Backstage with Alford Media

Tom and Rachel are joined by Tomm Gillies, SeeKing Productions, to discuss how to improve the virtual experience for presenters and producers. Some of the topics include the benefit of including pre-recorded sessions, how we assist presenters and show callers, and the importance of rehearsals.

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Tom and Rachel are joined by Melanie Reed, VP of Business Operations at Alford Media, to discuss ways to make a better virtual experience for attendees. They also cover the current status of the events industry and what we expect in the next year.

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Tom and Rachel were joined by Tyler Mayne, CEO of Evolve Media Group, Brian Rivers, CEO of Centrifuge Media, and Carrie Freeman Parsons, Chair of The Freeman Company. Our guests discussed how 2020 has been different, what pivots they've made, and what they see for the future of events. Tom and Rachel also answered questions from the viewers, shared industry insights from audience polls, and took part in a holiday whiskey tasting.

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In this episode of the Back Porch, Tom and Rachel discuss how Alford Media is raising the bar for remote meetings and virtual events. In addition, we go behind the scenes to one of our control rooms and hear from the people who make it happen.

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Tom and Rachel were joined by Landy Estes to celebrate his 26 years of service with Alford Media and discuss their many years in AV. Listen for Tom and Landy's shared experiences in event tech, some fun personal stories, and what's next.

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In this episode of The Back Porch, Tom and Rachel discuss Alford’s Burgundy Culture, including: Chili Cook Offs, Alford's biennial conference, fundraisers and charitable outreach, the reason for the burgundy color and what it means to be Burgundy,  and Tom gives some helpful chili cooking advice.

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The Back Porch with Tom Alford hosted by Rachel Hollis. 

Over the past 35 years, many of our employees and colleagues have enjoyed time on the porch with Tom. To talk about anything and everything from event tech, chili recipes, and even heart to hearts. Alford leadership has always held an open door policy and time on the porch with TA is a cornerstone of that. During the pandemic and with many not able to have that time we decided to bring the same conversation virtually through this series, The Back Porch.

In this first episode Tom and Rachel cover a wide spectrum of topics, including the current state and future of the industry, favorite conference memory, cows, tornadoes, future designs and layouts of events, and jalapeño cornbread.

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On this episode of Backstage, we had a conversation hosted by Daniel Litwin with a trio of events industry experts: Alford Media Executive Vice President Tom Alford, President and COO of Snap! Event Productions Amber Jenkins, and Paul Johnson, founder of Paul Johnson, Inc.

In the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus and the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic, the events industry, like all of the world’s industries, has felt the disease’s ripple effects.

“It’s been pretty devastating to the industry,” Tom said. “There are virtually no meetings except for webcasting. … All of us are working to do the new meeting style.”

The pandemic has not only inhibited in-person events and presentations, but has raised questions about the events industry’s preparedness, employee aid, adaptation for shelter-in-place protocols, and what level of demand the industry can expect after the dust settles and things return to what’s likely to be a new normal.

To answer those questions, Daniel, Tom, Amber and Paul touched on how they’ve seen the events industry adapt and rebound from the initial shock, what protocols were already in place for a scenario like this and which will likely be put in place for the future, how their individual companies have responded, and what they expect to see in the industry on the other side of the pandemic.

Many people in the industry are changing up their focus and traditional approach to their work. “We’re trying to pivot to do more content creation,” Paul said. “Those sorts of prudent pivots that you’re inventing for yourself to put your capabilities out there, are key right now” Additionally, we’re all looking toward the future and how this will change the industry. Tom states, “I think what’s going to happen when this is all over is the best of (digital) will be adopted in… Some of the things that really work well will become a part of our everyday life.” Amber adds how these digital adoptions can elevate events from what we’ve seen so far,“I think that events involving more of a digital aspect – webcasts and what have you – I think there’s a big opportunity going forward for these to become more robust. What we have now is great, and it gets us through, but there’s so much opportunity there, and I think that there are ways that these types of technologies can really complement live events.”

