Event Tech Education to Take Center Stage at The 2018 NAMM Show

As the global crossroads of the music products, pro sound and event technology industries, The 2018 NAMM Show will offer a wealth of opportunities for professionals involved in event technology to enhance their careers and make meaningful connections. The robust schedule of professional education will be held each day of The 2018 NAMM Show, January 25-28 in the NAMM Education Campus located inside the Anaheim Hilton Hotel.

Under the guidance of ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association); Timeless Communications (Front of House; Projection Lights & Staging News; Stage Directions magazine and the Parnelli Awards); and Lighting & Sound America, emerging and established professionals will learn from industry luminaries in an engaging, hands-on environment in a series of sessions and tracks.

The Pro Production Sessions presented by Front of House; and Projection Lights & Staging News:

Hot topics to be presented by Timeless Communications’ magazines, featuring esteemed speakers, range from video and video production, to dialing in the right sound in difficult venues. Other topics include top production designers sharing their creative process and implementation and tour managers imparting advice on logistics, packing and managing major stadium tours. Some of the session highlights include:

Lighting Designer Roundtable: Today’s top lighting designers will weigh in on their recent projects, explain the highs and lows of the gigs and discuss the presentation techniques utilized.

Media Servers Ever-Expanding Role in Production: Hear from top video programmers as they speak to their role in collaborating with the video director and/or production designer. Panelists will discuss the consideration of choosing the media server, building the video system and the capabilities and expansive abilities media servers bring to the table.

The FOH View: Getting an Intimate Sound in an Arena: Hear tips and tricks from the pros on what it takes to get an intimate sound to connect with your audience—in less-than-desirable conditions.

Bringing It All Together: Top production designers talk about how their work interprets and creates an environment that underscores and enhances the artists’ work and the audience’s experience.

ESTA-Curated Educational Tracks:

Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in four different tracks of progressive education curated by ESTA. The tracks are designed to provide in-depth knowledge to event technology and design professionals, as well as those responsible for their safety. Topics include:

Lighting: With lighting technology in a constant state of change, it is incumbent upon lighting technicians, designers and producers to be aware of these developments. Advancing technology in LEDs, media servers and automated lighting provide new opportunities for creative and technical professionals that will impact production in terms of artistry, power distribution, efficiency and safety. The Lighting Track will provide an opportunity to develop essential skills and knowledge for the entertainment lighting world.

Lighting Networking: Most of the time, your moving light connects seamlessly to your lighting console and the show goes on. But there’s a complex infrastructure working behind the scenes to support that plug-and-play experience. The Lighting Networking Track will share valuable knowledge on DMX512 and Ethernet networking, wireless network management, and how various lighting protocols (sACN, RDM, DMX512) navigate these networks.

Rigging: The Rigging track will offer three days of training on design and fabrication criteria, safe installation and use practices, as well as inspection and maintenance regimens to help practitioners produce successful effects in today’s complex live entertainment environment. These sessions will be useful to all who have a vested interest in promoting safety awareness in the workplace.

Safety: The series of sessions on Safety in the entertainment industries is designed to raise the awareness of the hazards surrounding this work and current measures that are being taken to address those hazards. It will cover best practices, the laws surrounding workplace safety as they apply to entertainment and standards written specifically to the industry. There will be sessions for every level of responsibility, from crew member to promoter to producer.

All education will take place at the NAMM Education Campus at the Hilton Anaheim, located next door to the Anaheim Convention Center. Covering the first four floors of meeting and conference rooms, the new Hilton Anaheim education campus will offer attendees the chance to network with their peers across different disciplines and a multitude of educational opportunities to enhance careers and grow their businesses.

Speakers, dates, times and room locations will be announced in the months to come. In the interim, learn more about The 2018 NAMM Show by visiting www.namm.org