{"id":3909,"date":"2017-02-17T20:28:18","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T20:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theswitch.us\/blog\/?p=3909"},"modified":"2017-10-10T21:35:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T21:35:54","slug":"we-dont-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/switch.us\/blog\/we-dont-stop\/","title":{"rendered":"We Don\u2019t Stop"},"content":{"rendered":"
While most people enjoyed time off during the New Year, we were running our own type of marathon, racing from plane to plane for event productions across the country.<\/address>\n

<\/p>\n

Focus. Dedication. Determination.<\/p>\n

These are words that may come to mind when you think about marathon runners. Maybe other words stand out more, maybe ones like \u2018adaptability,\u2019 \u2018persistence,\u2019 or \u2018endurance.\u2019<\/p>\n

While most of us at Switch don\u2019t actually run 26.2 miles at once, these words are all too familiar to us as we live these principles day in and day out. Like runners, we don\u2019t have a lot of time to stop and take a break. In fact \u2013 we just don\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

This year \u2013 as we do every year \u2013 we immediately hopped on a plane after Christmas to head to New York City and prepare for the world-renowned New Year\u2019s Eve celebration in Times Square. We returned in early January just to head out again, this time to Jefferson City, Missouri, to produce events for the inauguration of the state\u2019s new governor.<\/p>\n

While we may work through the holiday and come home just to head out again, we wouldn\u2019t want it any other way. We pride ourselves on the hard work and dedication it takes to create such stunning events.<\/p>\n

\"newThe New Year\u2019s Eve celebration in Times Square, for example, is the Olympic Gold Medal of what we\u2019d call a \u201cstunning event.\u201d We\u2019ve been a part of this celebration for about a decade, each year creating new content to display on the Budweiser LED board. This board is prominently placed on the building where the ball drops at 1 Times Square, and it\u2019s seen by millions of people worldwide.<\/p>\n

As you may expect, preparations for New Years Eve begin in October, when we start to create videos for the LED board. Once the videos are finalized and we head up to New York City after Christmas, we spend three to four full days programming and testing the content. Then, on New Year\u2019s Eve, our \u201cshow\u201d lasts all day long, starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 1:00 a.m. on New Year\u2019s Day. Our show entails all-day programming, culminating with New York\u2019s countdown \u2013 which links to a GPS satellite and resyncs every single second to ensure our countdown is 100 percent accurate.<\/p>\n

Of course there are always obstacles we face for this event, including security, the sheer volume of people in the area and the press. But it\u2019s truly an honor for us to take part in this every year. Switch\u2019s manager of equipment rental, Ann Slayton, says it best: \u201cAs a kid I remember watching the ball drop so it\u2019s a really cool experience to be out there and be a part of it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the midst of New Year\u2019s Eve preparations, we received a call to produce events for the inauguration of Missouri\u2019s new governor, Eric Greitens. The inauguration would be held on Jan. 9 and entail three different events: Honor our Missouri Heroes, the Inauguration Ceremony, and the Grand March\/Salute to Service Inaugural Ball.<\/p>\n

With less than a month to prepare, we did virtually everything to mark this historic day, save for hanging the flags, firing the artillery and flying the B-2 stealth bomber. We wrote scripts for the ceremonies, lit the Missouri State Capitol Building inside and out, placed LED screens indoors and outdoors, I-MAG\u2019d and recorded events, brought in power, designed and built the stages, provided audio for 5,000 people (indoors and out), called the cues, arranged for audio and video feeds to all the press, provided a satellite hook-up for the press and even found Bibles. You name it, we did it.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4370_Zsm\"<\/p>\n

But we didn\u2019t just show up out of nowhere and put on this extraordinary show. This took weeks of planning, including ideation, budgeting and sharing our ideas with the Capitol staff, National Guard, Missouri State Police, the Missouri Highway Patrol, the press, and Greitens\u2019 team. Once the plan was approved, logistically we had to figure out a number of things, including labor, generators, lifts, freight, equipment, schedules, hotels, seating, LED screen placement and more.<\/p>\n

Oh, and one more thing. The day we arrived in Jefferson City to begin setting up, the temperature was -2 degrees. The day we loaded up to leave, we were faced with 50mph sustained wind gusts. The weather was not on our side and the winds could have severely damaged our equipment. Thankfully they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4369_Zsm\"<\/p>\n

Even facing the cold temperatures and wind gusts, we were able to pull off the shows without a hitch. In total there were roughly 4,000 people in attendance, in addition to those exposed through Facebook Live, television, traditional media and social media. The public took a particular interest in seeing the way we lit up the Missouri State Capitol Building. Posts were shared across social media and people were pulling off the side of the road to take pictures.<\/p>\n

Although we are incredibly busy at the beginning of the year and can be seen working on event production at any given time of day, there\u2019s one aspect that always shines through. It\u2019s us. We are truly lucky to have such great, talented people on our team here at Switch. Not only are these folks talented, but they are also genuinely nice with a wealth of experience under their belts. When things get tough, we know how to improvise and stay focused on the task at hand. Because when that ball finally drops \u2013 or when we hear the roar of applause at the Governor\u2019s inauguration \u2013 the marathon we just ran is worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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