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Steve Alford, President, and Tom Alford, Executive Vice President, of Alford Media talk about the events industry, evolving technology and what makes Alford Media successful. They also answered the burning questions listeners wanted to know.

Over 35 years in the events industry, Alford Media has experienced the evolution and changes in the industry. Steve said the industry is trending up over the past ten years, and technology continues to change. “The big challenge today,” Tom said, “is finding new and exciting ways to present information that grabs people’s attention.”

What do Tom and Steve think are the next big technological trends in the industry? Steve believes 5G will play an important role in increased speed and bandwidth in ballrooms and event spaces. Tom said there is now a backward trend in the utilization of lower resolution LED; people who want bigger screens at a lesser price-point. Due to advances in technology, lasers are now cheaper than before, which Tom sees as an old trend becoming a new one.

In terms of what makes their organization successful, both agreed it is the people working at Alford Media that are the difference-makers in providing exceptional service and results for their customers. . As Tom put it, “If you don’t have the right people in place, all the best tech in the world isn’t going to get you there.”

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January is a big month for trade shows, pro audio, and event tech industries. That includes NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show.

Ben MacKinney, Audio Services Manager for Alford Media, was our boots on the ground for the event. He joins host Daniel Litwin to give us the NAMM 2020 recap and share all the exciting products and innovations that he saw at the event.

Ben said that one trend driving the conversation at the show was providing more options in speakers. He said that one cool thing he saw was a small speaker that allowed individual control with signal and power coming from a single cable.

Another trend he saw at the show for the event tech crowd was networking becoming more and more integrated with their systems. “We’re not far away from microphones having a network port on it, and we’re not plugging it in with an XLR anymore, we’re using a Cat 5,” he said. Some microphones with the port already exist, and Ben said that the trend is coming whether we like it or not.

On the more quirky side of technology, he mentioned some interesting finds at the show. One was a soft release of a 360-degree camera on top of a Zoom 360 audio recorder. Another product he saw was initially a gag item — a bed in a road case. What started as a joke to lure people to a company’s booth turned into a product they actually sold.

One of Ben’s biggest takeaways from the show is that audio technology seems to be more or less settled. “We’re now just refining,” he said. “There’s not really a new way to put sound into the air, but you can refine the unit that puts sound into the air and make it better and more efficient.”

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The event tech industry is bursting with new technologies and innovations. These new developments debuted at LDI 2019, the leading conference and trade show for live design professionals from all over the world. Backstage has the first scoop on what event tech professionals are saying about the show with guests Blake Taylor, Lighting Services Manager, and Aaron Walters, Lighting Service Technician, at Alford Media.

Event technology is innately attention-grabbing, but the designs at LDI were both riveting and intriguing. Taylor and Walters noted the resurgence of throwback styles and retro lighting apparatus’, now powered with the energy-efficiency of LED. These stylized lights are finding popularity not just from the light they produce, but from the fixtures themselves, which often play a part on a set for film, tv, or theater.

Walters remarks on the LED curtains, a mappable, series of lights chained together via hardware. Similar to a video wall, the larger LEDs are an interesting feature for unique set design. “Chunky,” older hardware is finding new life with LEDs while delivering rich light, longer and more efficiently.

Overall, the two lighting specialists agree that the event technology industry is working together to significant effect. Operators, designers, and programmers are asking each other questions, sharing data, and welcoming input from manufacturers. This sense of collaboration ultimately leads to creating product users want.

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In this episode of Backstage, Allison McMahan, Marketing & Communications Manager, and Dave Pooser, Director of Product Innovation, both from Alford Media, discuss the recent XLIVE Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas held Nov 17-19, 2019.

