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Outside Looking In - a vendor perspective on event production for internal production teams

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In Spring 2023, I had the opportunity to present at the University of California Video Producers Conference. This annual event brings together video and production professionals from all over the University of California System to share resources, reconnect with colleagues, and inspire each other with new ideas. As a founding member of this group, I was asked to come back as a featured guest speaker and present to an audience of my former colleagues with an outside perspective on the work we share.

Tim Kerbavaz of Talon Audio Visual presents at the University of California Video Producer's Conference 2023, hosted at UC San Diego

Talon Audio Visual's Crucial Role at a San Francisco Healthcare Professionals Conference

In the heart of San Francisco, at the iconic Moscone Center, the stage was set for an international healthcare professionals conference. Behind the scenes, Talon Audio Visual was hard at work supporting our partners at Metro Media Productions ensuring one of their flagship projects was a resounding success.

We were tasked with managing digital signage, Zoom calls, breakout recordings, bonded cellular networks, and live streaming.

Digital Signage: Setting the Stage

To set the stage for the conference, our clients wanted to transform the Moscone Center into an immersive experience. Talon’s team managed digital signage, which included both venue and temporary monitors, LED walls, and BrightSign digital signage players across the venue. We curated content in multiple formats, resolutions, and aspect ratios, incorporating timed updates and live social wall content on the displays. To add an extra layer of dynamism, our team also crafted animated motion graphics content for the massive LED screens in the lobby and projection in the expo. The result was an electrifying atmosphere that captivated attendees and set the tone for the entire event.

Zoom Calls: Bridging Language Barriers

In today's globalized world, language should never be a barrier to understanding and collaboration. For this event, our team handled Zoom calls that provided real-time human language interpretation across multiple rooms. This service extended to the general session and an evening outdoor live performance, ensuring that every participant could engage and comprehend the proceedings. With the power of technology including Zoom, Talon’s hardware and support, the RSI Exchange interpretation app, and a global team of live interpreters from Tiller Language Services, we brought the world together under one roof.

Breakout Recordings and Quick Edits: Capturing Every Moment

In a world that moves at the speed of light, we know the importance of preserving valuable content. Talon Audio Visual took charge of recording and quickly editing breakout sessions. This meant that attendees who couldn't make it to a particular session didn't miss out. Our team's dedication to prompt delivery ensured that the conference's impact reverberated long after its conclusion. Using remotely managed recorders from Epiphan, the files were automatically uploaded to the cloud for our editor to start working on right away.

Bonded Cellular Network: Connectivity Beyond Boundaries

For an outdoor event, we had the unique challenge of setting up a bonded cellular network. This network was responsible for production networking, Zoom uplink for interpreters, and providing attendee Wi-Fi for 300 users of the interpretation app. We had to ensure that this network was robust, reliable, and could withstand heavy traffic.

With 12 cell modems across all three major carriers, six Wi-Fi access points, and a fiber truck between event areas, we created a network that could handle anything thrown at it. The evening before the event, the client informed us of an unexpected increase in the number of translation app users, almost six times the original estimate. We responded with extensive testing and traffic shaping, scaling up the network to accommodate the surge in demand. The result was a seamlessly connected outdoor event that went off without a hitch.

We also provided bonded cell backup networking for key sessions inside the Moscone Center ballrooms during the event.

Livestream Uplink: Sharing the Experience with the World

Finally, to share the conference with a global audience, we managed a livestream uplink via TVU bonded cell video link. This link connected to a master control room where livestream encoding, management, and recording took place. We also had a distributed remote engineering team monitoring the stream. With their expertise and vigilance, we ensured that the conference was accessible to those who couldn't attend in person.

Our Dedicated Team:

  • Tim Kerbavaz - Technical Producer: Tim Kerbavaz, a seasoned professional in the audio-visual industry, took the lead on this project. As the Technical Producer, Tim was responsible for overseeing pre-production, gear specification, and acted as the onsite manager and client contact. He also managed the streaming and networking scope for the event.

  • Ryan Behrmann - Zoom and Breakout Recording Lead: Ryan Behrmann assumed a critical role in managing Zoom calls and breakout recordings. She spearheaded a team of six local technicians and collaborated closely with the General Session and Breakout operators to ensure that Zoom calls were seamlessly connected and presented in a way that was both visually and auditorily appealing. Her expertise was instrumental in bridging the gap for international participants.

  • Jack McRoberts, Networking Lead: Jack McRoberts and his company Copano Media Group provided invaluable network support and additional network hardware to ensure that the increased network demands at the outdoor event ran without a hitch. Jack’s expertise in network management and dedication to ensuring a seamless online experience for attendees made a significant impact on the success of the event.

