Category: Lighting

A Tale of Two Political Parties

In Depth Events is a true bi-Partisan live events company!

Ask anyone that works in live events, and they’ll tell you – The event business is a hard way to make a living.  However, even in this challenging industry, there are levels of difficulty.  For example – providing a pool cover for a holiday event is relatively straightforward.  You set a date, bring in the equipment, set it up, and take it back down again.  Weather can always present a challenge, and yes, it’s hard work.  But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can prepare you for providing gear for political events.

Political events are the most challenging types of events in our industry.  Most political events happen without warning – at most, you have 5 working days to prepare, and even that is a luxury.  Political events are rarely held in a typical event space – they are in factories and manufacturing facilities, in outdoor environments, private homes, and children's centers.  Security is tight.  Timelines are tight, and they’re made worse by mandatory security sweeps.    However, by far the most challenging thing about political events is that it has to be right, on time, every time, no excuses.

At In Depth Events, because of the unique experiences and characteristics that Matt and Robert possess, we are really good at political events.  In fact, we are one of a small handful of companies that do them with the level of consistency that is demanded by our clients.  To that end, he’s the Tale of Two Political Parties, and the four events we’ve done for them this past spring!

Event #1

Trump at the International Union of Operating Engineers in Crosby, Texas

President Trump came to the Crosby, Texas IUOE training and education center specifically to sign two Executive Orders designed to boost the oil and gas industry.  This historic visit was attended by several prominent Texas Republicans, as well as a host of working engineers from all corners of the United States.  However, it started with a single phone call, three days before the event.  When the call came in from Jarrad Scott, founder of PM1, (Production Management One is the most prominent political production company in the United States) Robert knew the clock was already ticking.  In 72 hours, In Depth Events staff, with Robert on site, was able to provide audio, lighting, press feed, backstage monitors, and generator rentals for an event that took place inside a non-climate controlled welder’s training facility.  Every single word of the President’s speech was heard, and the lighting served to make sure the press saw every interaction on the stage.  We worked directly with White House staff to make sure this event went off without a single hitch.

Event #2

 

Trump at Sempra Energy in Cameron Parish, Louisiana

Less than a month later, In Depth Events was on site in Louisiana at Cameron LNG getting ready for another Presidential appearance.  This political event was spearheaded by Streamline Event Agency, with Justin Zebell at the helm.  Cameron LNG is a brand new facility that provides LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) for export.  Matt was the lead on this site, bringing four trucks of equipment to the outdoor event space.  After three grueling days of setting up staging, press risers, seating risers, and photo risers in the Louisiana heat, the President arrived to discuss the number of jobs that the new facility would create in Louisiana.  This event was exceptionally well-attended and covered by the press, with news reports and sounds bites of the President’s speech going all over the world.

Event #3

Biden at a private residence in Highland Park, Texas

In June, we got a call from the other side of the aisle – Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden was coming to Dallas.  His first stop was a campaign finance appearance at a private home in Highland Park, Texas.   Private homes are always tricky because they simply aren’t set up for live events.  For this private home, load in was through a rear alley and then hand carried through the back yard.  Robert spearheaded this event and carried most of the gear himself!  Luckily, production requirements we not difficult, with a small podium and stage, as well as an audio system with a wireless microphone.  The event went exceptionally well, with everyone in attendance able to hear Mr. Biden’s message.

Event #4

Biden at SPARK Children’s Center in Dallas, TX

From the private event that Robert was handling, Mr. Biden hopped in his SUV and drove over to his second stop in Dallas – a speaking engagement at the non-profit children's center called SPARK! At Southside on Lamar.  This event required a lot more production gear and some special backdrop treatment!  Matt brought In Depth Events skills in force with HMI lighting panels, a multizone audio system, and staging for the press.  The event looked great, to the point that the CNN cameraman told Matt it was “the best lighting he’d ever had at a political event”. The venue was particularly happy with the way our crews respected their art and children's installations through the venue.

As I said before – political events are by far the most challenging events we handle as event professionals.  From Presidents to Presidential contenders, National, State, and even non-profit rallies, our co-founders Matt and Robert have been there and we have you covered.  Let us show you how our founders and crew work together with your planning staff to provide the best in event management and event technology.  Contact us today for a quote!


A Tale of Two Theme Parties

How two very different events had a very successful theme party – courtesy of In Depth Events!

The Spring of 2019 had some amazing clients for In Depth Events.  As a live event production company, our focus is bringing audio, lighting, staging, and power together to make memorable, fun events that people talk about for years to come.

Women With Promise - Disco Ball

American Campus - Lubbock, Texas

Our first theme event in 2019 was with Cindy Latch and Women With Promise.  This charitable organization is made up of successful women in the North Texas area.  The Women with Promise annual fundraiser is designed to empower women to build a future filled with promise and success.  This year, the committee chose a Disco theme, and the fundraiser was held at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas.  In Depth Events was chosen as the vendor to handle the audio, lighting and staging needs in the main ballroom and in the pre-function area.

