballast started to present themselves. Take a look at the list below:

Lighting Placement:

This should be obvious, since it was one of the main initial specifications. However, the sheer ability of our design to accommodate lighting fixtures became an asset. Rather than just holding a few fixtures, these towers can hold hundreds of pounds of weight – meaning more lighting. Our Truss and Ballast towers have been used with moving lights, conventional 6 bars, lekos and FX lighting – many times all at once. They are a vast upgrade compared to the traditional usage of scaffolding or truss and base for outdoor lighting!

Banner placement:

The banner sizing is where this product really shines. Before, spot signage at festivals had to be either scaffolding towers or towers using 12 inch mini-beam. With our Truss and Ballast, signage is 30 inches wide x 20 feet tall! This allows for readable signage for logo placement or directional signs. Since our bases are stand-alone units, you can erect a square signage tower literally in the center of your main thoroughfare, and it provides a easy to read signpost that has very little effect on traffic patterns or slowdown.

Support for Commercial Bulb Placement:

Commercial bulb stringers are a mainstay for weddings, receptions and corporate outdoor events. However, commercial bulb stringers can be difficult to have in open areas. Our Truss and Ballast make commercial bulb stringers a dream to setup and install. Our towers can support multiple strings – or use as a corner piece without worrying about wire tension.

Gateways and Gantries:

In January of 2017, a good friend and client asked us about building a gateway entry. These are usually built with mini-beam, but in this instance the gateway footprint had to be minimized. We designed two corners and a spanning truss to go with our Truss and Ballast, and in doing so, created a new use for our towers. These new gateway structures boast a limited footprint, while providing exceptionally wind tolerant signage. Multiple sections can also be used to create ticket gantries.

Using experts to help with your next event

Do you have a idea that you don’t know how to make work safely? Contact our experts and let us turn your idea into a reality! Look no further! At In Depth Events, our staff and technicians can help provide staging, audio and lighting, and electrical distribution for your next event. Ask Us a Question to get started on your next event!

Super Bowl LI 2017 A Production Company’s Retrospective

Super Bowl 2017, like any of the really large, international events, fills the host city with a dizzying array of private parties, AirBNB reservations and car rentals. For a week during February, 2017, all eyes were on Houston for the Patriots vs the Falcons national showdown (with Lady Gaga at halftime). Of course, lots of private events means an increased need for super bowl event production elements like staging, rooftops, lighting, and electrical rentals. As the marketing companies descended on Houston along with the attendees, the production crew got ready for a week’s worth of event services!

It turned out to be a pretty hectic week! Traffic in a grid-locked Houston affected event times. Security was tight, which affected truck delivery schedules with constant X-Ray scans at high security venues. However, our warehouse staff in Houston made switching trucks and gear seamless. Our expert techs worked together to handle over a dozen client events through the week. All of the staff had the opportunity to work with client names like Comedy Central, DirectTV, MKTG and Nike – all in one weekend!

We would like to thank our clients and vendors for making our portion of Super Bowl 2017 a huge success. We’ll have several other busy weekends in 2017 coming soon. After all, SXSW is fast approaching. And large holidays like Cinco de Mayo, Fourth of July and Fiestas Patrias will keep our staff hopping. We look forward to working with both new and existing clients this year. In the meantime, view the list below to see all the shows at Super Bowl 2017 that we helped make successful!

Comedy Central – ManHouse Productions:

The second show for our old friends at ManHouse consisted of taking over the outdoor space at Kirby Ice House for a week and doing live broadcasts of Comedy Central’s new show, “The Barstool Rundown”. In Depth Events staff built the stage as well as a rooftop for lighting and protection. Our work on this show earned us a 5-star rating from our client!

MKTG for DirecTV:

Our first crews in Houston began Super Bowl week with the staging and carpet bones for the DirecTV setup inside the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. A last-minute pickup of 3,000 square foot of silver carpet rounded out the two main 24 foot x 24 foot stages and ADA ramps for this booth.

NFL Network Stage:

There was nothing more exciting than a 24 foot X 24 foot stage in this booth. Other companies provided the lighting, audio and trussing for this booth. But the stage was there first!

Angel City Designs – Hilton Americas:

One of the many host hotels of the NFL needing lighting techs for setup, changeovers, and finally, strike.

Angel City Designs – Lot 97:

Our second show with this prestigious event company out of LA was called “Lot 97”. In initial conversations, Angel City couldn’t even disclose the end client for security concerns. As a result, the site of this location was the identifier for the show – even after we found out who the end client was. We provided a custom 24 foot half round stage as well as regular staging. We also provided a small army of lighting technicians for setup, changeovers and strike.

