Viva Las Vegas!

With some major last-minute pivots, the Media Stage crew worked back-to-back shows in Las Vegas last month for the UK-based experiential marketing firm Hart Wilcox. The shows were held at separate venues, MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan, and both transitioned from what were planned to be fully in-person shows to hybrid events.

The first show at MGM Grand went from hosting 2,000 attendees in-person to 250 in person and 2,000 attending virtually. The AV set-up featured two full stages supported by Meyer full line array systems, an 80’ wide screen with Barco projection blending, more than 60 Martin moving lights and a separate switching system and camera complement solely for the virtual audience.

The second show at the Cosmopolitan transitioned from a live show to be attended by 2,000 people to the creation of two live TV studio sets from which we would broadcast. The content was pushed out from our sets to four different time zones all over the world.

This being the case, some sessions were a mix of pre-recorded segments interlaced with live regional emcees who were located in their respective regions.

The importance of being able to pivot last minute has become so prevalent given what the last two years have presented. We had done extensive pre-production and planning – including two site visits – for both of these events. Our entire gear complement, trucking/hotel logistics, crew needs, etc. all had to be adjusted with limited notice, given the timing of the decisions.

Job well done to our crew and those at Hart Wilcox for being flexible and still putting out a top-notch product from Las Vegas, even though it looked different than originally planned!