The Background
Illinois River Watershed Project (IRWP) is a non-profit that holds an annual conference to ensure up-to-date education for dozens of engineers, water scientists, and environmentalists. This conference ensures information is disseminated to their team to provide thousands of NWA residents with high-quality water. Although not all scientists are able to attend this event in person, making the event available online helped this conference retain full attendance and participation from its organization.
The Challenge
Just because an event is smaller in size does not mean that it has to have basic A/V and bare-bones amenities. The Watershed conference was held in a very unique venue; an empty airplane hangar overlooking a small lake.
The Solution
Although most of the presentations were in-person, by utilizing Zoom and large TVs at the front of the room, they were able to have some presenters discuss from off-site. This helped to keep all of their discussions fluid and flowing. Warm overhead lights and gobos mounted in the background lights helped texture the room with shapes and colors. All of these things came together to turn a dark empty room into an inviting atmosphere ready for any presentation.
Stylized lighting and live streaming in a specialized venue must cost a fortune to add to a smaller event, right? A little can go a long way in hybrid events. All of the gear and the zoom capabilities added only a small fraction to this non-profit’s budget and had an immense impact on increased quality. Just as IRWP supports us by improving our water in Northwest Arkansas, we supported them by keeping their cost dollars down and event top-notch.