Allison and Dave both attended the annual Live Events & Entertainment trade show. Tech with a purpose and audience immersion emerged as two themes that loomed large over the three-day conference. Allison sums the technology part up as a shift from trying to chase the coolest and best technology to outdo the last event to ‘how does that technology enhance the attendee experience?

“When people pay money to come out to a conference, a convention, an event of any kind,” she adds, “They want to go have an experience.”

Dave points out, in the B2B conference and event space, an attendee may be there because of a company mandate. But that doesn’t mean she or he is interested. It is the job of the company planning the event to immerse that attendee in the experience and get them engaged.

Some of the industry trends Allison notes from XLIVE were Bluetooth and RFID Tracking. She says these methods, which are popular in the B2C space, are gaining a foothold in B2B as well. Allison also mentions the uptick of AR in mixed/merged reality as something with growth potential in the corporate market.

Dave’s most significant takeaway from the conference was the message of not relying on ‘technology itself’ to do the wowing of event attendees but to use the right technology to create an amazing experience for the attendee.

“Do that,” he said, “and the social media follow-through from attendees will come.”

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Corporate meetings and conferences have long been characterized by tedious PowerPoint presentations echoing off the walls of fluorescent-lit hotel ballrooms. But thanks to new trends in event technology, these long-dreaded symposiums are getting a makeover. Immersive content and interactive engagement are just a couple of innovations changing the event industry.

Exploring this rising trend in this episode of Backstage is Ben MacKinney, Audio Services Manager, and Allison McMahan, Marketing and Communications Manager of Alford Media. The pair have their pulse on the rapidly changing industry of event technology and corporate events.

“People are tired of sitting in front of a PowerPoint for 90 minutes,” said Ben of traditional corporate events. As a result, audio-visuals that incorporate the idea of immersive entertainment have taken precedence. “One of the things we’re seeing is less PowerPoint and Keynote, and more advanced presentations with media servers,” he said. “We’re seeing a level of presentation that is much more than a PowerPoint slide. There are videos with motion and graphics moving in and out. So, there’s a lot more involved in content creation and the thought of how you’re going to build this presentation.”

Allison points to the influence of the entertainment industry as a major instigator to event changes, with clients requesting visuals they see on television award shows or integrating assets that make the experience “playful and fun.”

Is this change here to stay? Ben thinks so.

“It’s coming, whether you like it or not. And, you can either figure it out now or you can figure it out after everyone else already has,” he said.

Both end-users and industry clientele are demanding a more interactive, exciting event experience. Stunning productions with engaging event tech components don’t necessarily have to break the bank. “It’s really important that event planners and producers know their goal upfront…there is no off-the-shelf option at this point, so much of it is custom,” Allison said.

As event technology specialists are pushed to innovate, there’s no boundary to new, never-been-done-before audio-visuals. Allison said it’s an “open playing field,” with the most creative event tech experiences rising to the top.

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One of the often-overlooked aspects of producing large-scale business events is lighting design. As brands look to find creative ways to capture trade show audiences with content, audio, and visuals, the right lighting can enhance an immersive experience like no other. In this episode of Backstage, Blake Taylor, Manager of Lighting Services at Alford Media, discusses creative ways to light trade show events that’ll leave a memorable impression on consumers.

With more than 25 years experience in light direction and programming, Blake says art often imitates life. Innovative lighting effects you might see at a concert or film will often make their way into business event design.

“Our industry as a whole is being pushed by other arenas of entertainment,” Blake said. “You go to a touring concert, for example, and you see things that really open it up visually.”

While business events are taking visual cues from entertainment, there’s still a lot of subjectivity when it comes to what clients want.

“A lot of clients don’t necessarily approach a project with specific lighting needs, so it’s up to us to work with creative directors and creative types to develop what that project wants to look and feel like,” Blake said. “Lighting is so objective. People know what they like and what they don’t like, so it just depends on how they view it.”

Blake also shares what lighting design concepts he’s seen that work and are especially impactful, as well as what kind of lighting fixtures create specific moods or effects.

