One of the most exciting special effects available to meeting and event planners is lasers. I have often stood in the back of a room and watched attendees get pumped up seeing laser beams reminiscent of "Star Wars" flash around the room in time to music. Such shows often feature laser graphics too, projecting corporate logos and crowd-rousing animations made of superbright lines of moving light.
Laser beams and graphics are an exciting divergence from the standard meeting diet of PowerPoint slides and TV-like videos. Lasers' unique characteristics really stand out in a meeting environment.
Fortunately, the complexity of using lasers has been reduced dramatically in recent years. When I first started out, we'd bring in scaffolding, 200-pound lasers with five-foot glass tubes, and water-cooled power supplies requiring hose runs and three-phase hookups. Now, with LED-like diode lasers, projectors are the size of a breadbox. They plug into normal power outlets (110 or 220 VAC), connect via USB or DMX to a controller, and interface with other lighting and sound equipment.
This new technology also offers new capabilities in graphics. For animated drawings, it is now routine to use standard graphics software such as Adobe Flash or Autodesk 3ds Max to create laser-projected graphics. This gives higher quality, lower cost, and faster turnaround. It is even possible to use laser text and graphics instead of or along with PowerPoint slides and laser-projected SMS messages.
Perhaps even more exciting, U.S. audiences can now experience the best reason to use lasers: audience-scanning laser beams. This puts the audience right in the middle of laser-projected cones and fans of light. It's like being in the middle of a fireworks show.
For meeting and event planners, this gives the audience a unique connection to your message. It is one thing to sit in the audience, watching a screen. It is quite different when the presentation literally reaches out and touches youyou can't help but feel part of the excitement.
Due to U.S. regulations, American audiences have seen laser beams only overhead or to the side. But new techniques and research have coalesced, and U.S. regulators approved systems for safely scanning audiences with the types of lasers used in light shows. These systems were first widely used in the U.S. on a 2007 concert tour featuring Pink Floyd music (naturally!) and have also been used at the Lighting Dimensions International 2007 and 2008 conventions, among other venues.
Audience scanning shows are so new to the meetings market that you should consider it for an extra-special event or client. It is a sure bet that this is something the client and audience have never experienced before.
As you search for providers, here are a few tips on safety and quality:
All U.S. laserists are required to submit their equipment and show setups to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, to receive a "variance." The laser company must perform your show either under that current FDA variance, or, if there are special elements, under a new or amended variance.
Some states, such as New York, Texas, and Arizona, have additional requirements. Check with the laser company to be sure they meet all state and local laser usage regulations as well.
Ask to see a demo video or other record of shows. Confirm that the company actually did those shows. (Unscrupulous operators may try to pass off other companies' work as their own.)
Ask if they are members of the only laser trade group, the International Laser Display Association. ILDA members tend to be larger, more professional firms committed to quality. ILDA requires its members to abide by a Code of Ethics.
Ask about awards won, including ILDA Awardsthey are a good sign of artistic quality.
ILDA has a "Complete Guide to Laser Shows for Event Producers" available at www.laserist.org. With or without the guide, you'll find it is easy and cost effective to add today's laser beams and graphics, for an extra-special event.
Patrick Murphy is the executive director of ILDA, which promotes the advancement of laser light shows and laser display technology.Originally published Jan. 1, 2009For more ideas, tips, and tools for better meetings and events,
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