When Model N decided to bring their Rainmaker Conference back in person for the first time since 2019, they wanted to make a splash. And that's where we come in! We were tasked to handle all things production for the main stage in Nashville, Tennessee for Model N Rainmaker23.
Although the event took place in June, our planning for the event kicked off in January. We worked through every detail of the event’s run of show. From the presentations to the introductions of each speaker, every second of the show was accounted for in the months leading up to the event.
Part of the pre-production process included creating assets for the show. We put together introductions that would be played as each speaker came to the stage. These included a graphic of the speaker’s name and title as well as a voiceover introducing them to the stage. We created these ahead of time to ensure that the pronunciation of each speaker’s name was correct rather than doing it live. In addition, we also created video introductions for the award sessions and keynote presentations. These not only helped introduce the next speaker or session, but also were meant to hype up the audience!
Another big part of our pre-production process was planning for the physical set up of the room itself.
Our team was in charge of getting the main ballroom ready. The room was over 100 feet long, so we had a lot of room to work with! We partnered with The Castle Group to come up with a plan that would blow all 600 attendees away!
With the help of a few different companies, we set up a massive 32×16′ stage and brought in a 50 foot scenic backdrop with a printed Rainmaker23 logo front and center. Next to the stage, we had two 20 foot projection screens for IMAG, video playback, and presentations. In front of the stage, we set up 4 confidence monitors for speakers to use as a reference throughout their presentations or sessions. For some finishing touches, we dressed the stage with white leather chairs and a branded lectern to fill out the stage.
For the production of the show itself, we handled audio, lighting, stage management, recording, video playback, captions and more. Orange Thread Live served as our local team to tackle all the AV engineering and tech needs.
We had 3 separate stations to accomplish all of these things effectively.
At the front of house, we had a station set up for audio, lighting, and producers. The event producer was calling the whole show; communicating with the rest of the team throughout the event what was happening. We also had another producer sitting at this station to help with various things as the show went on, essentially play centerfield!
The lighting and audio directors also sat up at our front of house table. That way, they could monitor and adjust in real time how the lighting on stage looks and how the audio in the room sounds. In the back of the room, we also had 2 cameras to capture what was happening on stage.
Tucked behind the stage was “video world”, or back of house. This is where we had all of our equipment set up to handle everything related to the video aspect of the event. Our team had two switchers set up backstage to switch the video for the screens in the room & for the recording. This is also where we cued video playback of the speaker intros. Each session had a video intro that we created in advance of the event. We also managed speaker presentations from here. Speakers would come to us pre-show to make sure their presentation looked correct. During the show, we made sure that the screens in the room and the confidence monitors showed the correct slides. We also made sure that the speakers could see their “comfort”, or notes, slide on the confidence monitors in front of them. Lastly, we were also set up backstage to fire and monitor the live captions.
It was helpful to have this set up behind the stage so that everyone in “video world” could communicate with each other without disturbing the audience and those on stage!
Our team also handled stage management. We set up a green room space that functioned as a home base for our speakers and presenters.
This is where our stage manager would greet speakers and prepare them to go on stage. Our audio operator also sat here to mic up each presenter. While speakers were waiting for their turn to go on stage, they were able to sit and watch what was happening on a monitor that we had set up. When it was time, our stage manager would cue the speaker and send them to the stage.
Want to know how we can help you produce your next event? Let’s chat!