The annual Sunshine State show

That’s a wrap on Visit Florida Governor’s Conference 2024! For the third consecutive year, Media Stage provided AV support for this show’s general session, trade show and expo area, and multiple breakout rooms. This year, we traveled cross-state to the Tampa Convention Center. The venues over the last couple of years were both hotel ballrooms (in Boca Raton and Orlando, respectively). Being at a convention center this year, we had a different type of space to work within which changed our load-in and set logistics in several ways.

The general session was in the same hall as the trade show area, so we worked in conjunction with the expo vendor to drape off half of the entire hall to create a “second room,” in a sense. To center the back drape line, we built a truss goal post as the entrance that had two scenic banners positioned on each side to give attendees a true feel of entering a second room.

Our projection, lighting and audio gear was all flown with rigging points mapped out and drawn into our CAD a month in advance. The set was highlighted by an ultrawide 65’ projection screen flanked with dimensional scenic enhancements to pop off the back drape line. We lit these with a full array of movers from overhead along with our usual up-lights to give several different looks throughout the run of show. We also positioned Colorblaze strips at diagonal angles below the screen to further complement the scenic elements.

For the opening show night, we pre-produced the video content for Visit Florida’s annual Flagler Awards ceremony which recognizes different destinations within the state for their marketing achievements. Another highlight was having Heisman Trophy winner, two-time National Champion and Florida Gator legend Tim Tebow present as keynote speaker!

In addition to GS, we provided audio and video support for seven additional rooms between a Board of Directors meeting (complete with full records), five breakouts, and one additional internal meeting room.

Our trade show support included multiple display monitors for demos and presentations, a small sound system, and ambient lighting to hit the walls. We also ordered custom branded Airstars to provide additional light to supplement the in-house lighting capabilities.

Thank you so much to Steven Bonda and Allison Hopkins for the continued partnership!