From Napkin to Stage: The LSAV Process
The LSAV difference is our ability to deliver incredible experiences within challenging constraints and timelines: it’s why we have such long-standing partnerships with high-profile clients and are trusted with their key events.
One recent success, the United Emirates partnership announcement, serves as a perfect case study of our process in practice. United approached us with plans for a major announcement: their route-sharing agreement with Emirates. The catch? The announcement needed to happen in just under a month, and it needed to highlight their new partnership in a high-profile, stunning way.
United came to us with an idea: a set consisting of two airplanes, a large stage, and three video screens, all set against the natural sky, creating an immersive experience for those attending. We took this basic sketch (literally on a napkin) and went to work. This event involved every one of our LSAV teams: production and meeting planning, registration management, creative design and media development, event logistics, AV technology, and onsite execution.
In addition to a tight timeline, the event was set in a very logistically challenging place: a working aircraft hangar, with advance permissions and TSA security clearance required for all staff and equipment. We needed to provide everything for a comfortable event experience: registration, seating, bathrooms, internet access, power sources, you name it. Plus, we needed transportation and wayfinding from attendee parking into the secure hangar area.
The tight timeline extended to onsite work: our team had only a day and a half to load in, and mere hours to break down: planes had to get back to their schedules, as they were flying to NYC and Dubai that day, and the hangar needed to return to regular service.
So, how did we approach this challenge? Our creative team storyboarded every beat of the 22-minute event to ensure it met both clients’ needs and expectations. From attendee arrival to departure, to each onstage and on-screen moment, we created a run of show document with all the details needed for success. This included planning for heavy media coverage, with space for press to film and receive audio, and post-announcement interview areas with tech support.
In the end, it was a picture-perfect day (no retouching needed on these photos!), with two satisfied clients and overwhelmingly positive media response.