February 25, 2007

Sunday was a busy day. We had an event come up kind of last minute at the Centre on the Grove and even though Dale and Rob already had plans to be out of town for the weekend, we decided not to pass it up. We loaded the truck on Friday morning before Rob left for McCall so that everything would be ready. He drove home late Saturday night in very snowy conditions, but made it home safely by 11:00 P.M. At about 8:30 A.M. on Sunday morning, I dropped the kids off at church while Rob started unloading at the Centre. I met him down there before 9:00 and we started setting up.


The group wanted to have a sound check by 2:30 and we were making pretty good time. When the group showed up, they had the expected full drum kit, bass, and guitar PLUS 2 extra guitars, a keyboard and 11 vocalists!! They also needed video mixing and CD tracks for a children's number, a skit and as back up music for several PP presentations. I don't think people realize how long it takes to set up microphones for this many "inputs" on stage. Forutantely Rob is always over-prepared and we managed to get everyone and everything set-up just in time for the 4:45 pre-event video. We were still trying to tape down a few cables so the wait staff wouldn't trip during the 15 minute video that played as people were coming in but at the 5:00 event start time, we were ready to go. Considering we were flying by the seat of our pants getting in the next CD, or switching from CD to video clip as quickly as the video guy was putting it up, following the script for the youth skit changing the tracks at just the right moment, or setting up mics for the kids that we didn't know they needed, everything went fairly smoothly. The client was happy and we were even able to enjoy ourselves.


The skit was really good! It was done in the manner of the Blue Man Group and they did a great job with it. They even had gas powered scooters they were zooming around the room on.

The main speaker was very motivating and interesting. I'm sure our beautiful lights inspired him!

This is the group that led worship. They did a great job:

The event went by very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to take it all down.

This is only a small bundle of all the cables that needed coiled up and put away (where's Lori when I need her????????):

Kristin kept the kids all day after church and brought them to us just in time to help us tear down. Gloria enjoys helping when it's her idea. She had a great time using the hand truck and hauling anything she could get on it to the truck:

Gloria always looks at these events like a great adventure. Here she is taking a break from the handtruck to play under the stage:

This shot is of Gloria pulling light gels and me coiling cables:

The aftermath:

Zach is really becoming a great help on these events. Chances are good he won't ever have to work at a fast food restaurant!!

It took 8 hours to set it up but only 3 hours to take it all down. We were all tired and hungry by the time the truck was all loaded so we went to Sharis for a bite to eat. As far as shows go, this one was pretty good!