Our management of digital signage, Zoom calls, breakout recordings, bonded cellular networks, and livestream uplink was only a small part of a bigger production, and we know that the success of this event was a collective effort. Talon Audio Visual was proud to play a pivotal role in supporting Metro Media as they exceeded their client’s expectation.

In the world of live event production, we understand that no two events are alike. Each brings its own unique challenges and opportunities. Our experience at the Moscone Center underscores our commitment to pushing boundaries and delivering seamless, immersive experiences for our clients and their attendees.

As we reflect on the challenges and achievements of this event, we acknowledge the dedication of our team members. Tim Kerbavaz, Ryan Behrmann, Jack McRoberts, and our animator Ray Tarara, along with the rest of the Talon Audio Visual and Metro Media Productions teams, demonstrated unwavering commitment to the success of the production, contributing to the overall success of the conference.

As we look ahead to more events and adventure, we look forward to more opportunities to collaborate and deliver excellence in audio-visual support at future events. You can rest assured that Talon Audio Visual will be there, ready to tackle complex challenges and exceed expectations.

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Raising Funds and Ensuring Access - Captioning and Accessibility Consultation for Children's Miracle Network

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Tim is sitting in a dark backstage wearing a pair of headphones with blue earmuffs. In front of him are multiple laptop computers and screens powering the captioning system at the event.

When your mission is ensuring that 10 million children receive life saving hospital care each year, you have to sweat the small stuff. Details matter to Children’s Miracle Network, the nonprofit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals across the U.S. and Canada. Among those details are accessibility and equity, areas in the core focus of Talon Audio Visual’s Accessibility Consulting Services. In the Spring of 2023 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals hosted their 2023 Hospital Week event in Sunny Orlando Florida, and reached out to Talon Audio Visual’s Talon Access Service to help ensure that the event was accessible to all their attendees.

A dark gray background, with the words “getting some good feedback on our accessibility Production Work“ centered across the top of the image. Below are two screenshots of chat messages from a captioner. The first reads “can you be our tech for all o

Part Telethon, part healthcare industry conference, with a dash of esports, and a live performance from Andy Grammer, it was quite the event. Talon AV / Talon Access provided live human-generated CART captions in the General Session, including for the live musical performance, along with Automatic Speech Recognition Captioning Support in the breakout sessions, and an event-wide accessibility review post-conference for the client and their production teams.

We got great feedback from the Children’s Miracle Network Team, as well as from our partners on the event, one of whom was so blown away she asked us if we could “be [the accessibility] techs for all of our conferences and events? You’re the first I’ve seen that TOTALLY gets what we need to do our job the best we absolutely can.”

At Children’s Hospital Week 2023, Talon AV helped make the great work of Children’s Miracle Network hospitals accessible to all. The positive feedback we received is a testament to Talon AV's expertise in providing comprehensive accessibility solutions.

At Talon Audio Visual, we understand the importance of sweating the small stuff to create meaningful experiences. We invite you to reach out to us for more information about our Talon Access accessibility consulting services. Let us help you ensure that your events are accessible to all, leaving a lasting impact on your audience. Reach out to us today for more information and let's work together towards a more inclusive world.

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AV With Pride - Recap of Davis Pride 2022

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As June comes to a close, I know we all have a lot on our minds, but I wanted to take a moment to look back and celebrate as we wrap up Pride Month. I know many large cities just celebrated their Pride festivals this past weekend. Here's a look back to a couple of weeks ago when Talon Audio Visual helped celebrate pride in Davis, CA. As an LGBTQIA-owned live events business, Talon Audio Visual has been proud to be the production partner for Davis Pride since 2015, and I look forward to many more years of a successful and growing festival. Hope you enjoy this look back at Davis Pride 2022. This video is #captioned

Thanks to Jolie Media for the great sizzle reel.

Video Description: A colorful review of the Davis Pride festival, this video opens with footage of the AV team setting up speakers and equipment and then transitions to colorful footage of the performers and audience at the festival. The video ends with Tim, dressed in black, speaking directly to the camera.

Event Deep Dive - Google I/O 2021

By pulling back the curtain on event production, Tim & Tim Talk seeks to entertain and educate our audience as we explore new ideas, technologies, and techniques. Throughout this series, we share ideas to increase your ROI and engagement and improve audience experience for your events. As passionate event professionals, Tim Kay and Tim Kerbavaz are long-time friends and collaborators with over 5,000,000 viewer-hours of live event streams under their belts. Our work spans from Fortune 100 conferences, to higher education and product launches, with audiences up to 30,000+ attendees in person and 100,000+ online viewers.

