Our Approach to Managing Breakout Rooms

Large meetings and conferences involve many moving parts.  There’s F&B, transportation, vendor management, presenter support—the list goes on.  While an extraordinary amount of thought and energy goes into the stage design, décor, lighting, and audiovisual components of large plenary sessions, often the breakout rooms are given less consideration.  But in fact, some of the most relevant and valuable content at a conference is delivered through the breakout sessions, so making sure they go smoothly is vitally important.

At AVS we understand this.  Our years of experience supporting conference organizers and presenters at breakout sessions tells us that the information delivered at the breakouts is equally as important to the presenter and the audience, as it is to the keynote presenter in the main tent.

We strive to deliver quality and consistency in each and every breakout room. We have developed equipment packages in truck-pack, tour rugged road cases that include everything required.

For audio support, we deploy QSC Touchmix series digital mixers, which include EQ, time alignment, and compression built in. We carry Shure Wireless microphones and use the Shure Wireless Workbench software for frequency management. Each room includes a PC DI box for computer audio inputs and a wireless cue advance device with integrated laser pointers.   

For visuals, our clients can select between our complete line of LED flat screen displays ranging from 40 to 90 inches or for larger rooms, we are now spec’ing our inventory of Christie DHD630-GS 5K Digital laser projectors.  These laser projectors have the advantage of providing a very bright, crisp, HD picture with an incredibly high contrast ratio, making the content look amazing.  They’re also whisper quiet, which is important in smaller rooms.

The breakout experience can have a huge impact on the attendee experience and an even bigger impact on the presenter experience.  To manage specific breakout requirements, we have an electronic form that can be completed by the presenters, so they fill in exactly what they need.

These days there are numerous types of proprietary connections and adapters to connect laptops and projection devices.  Presenters don’t always travel with the adapters they need, nor do they necessarily have the knowledge to connect their device to a projector.  Our breakout room packages include all the technology to provide seamless support and our competent technicians ensure the breakouts run smoothly.  We staff breakout rooms to ensure presenters always have the support they need. And because our breakout packages include digital mixers, our roaming audio tech can visit each room and adjust audio levels directly from their iPad tablet interface.  

Event planners shouldn’t have to be chasing down the in-house AV tech who is on another floor setting up equipment for another client.  The right equipment along with dedicated resources will prevent the 15 minutes of panic that is all too common every time a breakout session starts.