The New Resch Expo is the Ultimate Event Space
Published July 15, 2021
Project Overview
The Resch Expo has officially completed construction, replacing the former Shopko Hall in Green Bay, WI. The state-of-the-art facility recently hosted its first events on the massive show floor, marking the start of a new era for live events in Northeastern Wisconsin.
The project architect was Kahler-Slater and the AV design consultant was Henderson Engineering. Miron Construction lead the project and Faith Technologies handled all of the electrical scope of work, both under the direction of PMI Entertainment Group and city and county officials. The exclusive AV integrator for the project was Arrow AV Group.
Challenges
You’re Just Letting Them Walk By?
With Lambeau Field across the street, the Expo Center would see thousands of outdoor visitors. From foot traffic during Packer home games to daily commuters driving down Lombardi Avenue, stakeholders wanted every opportunity to strategically capture the attention of passersby.
Can We Do That?
The show floor needed to be extremely flexible for potential exhibitors and internal teams alike. From boat shows to small corporate trainings, management wanted to be ready for any possibility.
So. Many. Endpoints…
With over 300 speakers and 450 av-over-ip endpoints, operating staff needed a way to easily control and manage everything while working from their onsite or home offices. If something goes down, staff needed immediate notifications and remote intervention to keep everything operational.
What’d You Say?
1 in every 5 people have some degree of hearing loss. It gets even worse as we age. Stakeholders not only wanted to meet ADA standards but exceed them, making sure every guest can have an enjoyable experience.
What Are My Options?
Serving a multitude of potential attendees, the upper conference hall can deploy dividing walls for breakout sessions and meetings. Each divisible room needed its own presentation system while being able to combine with other rooms to accommodate larger groups. With such large windows, manual blinds would be inefficient for the space. Everything in the space needed to be simple to use while still offering complex operation.
Does My Laptop Work?
With the rise of BYOD and the fall of ports on devices, wireless connectivity for guest laptops and tablets was essential. But with each wireless node being a potential security threat, high-end encryption was key for this install.
Could You Turn Up the Music?
Music is the backbone of any good party. The main lobby will be used as a flexible gathering space for many types of events, from networking to celebrations. With an open design, both the upper and lower levels needed high fidelity background music for the best possible guest experience.
How Can We Honor Our Veterans?
In the main lobby is a wall honoring the local veterans that have served our country. Stakeholders wanted a mixed medium for guests to be able to interact with the history, immersing them into the stories and history of those that served without disturbing other guests.
Solutions
Capturing Attention with Outdoor Direct View LED
Outside the building, two PrimeView direct view LED walls were installed to catch the eyes of passing crowds. One banner style 720 sq. ft. wall faces Lombardi Avenue to advertise events to the throws of traffics. Directly in front of the glass wall facing Lambeau, this wall is a 16mm mesh pixel configuration which allows sunlight through to the show floor without compromising image quality.
On the other side of the building, a massive 820 sq ft television style wall with 6mm pixel pitch dominates the entrance nearest the Resch Center. Connected to the digital signage and IPTV, guests and fans won’t miss a single moment of whatever is going on. Both walls automatically adjust to sunlight for perfect viewing no matter the time of day.
A/V production supervisor Jeff Bins said it was a conscience choice to go direct view LED. “There is certainly a WOW factor that comes with DVLED. You are starting to see a trend where venues are beginning to install DVLED over LCD video walls and we wanted to be ahead of that trend.”
4K Ready, AV-Over-IP Allows for Extreme Flexibility for Any Event
Thanks to AV-over-IP, the expo hall is prepared for any event. Floor boxes from Legrand AV’s Evolution Series are set in the concrete every 20 feet on the show floor for quick access to connectivity. The boxes are strong enough to drive a semi over, or at one of the most recent events, a yacht.
In each floor box are power outlets, network ports, fiber, and a dedicated Dante ethercon port. For audio, event techs can break out the ethercon to an Allen & Heath DT168 stage box for analog audio; 16 inputs, 8 outputs at high quality 96kHz all down a single network cable. Techs can set-up active QSC K12 speakers to create an intimate “venue within the venue.” For most situations requiring a mic, Shure’s ULX-D series wireless microphones provide a high fidelity sound. Paired with a robust antenna distribution system to provide even greater flexibility for presenters and vocalist anywhere on the floor.
While Audinate’s Dante connects edge devices, backend control and distribution of the audio is handled by QSC’s Q-SYS Ecosystem. PMI staff wanted Q-SYS for its IT-centric foundation, various audio standards, and full redundancy. “The Q-Sys eco system was at the top of the list,” says Jeff Bins, A/V production supervisor. “QSC and Q-Sys has a proven track record of quality products and reliability. That was something we felt very strongly about. During an event, the last thing we want as an operator is for the sound system to fail. With Q-Sys as our backbone, that has not been a concern.”
For video throughout the facility, displays can be set-up with IPTV, signage, presentation, or any other video source using the Crestron based control interface, programmed and designed by Arrow AV Group. Vitec’s powerful engine and content management drives the IPTV and digital signage. Every other video source is distributed via Crestron’s NVX series video encoders/decoders, which allow for super low latency 4K video distribution on a 1G network.
