projectorEvent planning takes a lot of time and attention to detail. Obviously you need fantastic content and a great speaker, but beyond that your meeting logistics need to be laid out just right. Here are a few basic AV considerations when planning your next meeting that will help make it memorable for your attendees.  

VIEWING AREA DETAILS

  • Can every person in the room see the presentation clearly? 

    If not, you will need to invest in a larger screen. However, you don't want the front row to look so far up, they hurt their neck. The rule of thumb for the first row of seating is it should not be any closer than the total height of the screen – for example, if the screen height is 12 feet, don't start seating closer than 12 feet from it. 

    The other thing you want to consider is testing the PowerPoint presentations on the screen. Encourage your presenters to use large, simple font types with a lot of visuals. 
     

  • Are there areas in the room that individuals would have a hard time seeing the screen and/or the presenter? 

    If the answer is yes, consider one or more of the following options: 

    1) Move the stage, screen and/or seating around so everyone can see 
    2) Rent Plasmas for those hard-to-view places or
    3) Consider a Video Wall if you have overflow areas or many of your participants need to move about the meeting space. 
     

  • What is the aspect ration of the screen? 

    The aspect ratio of an image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height.For many years the ratio was 4:3, meaning if the image was 4 feet wide it would be 3 feet tall in order to be clearly viewed. But now the standard now is 16:9. Part of your job when event planning is to make certain your speakers create content in 16:9 format and you have PowerPoint Presentation equipment to take advantage of that format. 

PROJECTION OPTIONS 

  • Do you want rear or front projection? 

    Rear projection is just as you think it is – the projector is set up behind the screen and hidden from the audience. This is great on a large riser when the presenters are apt to move about the stage with ease. The drawback is it takes up a lot of space in the back of the screen, so if you are not on a large stage with a lot of drapage, it may not make sense for your event. 

    Front projection allows for more seating and the screen can be flushed against the wall. The drawback to this option is the presenter may walk in front of the screen and the AV setup could be in the way for some attendees. 
     

  • What type of LCD projector makes sense for your group? 

    LCD projectors come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and lumens. Work with your AV provider to find the best projector for your room setting and audience size. 

SmartSource Rentals is a Total Technology® provider capable of supplying virtually every type of audio visual equipment, including computer projector rentals, audio visual and trade show technology.