Transforming a Conference Room into a Broadcast Studio

Skillman Video Group (SVG) was tasked with broadcasting a live event from the L.E.K. Consulting offices in downtown Boston.

This project demanded meticulous planning, hard work, and patience. There was no room for error, and every potential issue had to be anticipated and prepared for.

On March 21, the day before the broadcast, our team spent the day evaluating the setting and transforming their conference room into a television studio.

Collaborating with L.E.K. Consulting

L.E.K. Consulting is an international company with offices worldwide. They have repeatedly utilized our services, returning to us whenever the need arose. This time, their plan was to webcast a meeting of their managing directors live over the internet.

Due to the global distribution of their directors, many could not attend the meeting in person in downtown Boston. However, with current webcasting technology, they were able to participate remotely.

Choosing the Right Webcasting Platform

Working together, L.E.K. and the webcasting engineers at SVG decided on BlueJeans, a webcasting platform developed by Cisco Systems, to carry the meeting.

This platform was compatible with L.E.K.’s existing technology and offered high-security systems. It took significant planning to ensure our equipment was compatible with L.E.K.’s codec and the BlueJeans platform.

Preparing the Venue

The day before the live event broadcast, our team gathered at L.E.K.’s downtown Boston offices to prepare for the shoot.

The conference room had three rows of seats forming a half-circle that could accommodate about 75 people. The president of the company was to lead the meeting from the front of the room.

Setting Up Cameras and Lighting

For the webcast, we used three cameras. Two were positioned on either side of the speaker, and a third was placed at the back of the room.

To ensure proper lighting, we set up three open-faced fixtures behind each camera, adding color gels and diffusion to each light. This setup ensured that the subjects were webcast in the best possible light.

Coordinating Multiple Rooms

Besides the meeting room, two other rooms were utilized during the live event broadcast. One served as our control room, where the director would run the show, and the other was the A/V room inside the L.E.K. office, where all video and audio were managed.

The A/V room and the control room were not close to each other, necessitating the running of extensive cabling. We ran cables from the A/V room to the control room and from the control room into the meeting room, connecting to our cameras and communication boxes.

Ensuring Seamless Audio

The speaker wore a lavalier mic, and all seats in the room were equipped with their own microphones.

Whenever someone in the audience wanted to speak, they simply pressed a button next to their mic, making their voice audible to the whole room and the entire webcast. This setup required careful attention to ensure all audio signals were clear and reliable.

Running Tests and Final Preparations

After everything was taped down and correctly hooked up, we conducted a comprehensive test to ensure everything worked smoothly.

This setup day was crucial to test the strength of the video and audio signals from L.E.K.’s Boston offices to other sites worldwide. With a live event of such importance, there was absolutely no room for error.

Achieving a Flawless Broadcast

On the day of the event, all the meticulous planning and preparations paid off.

The broadcast went off without a hitch, thanks to the detailed work done by the SVG team and the collaborative efforts with L.E.K. Consulting.

This project demonstrated the importance of thorough planning, technical expertise, and the ability to adapt to any situation to deliver a successful live event broadcast.

Seamless Broadcasting: Inside Skillman Video Group’s Live Event Production for L.E.K. Consulting