Matt and Robert started with our ever-popular LED Dance Floor, and added modern lighting effects with a throwback Disco ball.  The audio system was a solid performer throughout the night, with both a DJ and a celebrity impersonator.  The event was so successful that we had several hotel guests that had been invited to other, unrelated events in the hotel come to crash our party.  A great evening with a great client – for a great cause!

From black tie to poolside – our next theme event was a collegiate outdoor black light party in Lubbock, Texas!  American Campus is a company that provides off-campus apartments for college students at several major campuses across Texas and other parts of the United States.  One of the many bonuses in living on an American Campus property is the parties that management throws for the residents.  In April of 2019, In Depth Events was selected as the production and talent management vendor to throw a massive pool party at the Raiders Pass property in Lubbock, with students attending Texas Tech.

To make sure the party was a major success, Robert set them up with a thumping audio system, black lights, and used his talent management skills to book one of the best turntablist DJ’s in the State.  Matt took his expertise onsite to provide special effects for the party, including dry ice effects, UV effects, and CO2 cannons.  This outdoor poolside event was a favorite with the student residents in Lubbock, and with the management at American Campus.  This theme party can be a success at your outdoor venue as well – just call our experts for a quote!


Image of Glow Party Events with DJ

Glow Parties, Neon Parties and Black Light Parties – An Event Planners Guide

At In Depth Events, we provide large scale glow party events for corporate clients, outdoor glow runs, college events and other large events with high numbers of attendees.  We work with event planners and organizers from all over the country to provide events for thousands of people.  This blog post is designed for this level of event.

If, however, you are putting on a glow party for a sweet sixteen birthday party, your personal Halloween party or a backyard party for your favorite 50 people – we respectfully suggest you go to Cool Glow and order for your specific needs.  They have an amazing selection of glow stuff for smaller, private events.

So, what is a Glow Party, anyway?

Glow Parties, Neon Parties and Black Light Parties can be indoor black tie corporate parties or they can be nighttime outdoor festivals. But the main thing that unites them all is FUN!  Whether it’s an outdoor fun run, a Neon New Year’s party or a college party, Glow Parties are a great way to have a memorable, exciting event.  There are three different types of products that are used for all Glow Parties:

1 – UV lighting.  Black Light lighting rentals, also called Ultra Violet lighting, are necessary for a glow party.  Using UV lighting allows UV reactive clothing, paints or other items to glow.  Although it’s nice to have specific items purchased for their ability to glow, you’ll be surprised at how much stuff you normally carry around, interact with or wear will glow under UV.  There are even several bar items that will glow under black Light without special treatment!  The major manufacturers of conventional UV lighting are Wildfire and Altman – and, of course, there are LED products from large scale to small flashlights that project UV.

2 – LED battery powered items.  It’s hard to remember a time where LED lighting wasn’t in everything – from the flash on your phone, to lights in your car dash, to security lighting – and party items!  You can buy battery operated LED’s in almost any shape or size.  There are wigs with LED lighting woven in them, clothing, as well as buttons, teeth, ice cubes and even furniture.  More formal corporate events can use LED bars, set pieces and DJ booths.  Many events use LED Dance Floors as the centerpiece of the party.  Since LEDs provide visible light, they are used in conjunction with UV lighting to create vibrant, saturated colors.

3 – Chemical glowing items.  These are the glow sticks that you ‘break’ to activate the glowing liquid inside.  These plastic tubes are filled with two non-toxic chemicals.  What you bend the plastic, a thin tube of glass inside the plastic tube breaks, mixing two chemicals that provide glowing light for 2-4 hours.  You can find these most often in necklaces, bracelets and, of course, glow sticks.  They are great as fun, inexpensive giveaways at outdoor and indoor parties.

college-glow-party image

Production rentals for large scale Glow Party Events

As you may remember from your college dorm – Black Lights don’t produce visible light.  As a result, you need a combination of UV lighting, LED lighting, and theatrical lighting rentals to provide the perfect glow party.  Wall washes work well, but why stop there?  Moving light rentals, LED Dance Floors, gobo projection – even special effects like confetti and cryo bring a Glow Party together for your attendees!

It’s incredibly important to find the right vendor for your Glow Party Events.  Whether it’s a thousand people in a hotel ballroom, ten thousand college students in an auditorium or twenty thousand people at a 5K fun run, you need a vendor with specific experience in Glow Party events rentals.  Not only will an experienced vendor have the rental UV lighting fixtures, special effects equipment and rigging equipment in their rental inventory, they will also have the knowledge and experience for rigging in indoor environments, working with fire marshals to provide engineered drawings and working with electrical power necessary for both indoor and outdoor Glow events.

The right vendor will be able to provide pictures of previous events – and pictures of more than one event!  Check references of both clients AND vendors.  Finally, get a Certificate of Insurance.  A reputable vendor will have no problem providing a CoI to your organization and your selected venue.

blacklight College Glow Party Audience Image

The Shameless Sales Plug

The staff at In Depth Events has been involved with Glow Party events and Black Light production rentals for several years.  We are one of a handful of companies that provide large scale UV for all types of events.  You can visit parts of our site that deals with production rentals for Glow Parties – from Glow Party Experts to our All-Inclusive College Glow Parties. Make sure to visit our LED Dance Floor pages – once there, you can even get an instant rental quote!