IMC Productions – Superbash:

This four day party ended with a bomb threat. But still, we provided the stage, rooftop, lighting and generators for this outdoor event. On Saturday night, someone called in a bomb threat to the police. When SWAT and police showed up, they evacuated the event space. Luckily, the threat was a fake, but it still had devastating effects on the party.

Nickelodeon:

Another broadcast event with trussing, staging, labor, and special effects for this wacky taping of a Nickelodeon game show inside the George R Brown Convention Center.

Pro One – Nike:

This outdoor event was held at a local event center. Nike came in to play with a revamp of the football field, portable bleachers, food vendors, and all the other aspects of a “Friday Night Lights” event. We provided generators and electrical distribution, making sure that all vendors had electrical power.

Metroplex Gymnastics:

Not all shows on Super Bowl weekend are Super Bowl shows! The Metroplex Challenge is an annual gymnastics event where we provide staging, audio and lighting. This 11 year repeat client began our week with a three day show at the Ft Worth Convention Center Arena. Check out a highlights video from the event here.

Barrellhouse Media:

Another event that just happened to fall on Super bowl weekend. This stage was for a corporate event.

Hopefully this blog has been informative for our event planner clients! For more information on In Depth Events and our event production capabilities, please Ask Us a Question today. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you on your event!

Image of Event Activation at the Essence Festival

The Perfect Event Activation for the Essence Festival!

At In Depth Events, we work with marketing firms all over the world to help promote their clients brands. Our clients range from sports marketing firms to guerrilla marketing firms – and everything in between! Our marketing firm clients promote cutting edge products and we are here to make the technical production side of their event activation work flawlessly.

Professional Marketing Event Activation at the Essence Festival

For the last two years, the founders of In Depth Events worked with one of the most respected marketing companies in the world on a very specific live activation. The Marketing Arm needed a an event production partner to create an event activation at the Essence Festival. This annual event in New Orleans was started to support Essence magazine and is “The Party with a Purpose” for African-American women from all over the United States.

The end client in this event space used our signature LED Dance Floor as a centerpiece to the activation. Paired with the eye-catching floor is a custom built DJ booth with LED lighting on the front and sides as well. This dynamic look blends perfectly with the other set pieces in the event activation and provides a virtual magnet to get people into the booth and boogie down on the LED Dance Floor – all while getting eyes and impressions on the client logo and branding!

Custom LED Lighted DMX Controllable DJ Booth

The Essence Festival is certainly not our largest activation. However, it offers a highlight to one of our fun, niche products that included some custom work as well. This activation remains one of our favorites because of the great companies we get to work with, the fun atmosphere of the activation and the seamless way that all the elements come together to promote the client brand.

Are you interested in finding out how In Depth Events can help your clients brand? Ask Us a Question today and let us know how we can bring your activation ideas to life!

Flush Mount Acrylic Pool Covers – An Event Planners Guide

Maximize your event space and create a unique swimming pool cover look

At In Depth Events, we are always looking for innovative ways to really amplify the impact and create unforgettable memories for your event. We’ve recently developed a new swimming pool cover mounting technology that can transform any pool into a elegant dance floor or walkway that is completely flush with the deck surface. It’s almost as if your floating on water.

You will always have the normal pool cover options available: Standard rental staging surface / Frosted pool cover surface / Clear pool cover surface… which are all great options to maximize your event. You can learn more about the standard options for rental swimming pool covers here.

With the new flush mount swimming pool cover, we’re providing an enhanced option with more “WOW factor”. You can see in the image above the stunning ambiance created by a flush mount pool cover rental. This particular project was for a private event held in the Dallas area. After the party, the event coordinator stated the party was flawless and her client was extremely pleased.

Benefits of Using a Flush Mount Pool Cover

We’ve covered the sexy details about the flush mount pool cover, but there is a lot more to learn. Aside from the exquisite visual aspect, here are other key benefits that make a flush mount pool cover ideal for any corporate or residential event:

The frame is constructed from steel connected by steel crossbar stabilizers. We install all materials onto a protective barrier which prevents your swimming pool and deck surface from damage during the install or dismantle process. Your choice of clear or frosted plexi-glass panels are mounted to the frame and precisely cut to fit the size and shape of your pool area. The flush transition from the pool cover to the deck surface creates a safer area for your guests which can help minimize the risk of trips and falls.

Take a look at the before and after images below so you can see the amazing transformation that takes place during the flush mount pool cover installation process.

The image on the left is the swimming pool before the event took place. The image on the right is the same pool, after the flush mount pool cover installation was complete.

If you’re ready to take the plunge on a swimming pool cover rental, then Ask a Question of the experts at In Depth Events. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!

Author: Robert Chapman