“Between AVoverIP and the IPTV system installed, there are so many CAT6 data drops around the venue that allows us to be able to place a TV, video source, or an audio source in a variety of places which can then be routed anywhere using the same IP infrastructure instead of dedicated copper for each solution,” says Bins.
With these capabilities, event techs can easily prepare for conferences, meetings, or exhibits, ultimately providing vendors and guests the best experience possible in any situation.
Remote Management for Peace of Mind and Minimal Downtime
Remote management software manages every single endpoint in the space. With the entire audio system built around Audinate’s audio-over-ip protocol, Dante Domain Manager (DDM) was selected for its security, scalability, accountability, and market dominance.
The overhead speakers in the expo hall have a device which flags if a speaker has problems. Anything not managed by DDM is managed via QSC’s Q-SYS Core digital signal processing.
Behind the scenes, nine rack rooms are each equipped with uninterrupted power supplies and redundant fiber optic uplinks. This ensures minimum downtime in the event of a fault or emergency so the show can go on without interruptions.
Radio Frequency Hearing Assistive System Covers Every Inch
Guests can use 1 of over 150 pocket-sized receivers to listen to the sound system from anywhere on the 42,000 sq ft show floor. With t-coil and earphones options available, those with and without hearing aids who need assistance can get sound directly to their ears, overcoming the noisy room.
Divisible Conference Rooms for Flexibility
The backbone that makes these divisible conference rooms possible is a Crestron control system. Each of the 6 rooms has a 10” touch panel for controlling everything in the room, including AV, lighting, and shades. Partition sensors in the operational walls automatically segment room’s presentation systems when operable walls are in use.
Each room has a full presentation system. A Panasonic PT-RZ770 projector shines onto a Tensioned Advantage screen from DaLite, which descends from a ceiling recess on command. Laser projectors mean lower maintenance costs and higher image quality. A Samsung QM75R display is mounted in each room for smaller groups and auxiliary viewing. Crestron’s proprietary NVX series distributes video signal to each display, allowing visibly lossless 4K video over a 1 gig network. Shure Microflex series digital wireless microphones delivers cost-effective, high fidelity audio. Each room is all equipped with Barco Clickshare wireless sharing connectivity. Scroll down to the next section for more info.
One room is equipped with a Primeview direct view LED and video conferencing capabilities. For cameras, two QSC PTZ-IP 12×72 allow for various viewing angles and are fully controllable from the touch panel, as well as a desktop or tablet. Overhead, three Audix M3 microphones hang from the ceiling to cover every seat in the room. No messing with headsets, no passing the microphone.
Bring Your Own Device Without Futzing Around
Guests and users can bring any modern phone, laptop, or tablet they own and wirelessly connect to any display within the upper conference rooms via Barco Clickshare. With options for USB A, USB C, or completely wireless via an app, users can seamlessly share content from their devices to the displays and utilize the video conferencing tools.
But where are the receivers? Instead of using the built in WiFi, the main Clickshare units use the facility wide wifi. This way the units can be hidden across the building in an IT closet. Less clutter in the room without sacrificing the ultimate BYOD experience.
Life of the Party with Martin Audio
Martin Audio was a clear choice for the lobby event space. There are forty unobtrusive, award-winning CDD6 speakers mounted throughout the two floors of the lobby event space.
Thanks to Martin’s Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology, less speakers are needed to perfectly cover every inch of the space. This innovative technology allows more consistent audience coverage to rear and off-axis listeners. No matter where someone is standing, a guest’s conversation isn’t overpowered by the music.
QSC CX-Q series amplifiers power the Martin speakers. Network capable and dynamic power summing across all channels with Hi-Z and Low-Z options, these amps bring clean, flexible power to any speaker with remote monitoring and management built right in.
Interactive History to Honor Our Vets
Next to beautiful glass plaques reviewing main history points are three 75″ 4K interactive touch screens from Planar. Guests can touch, swipe, and engage with various points in history, including historical footage and interviews of local veterans.
To hear the interviews with veterans and other media, atop each display is a Sonic Beam SB-24, a directional speaker from Brown Innovations. This speaker focuses the audio to directly in front of the display, allowing for one to two guests to freely explore the exhibit without disturbing others.
“This AV System has so much flexibility built in that we can handle almost any request that gets thrown at us.”
Jeff Bins, PMI
Results
With PMI Entertainment operating the event spaces, Arrow AV Group worked closely with their team to execute the system design. “Having worked with AAVG in the past, we knew that we were in good hands,” says Jeff Bins, the A/V production supervisor. “The staff at AAVG looks at a system from the user standpoint. They worked with us diligently towards a final goal that provides a positive experience for staff and clients alike.”
Bins attributes the success of Arrow AV Group’s contributions to two factors: responsiveness and expertise. “Being a brand new system, there has been a learning curve. The staff at AAVG has been very responsive to questions and requests as they come up,” continues Bins. “Being such a complex AV System, there are a lot of moving parts. The way the system was ultimately programmed and tuned has made it very easy for even the novice user to handle small requests.”
Overall, the PMI Entertainment team is thrilled about the long-awaited upgrades. “From an engineer\operator standpoint, I look forward to the challenge of providing a service for a client or internal requests,” says Bins. “This AV System has so much flexibility built in that we can handle almost any request that gets thrown at us.”
With the world opening up, PMI and the village of Ashwaubenon and Brown County are ready for any live event. Book yours today!
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