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In the past, event technology specialists at AV companies had to manually scan each item of gear making its way to the warehouse. Some still manually scan to this day; it’s an antiquated system that takes days, or even weeks, and is prone to human error. Here at Alford Media, that has changed with RFID asset tracking technology.

On this episode of Backstage, Melanie Reed, Vice President of Business Operations, and Billy King, Director of Operations, share how we at Alford are leading the charge in asset tracking for AV gear, and how RFID revolutionized our logistics.

Melanie and Billy each have twenty years of experience at Alford Media and know the disadvantages of manually scanning barcodes for millions of dollars worth of equipment. When humans make a mistake, like misplacing essential gear, it can cause headaches at the show site and stop expensive productions in their tracks.

To optimize its processes, Billy explained that the company started looking into RFID tracking solutions in 2005 but the technology just wasn’t ready. As advancements were made, the company went back and started developing a custom solution that would allow scanners to instantly read and log tagged items as they were loaded on the truck.

As Melanie recalled, perfecting the technology wasn’t easy and took countless meetings, experiments, and trial-and-error. But now their RFID system provides real-time tracking of gear – no manual barcode scanning required. It dramatically speeds up logistics and removes human error so that crews can help put on the best event possible.

According to Melanie, all the hard work developing the software was worth it. On top of that, Alford’s culture of integrity and openness is the reason the company is happy to share what they’ve learned with other organizations looking to set up an RFID tracking infrastructure of their own.

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On today’s episode of Backstage, we’re joined by Dan Thompson, Senior Account Manager, who gives us a look at Alford Media through his eyes, as someone who’s been with the company for more than 23 years.

Alford Media was founded in 1984, and much has changed since then in terms of technology. When Dan started in 1996, the products were in the throes of analog, and the peak input for video was component. Digital video was a brand-new concept that people were very excited about, and the world was listening to laser discs and CDs. We specialized in stacking CRT projectors to increase light output, resolution, and redundancy.

35 years later the company has gone to digitally based projection, uses digital smart audio that has every component seamlessly networked, and lumen count is now over 20 times what it was. While much has changed on the back end, the one thing that has not is how Alford treats its employees, a feeling that Dan said is “one of the best.”

“Crew First” is the Alford way, which is a term that means a lot of things — first, to pick crew members that are the best and brightest; second, to let them have autonomy in terms of what they would like to do as long as it benefits the customer; third, to support them wholeheartedly in everything that they do, whether it be to have an on-call manager while they are away on service calls, or to help them out when they need someone to walk their dog. That level of family atmosphere, combined with the freedom that staff have, really contributes to Alford’s success.

“As long as you’re making a move that will benefit the client, the company will back you up on that,” said Dan.

He also credits the Alford brothers, their leadership, and their ability to choose a superior team with being other unique drivers for success that the company has up its sleeves.

“When you hire the right technical talent and you listen to that technical talent and what those people are seeing in the field, you can stay ahead of the curve,” Dan said.

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The events industry can have many unique challenges, but can also bring an infinite number of exciting possibilities. Even going abroad for international work has its own set of challenges such as laws, language barriers, and infrastructure. On today’s episode of Backstage we speak to Eric Hagström, Senior Project Manager for Alford Media, to get a better sense of these challenges and best practices for putting together an international event.

One of the biggest issues an international show brings is units and values. The U.S. still uses the imperial system of measurements, but going almost anywhere else in the world will require working within the metric system. This combined with a language barrier can often create hurdles on the path to seeing a show come together.

Despite having several unique challenges, working internationally can also bring amazing opportunities. Working with others from across the globe can open up a wealth of knowledge about the events industry from a new perspective. “From logistics to acoustics, even the most seasoned veterans have the ability to learn from others,” Hagström said.

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he nature of the end-user experience at live events is changing and it is up to companies to get creative about how they digitize live events to get maximum impact.

