Extreme Weather Conditions at Live Events

Outdoor events and activations are in a class by themselves. In addition to the difficulties of production requirements, parking and crowd control, you also have to add fencing, porta-potties and the tempestuous moods of Mother Nature. In this post, we’ll discuss how to plan for bad weather conditions at live events and the specific conditions that our technicians are trained to look for when determining whether or not to continue an event in bad weather.

Unpredictable weather and live events

Image of Safety During Bad Weather Conditions

Safety During Bad Weather Conditions is the Number One Priority for In Depth Events

In our home State of Texas, weather can be… fickle. It’s an old joke here that “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait a minute and it will change.” Of course, our touring and logistics groups handle activations and experiential events all over the nation. We’ve been drowned in Denver, deluged in Duluth and snowed on in St Paul. We’ve been hailed on in Helena, had sleet in San Antonio and tornadoes in… well, you get the idea. The point is we are very experienced with bad weather conditions at live events and how to make sure the equipment and your attendees are safe before, during and after bad weather strikes.

As a production company, we have to be ready for all types of weather at an outdoor event. Rain gear and pop-up tents are part of every single pack that goes on the truck. All of our electrical distribution systems are water resistant and rated for outdoor use. Our ballast plans for our rooftops are specifically designed with high wind conditions in mind.

Speaking of rooftops – whenever we do a stage and roof system, we will always have a roof tech on site to monitor the roof and the weather conditions at any time there is activity on the stage. On most of our outdoor rental stage and roof system builds, you’ll see a weather station including an anemometer and a rain gauge on the structure. Monitoring the weather at all times is a big part of our commitment to safety on the event site.

Make sure your event company has a bad weather plan

After the rain – back to the show!

Especially when using rooftops or mobile stages – it’s imperative that production company that you have contracted has a bad weather plan. With our company, it’s our Rooftop Emergency Procedures. This document has very specific tolerances for wind and rain and clearly explains our responsibility to our clients in case of bad weather.

In addition to this document, it’s also important for everyone to sit down long before the event and discuss the issues related to bad weather conditions at live events. The promoter, production company, venue owner and (if possible) the municipality should all be given well-defined roles and responsibilities for dealing with bad weather. Knowing these roles beforehand can save precious minutes and provide a well-organized response for attendees.

Do you have questions about weather and your outdoor activation, concert, or festival? Ask a Question of the bad weather safety experts at In Depth Events. We’re happy to take our knowledge and experience and apply it to your event. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!

Confetti Blower at a Graduation Ceremony

Graduation Stage Rentals – An Event Planners Guide

Commencement and Graduation Stage Rentals – Identifying Specific Needs

Whether it’s for a community college, a high school, a four year university or even a vocational school, commencements are an important transition for students, instructors and attendees. Identifying specific needs for your graduation stage rentals is the first step in making sure the graduation ceremonies go smoothly for everyone.

There are several questions to ask that will determine stage size and height. How many people will be on stage? Is the event outdoors or indoors? Will you require seating risers on the rear of the stage for professors and administrators? How many graduates will you have? Additionally, you need to consider the venue. For example, many high schools will use the football stadium on campus for commencement. A stage that would look huge in a small room may look tiny in this environment. Is there a game the night before or the night of? Has anyone else reserved the stadium? How will vendors get staging and chairs onto the field?

Graduation stage rentals, the ADA and vendor selection

The ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act, was signed into law in 1990. For staging vendors, it mandates on a federal level the use of handrails and ramps on temporary and permanent stages. In addition to compliance with the ADA, graduation stages must also comply with municipal building codes for staging and structure builds. Some municipalities will also require review by the county Fire Marshall for safety and accessibility.

It’s incredibly important that your stage meets or exceeds local building codes as well as ADA requirements. The most successful staging vendors will verify building codes, ADA requirements and fire code requirements long before they arrive to setup your stage. Look for staging vendors who are Certified Building Contractors within your local municipality, or the nearest large city if you are in a suburban or rural area.

The shameless sales pitch for graduation stage rentals

We have been providing graduation stage rentals for many years as well as other production and rental services. Chair rentals, sound system rentals, press risers and audience risers are all within our range of services to our clients.

Ask Us a Question today and find out why our clients return to In Depth Events event experts year after year. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!

Image of Mudbug Bash at Main Street Gardens

Concert Production Services for CBS Radio Live Events

The staff at In Depth Events has a long history of working with broadcast companies. Our unique blend of turnkey concert production services along with our marketing company experience is a natural match when working in terrestrial radio.

Thank you for all of your work this past weekend. Things went off without a hitch and your crew was great! Andy Brooks

The Dallas office of CBS Radio is a recent addition to our client list. However, after a successful series of events in 2015, we feel confident that CBS Radio will be a repeat client in the future!

CBS Radio called us to provide concert production services for several events in 2015 including the Mudbug Bash and Sausage Fest (both held at Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas) as well as support for a live event at Panther Island Pavilion in Ft Worth. We were also asked to provide concert production services at Fair Park in Dallas and a Christmas event at Farmers Market in Dallas.

Full Production Christmas event at Dallas Farmers Market for CBS Radio

CBS Radio Christmas event at Dallas Farmers Market

CBS Radio maintains several radio stations in the Dallas market and each radio station plays a part in the production and sponsorship of each live event. As a result, every event for CBS Radio is completely unique. Our logistics team makes sure that all the audio rentals, staging rentals, lighting rentals and video rentals arrives on schedule and our operators and stagehands provide the necessary skills to make sure the talent and audience has a great time.

Ask Us a Question today and find out why In Depth Events has one of the highest rates of repeat business in the industry. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!

Live Event Production Services for Sports Marketing Firm Game Seven Marketing

Game Seven Marketing and the founders of In Depth Events began our business relationship back in 2013, doing a marketing event at the Galleria Mall in Houston. This four day event during the 2013 NBA All Star Jam was one of the incredibly successful sports marketing events that launched a mutually beneficial relationship between the two companies that has endured through dozens of events.

Since then, we have provided audio, lighting, video, staging and décor rentals for all types of sport related live events for Game Seven Marketing and their clients’ brands. In 2014, we handled events in New Orleans and Oklahoma City and 2015 saw us in Fort Worth, Dallas and back to OKC.

Our most recent event was an interview format event with a live audience. Marketed to an exclusive audience, this event was held in the Penn Square mall at a chain store. Not only was the audience engaged by the celebrity guest, they were also engaged by branded product on the shelves and featured on the video screens. At this event, we provided full turn key production services including audio, staging, video; and even chairs, pipe and drape and tensa-barriers.

In Depth Events is proud to call Game Seven Marketing a loyal client. Ask Us a Question today and find out how we can promote your clients brand!

Author: Robert Chapman