

How to Create a Successful Tech Event - KenjiCrosland
http://blog.evenues.com/post/2011/10/The-Story-Behind-a-Successful-Tech-Event-Lean-Startup-Seattle.aspx

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showerst
This is sort of random, but my single biggest gripe with many of the tech
events that I've been to in DC is the lack of preparedness around the AV
setup.

Have two AV inputs, one for the live presenter, and one 'standby' that's just
hooked up to a monitor right next to the podium or something, and some kind of
easy way to switch them over. That way while Presenter 1 is going, Presenter
two can plug in / set resolution / restart a laptop 3 times, etc. If any
presenter is playing a video, make sure the sound works and reaches to the
back of the room.

I've been to two (otherwise great) 'A big batch of startups get two minutes
each to pitch' events in the past month where we've burned half an hour of
awkward DJ time in between the 'quickfire' presentations because presenters
were getting the projector to play nice, which would've been avoided easily if
they'd have done a dry-run the night before. I know these are tough and
usually using borrowed resources, but why risk ruining your event to save a
few hours of work in the week before the event?

~~~
kevin_morrill
The Health 2.0 event last week had this set up. They actually had two separate
podiums at opposite sides of the stage. It worked quite well and more than
once they were able to flip to a backup and recover gracefully.