In this 4-part series, with Tim Kay and Tim Kerbavaz, Take a peek behind a production curtain that few get to experience and even fewer share how it's done! In what may be the first of its kind, we will walk you through what it took planning and executing one of the highest profile Developer Conferences in a fully virtual event model.

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2021 - Year In Review

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Wow. What a year. 2021 was quite journey, and I'm so thankful for the production partners, freelancers, and vendors who worked tirelessly this year to get productions off the ground.

And I am especially thankful to the clients who came to my little corner of the production world and shared my vision of what virtual and hybrid events could be.

Giving Thanks with a Picnic: Project Recap - UC Davis Gratitude Gala & "Powering Up"​ Film

This last year, my clients at UC Davis came to me with a challenge - reimagine their 2021 Leadership Giving Society Donor Gratitude Gala as a COVID-Safe Event. They had plenty of ideas - a drive-in-movie and a dinner in the round were some ideas floated. The uncertainty of COVID restrictions, need to ensure attendee safety, and a strong desire to return to a fully-in-person event made for a unique set of circumstances, and led this project to a different kind of “hybrid” production.

With the need to keep the event outdoors to meet COVID safety requirements, the event was re-imagined as an outdoor sunset picnic. An army of production vendors transformed an athletic field into a “park” - cocktail tables for two were pre-set with a light picnic basket meal, an open-air bar served beverages, guests mingled amongst a showcase of exhibits showcasing highlights from across campus, and cabanas provided secluded spaces to share a moment with your “pod” while enjoying the live music from the stage. A short spoken program punctuated the joyous reunion with a message of gratitude from senior leadership.

Talon AV provided technical production for the event including audio reinforcement for the music and the spoken program, as well as all power distribution for the stage and exhibition area.

Event Design by Samie Novan, Lonnie Muntz, Korie Gannon, and Jesse De La Trinidad, with rentals from Celebrations and Designer8. Catering from Barn & Pantry, Floral and decor from Dixon Florist & Gift Shop.

Here is a brief Behind-The-Scenes recap of the event:

Keeping the event short was an important consideration, both for safety reasons and the weather - an event in late October provides an uncertain climate for an outdoor function. A key part of this event is showcasing for donors what areas of campus have been most impacted by philanthropy, so cutting the spoken program short meant that this messaging needed another avenue. Talon stepped up here to produce a short film showcasing the ways campus was “Powering Up” for the new in-person school year, in large part thanks to the support of philanthropy.

As a companion to the in-person event, the film served to supplement the shortened spoken programs by bringing the message of gratitude directly to the donors inboxes post event. The video also allows that message to live on past the event, and become an “evergreen” message of gratitude that can be shared beyond the exclusive invite list of the event.

I hope you enjoy “UC Davis: Powering Up”

Production Showcase: Virtual Donor Luncheon

Talon Entertainment Audio Visual has been whipping up virtual events like crazy, including a recent project that included a cooking show! Here's a recording from a virtual event we produced for University of California, Davis for a special group of key donors. This combined pre-produced video segments with a live Q&A via Zoom webinar.

This is a very cost-effective way to produce virtual events using tools clients already have at their disposal, but provide a little more 'TV Magic' to Spice it Up. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

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Podcasts about Accessibility

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I recently had the opportunity to speak on two different podcasts about a subject I’m very passionate about - Event Accessibility. The conversations are a bit different -

On the first, with Alana Mediavilla of FilmKik, I speak more generally about the role and importance of accessibility, and the ways video producers can ensure their content is accessible to all

On the second, Ben Powell of BetterCast and I get into the nitty gritty of different caption systems and how they work. Fair warning, this one is long and has a lot of tech detail.

Production Recap: UC Davis Alumni Awards

Here is a little peak #behindthescenes from a virtual awards show that Talon Entertainment Audio Visual produced for the University of California, Davis Cal Aggie Alumni Association. We built a studio in a ballroom at the Alumni Center and streamed the MC's live as they introduced remote award recipients.

This event was a lot of fun to produce.

Thanks to all the crew for their hard work to make this a great event.

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Look Both Ways Before You Step Out: Looking Back at Virtual 2020 as we head into Hybrid 2021

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Look Both Ways Before You Step Out: Looking Back at Virtual 2020 as we head into Hybrid 2021

The end of the first quarter of 2021 marks a full year of the events industry in a Covid world. I think this is a good time to look back at the year past, and to look forward to my view of what's next for our industry.
I am also excited to be in a ballroom again, but I don’t think we’re quite going to just jump back into where we left off when the industry froze in Q1 2020, and I don’t think we should want to.