“I Love Tech Flow” Event Production Tool to Make Planning Your Meeting Easier

Meeting production is getting bigger and more complicated. PowerPoint presentations have accompanying videos, live internet feeds many times with special music and lighting and all of this varies from speaker to speaker. And this doesn’t even take into account the transitions in between each speaker which should be intuitive and look seamless to the meeting attendees. Typically, with minimal rehearsal time that’s a lot to manage and making things look perfect and seamless requires a lot of work behind the scenes.

Excel in Excel

Over the years I have created a tech flow document to help in this effort. For me, I use something as simple as an excel spreadsheet to outline the scheduled times when each presentation starts, when videos need to be cued, etc. I can keep track of each discipline of audio (microphones, i-Pod music), screen visuals (video, PowerPoint, internet or I-mag) lighting (stage wash and set looks) and teleprompter for every moment during the production.

Having a tech flow document to work with has been incredibly valuable in many ways. Initially, I review the meeting in my head several times during the weeks preceding the event. This process gives me a good idea of how the information is flowing and if there is enough time to get everything presented. It allows me to put myself in the audience’s shoes, or in this case put myself in their head. By going through everything from the moment the doors open to when the last attendee leaves the ballroom absolutely nothing is left to chance. And it’s also a fabulous tool for our clients as a way for them to be able to envision exactly how their event will flow and what they can expect.

Recently a client received our tech flow for an upcoming meeting in Miami and her email back to me said, “I love tech flow! It makes the monstrosity we’re about to embark on so much more manageable!”