A World of Opportunity was accessible to more than 3,100 meeting industry professionals under one roof in Toronto, ON. The 51st Professional Convention Management Association's (PCMA) Annual Meeting, which also happened to be the organization's first international meeting, took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) from January 7 to 10, 2007, and boasted esteemed keynote speakers, like Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, among other well-regarded professionals.

Freeman Chairman and CEO Don Freeman, Jr. was one of the honoured guests at the convention. He received the 2006 Distinguished Member Award, which recognizes overall industry achievements and contributions to PCMA. Freeman has been an active member of PCMA since 1964, and he was also winner of PCMA's 1995 President's Award.

AVW-TELAV, a Freeman Company, also played a significant role at this gathering. The Canadian and U.S. divisions of AVW-TELAV worked alongside to supply a full range of solutions, such as audio visual, set design, presentation management, and digital signage. Our team made a significant impression to a perceptive group of bona fide meeting specialists.

"The general sessions were something to be admired," said Darren Temple, Senior Vice President Sales, AVW-TELAV U.S. Division of the efforts provided jointly by the Toronto and the Dallas branches of AVW-TELAV. "I was extremely proud to be there representing AVW-TELAV. Everything was truly outstanding, down to the smallest details."

Twenty-four feet of high drape provided by Freeman hung evenly on either side of the stage complimenting the set. The stage included freestanding nylon spandex and aluminium tube structures to create a 3D effect.

Staying true to the theme of this year's event, 'A World of Opportunity', AVW-TELAV created what appeared to be a large revolving globe in the very centre of set. "The globe was a digital video file (AVI) that was projected onto a nine foot (9') diameter rear projection screen. The design of the globe and the set itself gave the globe a 3D look as it rotated," explained Andrew De La Cour, National Director of Technical Inventory, Canadian Division. To add to the originality of the set, AVW-TELAV's Set Shop provided a custom designed podium with the PCMA logo displayed at the front for the audience to see.

Presenters utilized presidential glass teleprompters which sat at the side of the podium during speeches and presentations and allowed presenters to read their scripts without appearing to read at all. Floor monitors on the stage displayed the presenters' speeches and other presentation materials.

Due to the large size of the audience, our primary focus was, of course, the audience's ability to view the stage and screens. The general sessions were held in a very large room, 170' x 280'. The difficulty in dealing with large rooms is that the stage and the screen are quite far from a great proportion of the viewers, so our goal was to engage everybody in the room, not just those front and center. The room was setup up width-wise to keep the distance from the stage to the back row to a minimum. To keep delegates engaged regardless from where they sat in the room, we used two very wide 15'x45' Peroni rear projection screens that flanked the large central stage. Essentially, this kept the entire room as close to and focused on the action as possible.

All screens and projectors were managed and controlled by a Barco Folsom Encore system that routed the various sources, applied the edge blending and controlled the various picture-in-picture elements.

"Our secondary focus was to highlight and demonstrate the latest technology, utilizing it in a realistic manner for the association meetings market," said De La Cour. Widescreen slides were created in PowerPoint and displayed via PC with a three output digital video card (Matrox QiD); animated widescreen backgrounds and effects were managed and displayed using the Dataton Watchout system; and standard PowerPoint slides were brought in as picture-in-picture inserts. All video and media playback ran off a three-channel Grass Valley Turbo hard-drive-based media playback machine. "This allowed instant access to any video clip stored in the machine," clarified De La Cour.

Lighting and audio components also shared the spotlight during the general sessions. A full mix of conventional, moving and LED lights lit the stage and set elements from both an artistic and technical perspective. "We used the Meyer M2D Line Array which had the ability to provide consistent sound coverage of the event while also providing the horse-power needed for the entertainment portion of the event," explained De La Cour. There were also 24 concurrent wireless microphone channels in the general session room.

During the opening reception at the MTCC, AVW-TELAV was also very proud to have produced a flawless blend on the largest screen, almost 200' long, ever built in Canada.

Logistics Management was a critical component to the success of this event. Despite the amazing results we achieved at this year's convention, by no means was it easy gliding the whole way through. Pre-show, the communication between numerous people and organizers that spanned the entire continent meant complying with different time zones to get everything organized. After tackling that challenge, there was still the matter of transporting all the equipment. "The co-ordination in getting five (5) plus tractor trailer loads of assorted equipment to the site on time was quite the task," said De La Cour, but we planned and delegated accordingly to avoid any chaos.

There were more than 80 innovative educational sessions revolving around topics such as business development, communication, event management, and more. For relaying agenda and schedule udpates we used our digital signage solution offering. The flat screens reflected real-time new information and kept the delegates updated.

The speaker ready room was also in full swing as many presenters made their way to submit or change their presentations. Using Presentation Management, we offered advanced submissions via a secured website for presenters who chose to complete the process beforehand.

"I can't begin to express my thanks again for all that you did to make our 2007 annual meeting successful," stated Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, Vice President, Meetings and Events, PCMA, in a letter of gratitude to AVW-TELAV. "You were all true partners in every sense of the word, working with me every step of the way to ensure a successful event. Thanks for your hard work, patience and flexibility."

It was our pleasure and privilege. PCMA is an industry leader when it comes to throwing spectacular events, and the numbers prove it. "Sixty-seven per cent of PCMA membership goes to the annual meeting each year," detailed Heidi Welker, Vice President Marketing, AVW-TELAV, North America. "This year there were also 700 new and first-time members, 175 volunteers, as well as 150 faculty members and students that took part in this grand affair."
Although this year's PCMA conference has just come to an end, AVW-TELAV is already revving up to outdo ourselves for the rest of the year. And with 'a world of opportunity' at our fingertips, the sky's the limit for 2007.