Richter Scale Productions and Fusion Productions Create Dynamic MPI Event

The second largest gathering in the history of Meeting Professionals International (“MPI”) took place in Denver, CO the last week of July 2004.  Nearly 3,200 meeting planners from all over the world attended this three day World Education Congress that was hosted by the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

With such a sophisticated, global group of meeting planners in attendance, MPI officials were tasked with the goal of delivering a show that would exceed the expectations of even the most seasoned of planners. To help accomplish that goal, MPI and Fusion Productions brought in Richter Scale Productions. And in the words of the President/CEO of MPI, Colin Rorrie, the results were fantastic. “The accolades continue to come in praising MPI for executing what many attendees felt was our best World Education Conference,” said Rorrie. “The opening General Session sets the tone for the remainder of the meeting and the production team scored 110 percent.”

Many, many hours of design consultation and collaboration went into the planning of this elaborate, state of the art production that was staged at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. It is not easy to transform a stark, concrete convention hall into an intimate, elegant environment, but that is exactly what Fusion and Richter Scale accomplished for the Opening General Session, sponsor Luncheon and Closing Night Gala. 

The list of equipment for sound, lights and video is staggeringly impressive, even for the technically savvy. Richter Scale Productions provided the sound and lighting equipment, J&S Audio Visual provided the video support, drawing from both their Dallas and local Denver offices, and CWP provided the media server.

The set design was created to transform easily from a formal opening session in the grandest, Academy Award style decor, to a wild South Beach Miami fashion show, to a glam dance party for the closing night festivities. The entire hall was carpeted and draped from ceiling to floor to minimize the hollowness of the convention locality. Implementation of the event design required over 900´ of truss, a Canvas Master system for seamless wide screen effects and a media server system to paint the set with live video and dynamic effects.

Lighting designers Chad McClymonds from Richter Scale Productions and freelancer Joe Denham collaborated on the original lighting goal with Jim Tausch, the Creative Director of Fusion and David Moore, Fusions’ Production Manager. At the eleventh hour, the creative team was faced with a complete lighting redesign. McClymonds delivered the final design, with Denham operating the board for the Opening Session and Gala Finale. 

Although the creative team faced substantial challenges of accomplishing the goals of the client while overcoming the limitations of the venue, the results are visually spectacular and speak for themselves. The team opted to use two state-of-the-art Martin Maxxyz lighting consoles, because they offered multiple universes, integrated 3D visualizers, DVD/CD/CD-R drives, and digital LCD buttons allowing fast and direct programming. One of the Maxxyz consoles was dedicated to the media server control and the other controlled the intensive cue list and stunning lighting looks created by the Martin fixtures. 

The MAC 2000 Performances were selected because of their punch, shuttering capabilities and animation wheels. The team used 24 MAC 550s to complement the MAC 2000s because they are fast, have a great color temp, and are light enough to work with the weight restrictions presented by the venue.

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Richter Scale Productions is a premier source for state-of-the-art live productions, offering everything from the development of creative concepts to the seamless execution of comprehensive production services.

Fusion Productions is a full-service production company that creates customized member experiences whether on stage or on a desktop through the integration of meetings, learning and technology.  

Established in 1972, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the leading global community committed to shaping and defining the future of the meetings and event industry.