Once you’ve checked us out, then make sure to Ask Us a Question about your upcoming event.  Our experts will work within your budget and vision to make sure your Glow Party Events are incredible for your attendees.  We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!


Image of Holiday Concert Production Rental

Selecting the Best Production Vendor for your Holiday Concert – An Event Planners Guide

There are plenty of blog posts you can find that will talk about china selection at a small, private, home-based Holiday gathering.  You’ll find page after page talking about how to make your own centerpieces.  I’m sure there are entire databases dedicated to the perfect napkin ring complement to your curtains and how they match your Holiday scarf.  This is NOT that type of blog.

We are NOT talking about Holiday Decor here – we need Concert Production Services!

Large, ambitious Holiday events with thousands of attendees need live holiday concert event production services and rentals to get the party off the ground.  Maybe you are a casino doing a Neon New Years event, or possibly a municipality having a Christmas Tree lighting festival.  You could be organizing a Holiday themed 5K run, a corporate Christmas Party or a college Holiday party. Whatever your Holiday responsibilities, you are going to have to find a vendor to provide staging rentals, professional audio rentals and concert lighting rentals – quick!  Depending on the party, you might also need Christmas lighting rentals, special effects such as confetti or lasers or even an LED Dance Floor!  Whether you have a 20 piece swing band, a rock and roll cover act, or just a DJ – you need to make sure that all your production needs are covered for your event by choosing the best live event production rentals vendor possible.

Each Holiday event is unique, but the steps in vendor selection are largely the same for all these types of events.  First rule – take the time to research and select the right holiday concert event production vendors!  Finding your choice vendors will make you the Holiday hero.  The wrong vendors can turn your event into a real Nightmare before Christmas.  Never fear!  We’re here to give you a few pointers to find the perfect vendors for production rentals for your Holiday event – and along the way, maybe a few pointers for your other vendor needs as well.

LED Dance Floor at Holiday Party Image

Selecting a Holiday concert event production vendor for large scale events

Step One – Recognize you are in a different league.  The simple fact of the matter is that once you get past the 1,000 attendee mark, the whole game changes.  At 5,000 people, it changes again, and at 10,000 people, it’s a REAL party!  You need to have professional audio and lighting services that fit your crowd size, and your expected number of attendees.  Many times, this will necessitate bringing in additional power to handle the needs of the equipment, especially in outdoor environments.  In some venues, it may be advantageous to ‘rig’ equipment; that is, hang it from ceiling supports to increase the look and feel of the space and the equipment.

The successful concert production services vendor will have experience in producing events relative to the amount of attendees you are expecting.  If rigging is an option, choose a production vendor with rigging experience.  Understand the venue you have selected may require insurance information from the concert production vendor – this is something a reputable vendor will be happy to provide.  Likewise, a reputable concert production vendor will be happy to supply the power needs and requirements they have for their own equipment.

Step Two – Go with your instincts!  Did the vendor listen to your needs on the phone?  Did they ask questions and pay attention to your responses?  Did they offer to do a site survey?  Did they offer to provide you pictures of past events?  In many cases, you want (and NEED!) a vendor who you are comfortable with.  You’re not hiring a plumber here!

A good relationship between you and your vendor is key.  Meet the potential vendor on site and perform a site survey with them.  Asking for both customer AND vendor references is perfectly OK – in fact, a reputable vendor will welcome your request.  A reputable vendor will be happy to provide photos of recent events.  You should always take the time to check references with any vendor, but especially when choosing a concert production vendor.  Obviously, avoid vendors who are condescending or rude.

Riser Design Drawing and Actual Installation

Step Three – Ask your concert production services vendor for design advice.  This is an often overlooked step that can really help you select the best concert production vendor possible.  During the site survey, ask the vendor what other services they may be able to provide that will bring your party to the next level.  A good vendor will be happy to brainstorm with you on design ideas.  After all, they do hundreds of events per year – they might just have some ideas that will be great for your event!

A good holiday concert event production vendor can help with design.  The best production services vendor will be evaluating the venue during the site survey for potential roadblocks as well as design ideas.  Look for concert production vendors that are knowledgeable with fire codes and building codes. The best way to do this is to ask if they are Certified Building Contractors with any municipalities.  Your vendor should be also able to help you with ideas for crowd movement and making sure your attendees are safe during your event.

Image of Holiday Concert Performance

 

The Shameless Sales Pitch

The staff at In Depth Events has provided holiday concert event production services and rentals for hundreds of large scale Holiday events – from huge corporate Christmas parties, to Neon New Years events for casinos, and everything in between.  In our regular season, we’ve provided live event rentals for thousands of events of all shapes and sizes.  We’ve also got some great production services that are ready for your guests, including the largest LED Dance Floor in the nation, as well as being one of the most experienced Glow Party Experts in the world.  Our clients rely on our production experience – shouldn’t you?  Make sure and Ask Us a Question to see how we can help with your next Holiday event.  We look forward to hearing from you and working with you!