Encore (PSAV)

June 5, 2017 - November 17, 2019

Encore (called PSAV during my period of employment) was the perfect introduction to how to execute live meetings. Encore goes into hotels and convention centers and wins the contract to do all the audiovisual work for that space. If a client wants to hire an outside AV company, they are free to do so, but they have to pay a fee. Companies from all over the world decide to hold trainings and conferences in the beautiful hotel spaces Encore serves. This reduces the need to have an office space with AV capabilities (and AV technicians), which can be a big investment for most businesses. You will see in the Ropes & Gray section, that Ropes has the infrastructure to provide catering, AV, and facilities (tables and chairs) in all of their offices, but not all companies are up to this scale and they need to be able to rent space for this purpose. 

​

Given that the AV gear was not permanently installed in most conference rooms, AV technicians have to physically "set and strike" all gear for each meeting. Sometimes it would be as simple as a projector and a screen with an HDMI cable for the client's laptop but where Encore really excels is the large events held in ballrooms. These events are usually run by a project manager and a team of about 30 technicians. This capability is somewhat unique and many companies would rent multiple ballroom spaces in order to hold large training sessions for hundreds of employees. Trade shows, weddings, family reunions, Encore does it all and then does it all again the next week. 

​

The diagram on this page is a medium sized space with audio and video. Two speakers, three wireless microphones, a screen and projector, and the laptop at the tech table. Notice that I did not use one long HDMI, but rather CAT 6. For more on this technology, see video signal flow under the Troubleshooting section, under Timeline of Meetings.