IGRA Annual Convention Technical Requirements

Purpose This document is intended as a guide to the convention committee to use for research, planning and budgeting in selecting a hotel. It can also be used as a technical reference to any hotel which the committee is considering bids from. Where possible, items are listed with some flexibility in mind. If the committee or hotel has any questions concerning these requirements, have them call Frank Harrell to discuss specific details at (202) 957-6187.

Supplied By Hotel and/or AV Rental Company

Setup

See example photos further down this page.

Large room to seat 100 to 150 people (depending on current expected size of convention) with no windows or glass doors.
Classroom style convention seating and tables. (check with IGRA secretary for number of tables and chairs needed for current year)
Risers at front of room with enough skirted tables sufficient to seat at least 6 people, plus an additional 4 feet of platform space on each end to hold tripod mounted video cameras and operators. This addition does not need to be directly attached to main platform but should have a good view of convention floor.
Speakers' podium located in center of above listed risers
Full size tables of about 16 foot total length located at front and to one side of room for audio and web-cast/AV presentation equipment (our current system requires a cable run of less than 90 feet from the AV tables to the podium for special camera equipment)
Two small tables or carts, with power, to hold projectors (take note of placement distances table below)

Technical Requirements

Two, 10 to 12 foot projection screens.
Amplifier and at least two speakers to ensure good, audible voice quality for speakers and delegates. Hotel in-house sound system may suffice depending on quality and available connections. (Audio mixer, microphones and cables will be supplied by Frank Harrell)
One power strip at each delegate table for laptop computers.
One "WIRED" broadband internet connection with no log-in requirements, located near where the AV and sound equipment are setup. This connection must have an absolute minimum of 30,000 Kbps (30 megs) upload speed (60 megs or more would be preferred). This connection is used for webcasting and the entire convention floor will be using this single Internet connection so the higher the speed the better. This is in addition to any normal bandwidth hotel guests may be using.

Supplied by IGRA Convention Committee

Red items will be supplied by Frank Harrell.

Floor Personnel

Numbers in (parens) indicates the minimum number of people needed at any given time.

Floor Secretary: (1) This person is responsible for receiving reports, presentations, bylaws and rodeo rules proposals, converting and saving them to the server. Must have a computer with Microsoft Word and a hard wired network connection. This job is not difficult, only requiring about 5 minutes of instruction.
Projection Manager (1) This person is responsible for running the computer that is used to project current topics or documents on to the projection screens.
Microphone Runners: (2+) Runs wireless microphones to individual delegate tables as members are recognized to speak (Royalty is a good group to pull from)
Live Editor: (1) Responsible for live editing proposals as they are adjusted by the floor during convention session. A computer with Microsoft Word is required. (Usually done by Benjamin Avant. If Benjamin is not available, anyone fluent in Microsoft Word can fill the position.)
Audio Engineer: (1) Responsible for running the audio mixer which feeds the sound system in the convention hall.

Webcast Camera Operator: (1 or 2 if available) Run tripod mounted video cameras to get zoomed in closeups of currently speaking delegates to be included with YouTube stream.
Webcast Director: (1) Operates computer used to stream YouTube coverage of the convention. (Frank Harrell can manage this if no one else is available, but an experienced person would allow for better coverage).

Audio:

Two to four reliable good quality wireless microphones (plus a backup) for delegate speaking.
Two wired microphones for officers on platform dais.
One wired microphone on an adjustable or flexible gooseneck style stand for speaker's podium.
Sound board with enough channels to run all equipment, including a balanced (or unbalanced) audio OUTPUT to AV person for webcasting and one high level stereo input to sound board from Power Point computer for presentation audio.

Video:

Two LCD or DLP projectors, absolute minimum resolution of 720x1280 (or higher) with 3,100 to 5,000 lumens.
Three flat screen video monitors, for dais and speaker's podium.
VGA video distribution amplifier and cables suitable for supplying video from a computer located near sound board to the above equipment.

Other Items:

Three power strips for laptop computers, monitors and other equipment at platform.
Computer to source the projection system.
Wireless private Internet network for convention floor and office computer.
All equipment needed for webcast.
Server for common holding of convention files.

If projectors are supplied by Frank Harrell, use the following distances from screen to position projector tables.