The Rental Staging Roadshow agenda has been heating up for the event that will take place Wednesday, July 27th in New York City. And it just got better, as two visionaries of the staging industry– at the top of the industry– have just been added to the agenda. (Click here to Register)
Josh Weisberg, President of Worldstage, will present at the Rental & Staging Roadshow.
Josh Weisberg, who runs one of the top staging companies in the world, Worldstage, will give the Keynote address to open the Roadshow Wednesday morning, and share what works and does not work in managing a staging company at the top of the industry. And as an added bonus, one of the industry’s technology visionaries, Matt Ward, will delve deep in his afternoon session on experimental technology and pushing the limits of equipment.
- And there’s much more, new content and new sessions, at the Roadshow July 27th. See the full agenda below.
The Roadshow will take place at the Metropolitan Pavilion (123 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011)– same location in Manhattan where in summer 2015 a highly successful and well-attended Roadshow took place. One of the country’s leading staging companies– Worldstage will co-host the event with NewBay again this year– so you know the venue and the technology on hand will be great.
Rental & Staging Roadshow
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
This is the day’s agenda:
• 9:00 - 10:00am: Registration | Coffee | Exhibitor Showcase
• 10:00am: Introduction | David Keene, Executive Editor, NewBay Media
• 10:15 - 11:15am:
Managing Change in a Technology-Driven Industry– What I Learned, the Hard Way
Josh Weisberg, President, WorldStage
Josh Weisberg admits to being part of the audio, video and lighting technology business for nearly 40 years, much of that time as the President of Scharff Weisberg and now WorldStage. Starting in 1980 with a small company located in Times Square, WorldStage now has offices in multiple cities and over 150 employees supporting challenging projects all over the world. During his tenure Weisberg has learned what works and what doesn’t, when it comes to running a complex, high-technology business in the very dynamic event industry, and will be sharing the important things he’s learned, sometimes the hard way.
• 11:15 - 12:00pm:
Laser Phosphor vs. Conventional Projectors, for Stagers: the Myths and the Realities
We’ve all heard the TCO (total cost of ownership) arguments for using solid state video projectors, as compared with conventional lamped projectors. The “lamp-free” nature of the new generation laser phosphor projectors mean that there are no lamp replacement costs over the life of that projector. But that TCO math is more applicable to the installed AV world where a projector is on and being used more hours than a stager would use a projector. So does the TCO math make sense on the staging side? To answer that, you have to look at the other features of solid state projectors and when they do or do not make sense for the rental & staging user. In this panel, both stagers and projector manufacturers will share their insight, dispel some myths, and teach you some things about new generation projectors you did not know.
• 12:00 - 1:15pm: Networking Lunch & Exhibit Showcase Open
• 1:15 - 1:30pm: Manufacturer Training TBA
• 1:30 – 2:30pm:
Risk and Reward in the AV Staging World– Experimental Technologies Push the Staging Envelope
Matt Ward, Chief Technologist at WorldStage
A merry romp through a garden of disassembled LCD panels and incorrectly applied video processing. Matt Ward, the Chief
Technologist at WorldStage, will discuss some examples over the past couple decades where doing things differently yielded outsize results. Matt Ward founded Tekamaki (now part of WorldStage) and co-founded Element Labs, the first company to successfully establish itself at the intersection of lighting and video. Tekamaki focused on testing the limits of available technology and tackling complicated display problems. Element Labs products won awards at PLASA, Lightfair, and LDI. The company released a series of products that defined entirely new segments in the LED market including Versa TILE, Versa TUBE, Stealth, and Cobra. This session will dig deep into Ward’s personal approach to technology with examples of projects featuring custom hardware or atypical applications of off-the-shelf hardware.
• 2:30 - 3:45pm:
Special 10th Anniversary Roadshow RoundUp
A special panel of top staging company executives and top gear manufacturers reflect on 10 years of industry evolution, and look ahead to the next ten years. As we’re in the middle of another industry upswing and business is good– it’s even more important to plan now for the speed bumps ahead: Buying new gear for your inventory; company growing pains; and more.
• 3:45 - 5:30pm: Networking Reception & Exhibitor Showcase Open. This includes mixer with invited Meeting Planner industry guests