On today’s Backstage with Alford Media, we chat with Dan Thompson, Senior Account Manager for Alford Media about its growth into a company that embraces outward trends in a holistic fashion.

The rise of analytics available in the computing and data industry has given more user data that companies can use to build presentations, and the evolution of technology has made speakers, displays, and audio systems more integrated and more efficient, so the client expectations are changing as well. A lot of people prefer to stream a show or presentation as opposed to attending one at a venue, for example. So the need to find new ways to attract attendees to live events is growing.

The multiple screen approach is also becoming more prevalent due to end users not wanting to part with their phones and being starved for as much data as possible. Thompson gives the example of watching a movie on Netflix at home, viewers are no longer just watching the movie; they are looking up synopses, characters, who plays which character, and related information at the same time. And the industry is beginning to realize that we aren’t dealing with passive viewers anymore.

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Running event technology seamlessly is the bare minimum in today’s event technology world, and nothing is making that a more confusing mix of simple and complicated than digital audio networks.

It may be easy to think that these types of event configurations are second nature to professionals who live and breathe audio, but challenges arise daily with these networks. There’s still a tremendous amount of skill required to be able to make all the moving parts work. Like any other type of AV installation or technology, there are two different brain functionalities required. The technical side is more important than ever as audio engineers become network engineers, but the artistic side is what pushes content over the top. Let’s face it, there is no magic button that will magically make something amazing. Like all great things, some finesse is required to make an experience look and sound amazing.

On today’s episode of Backstage Pass with Alford Media, we hear from Operations Manager Matthew Dietzler, and Audio Designer Jonathan Lieurance to break down this dichotomy making life tough yet exciting for AV professionals.

In a previous episode we spoke with Dietzler about the evolution of audio networking and the practically permanent switch from analog to digital, but today we follow up to see what actual effects there have been on the workforce. Did the networked audio gear simplify the live audio process, or did it just make things more complicated?

When it doesn’t work, things can certainly be confusing, especially for techs who don’t have the skill set required to understand how to work with static IP addresses and subnet masks. However, when it does work and everything’s set up correctly and in place, it’s a wonderful, 100 percent plug-and-play experience. Dietzler and Lieurance explain the powerful feeling of turning on Shure Wireless Workbench and seeing all of your microphones; RF coordination is done, the intercom system can be immediately switched to, everyone’s belt packs are working correctly, and Amperex is communicating.

Give this episode of Backstage Pass a listen to hear what technology from Martin Audio, Luminex, and Riedel is currently transforming the industry (like digital steering), and how Alford is utilizing the technology to stand out in the industry.

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Communicating with your event technology team before an event is crucial for success. Communicating effectively with your clients during the development of an install often makes or breaks client retention. In essence, communication is critical for the event technology industry. However, does the platform for that communication always get the love and attention it deserves? If not intentional, companies might adjust their entire business process to match a communications platform; communications should be assistive, not demanding.

On this episode of Backstage, Dave Pooser, Director of Product Innovation at Alford Media, joined us on the podcast to discuss Alford Media’s own communication platform, one specifically designed from the ground up for Alford’s needs: Alford Access. Alford Access acts as a database that clients can use to communicate in real time with the staff and freelancers assigned to their specific show, serving as a window into the operation from start to finish. This technology, for example, lets Alford share files while also labeling them as active or inactive to keep everyone on the same page. This level of communication alleviates the struggles of accessing information via email or other third-party chat software.

Another reality of the industry is that during events, many of the hands-on-deck are freelance AV professionals. Getting everyone on the same page is essential, and Alford Access makes that simple by integrating the freelancers into the development of the project from the beginning. “We want to make sure that on every show, we’re not just hiring a video engineer for their hands. We want their brains,” Pooser said.

Pooser explains all the aspects of Alford Access, and how it provides clients the ability to catch issues sooner and keep staff accountable, which makes for a better show and a better experience for everyone involved.

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