Fayetteville, Arkansas — With the help of Creative Technology, a leading provider of innovation, technology, project management and operational support to the live events and systems integration markets, and Leo Events, a global events company, a major retailer recently hosted its annual shareholder event in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Held in a college basketball arena and live streamed internationally for virtual attendees, the production celebrated investors, associates, customers of the well-known brand, and featured live award-winning music performers, star power entertainers, messages from senior executives and more. With significant audio, video and intercom requirements, Creative Technology turned to Pliant Technologies, a leading provider of professional wireless intercom solutions, to ensure seamless communications for this large-scale project.
“The venue consisted of the main bowl of the arena, in addition to a maze of back hallways for production personnel and talent wranglers, which our comms had to be able to cover,” says Chuck “Chopper” Boyle, Audio Engineer, Creative Technology, US. “This brought another level of complexity when designing and installing the system.”
The scope of the full system included a large, wired matrix intercom, but a key element was the wireless intercom that was required to support stage management for the event. The deployment involved a very large coverage area, allowing production personnel to go anywhere in the main bowl, throughout the back halls and loading dock, and to reach the video production truck outside the arena, which was streaming the event for the retailer’s employee and shareholder network.
Pliant’s CrewCom system was deployed with two CrewCom Control Units (CCUs), one 8-port Copper Hub, nine Radio Transceivers (RTs) located throughout the venue, as well as 28 Radio Packs (RPs). The team used a mixture of 2-channel and 4-channel RPs, operating in both the 900MHz and 2.4GHz range.
According to Chopper, “Pliant played a critical role in supporting stage management. One of the greatest benefits for the team is the system’s multichannel Radio Pack’s flexibility and the versatility of its frequency band offerings. Being able to have the Radio Transceivers (RTs) and packs in 900MHz primarily and also be able to operate another set of RTs and packs in the 2.4GHz range was a huge bonus for this project, because the 1.9 band could not support all the requirements for this job,” he explains. “Without Pliant, we would not have been able to handle the quantity of wireless comms requested, but we also wouldn’t have been able to handle the complexity of the channels,” he says.
“We utilized a range of channels; from point to point, to several different conferences,” Chopper adds. “We had program audio coming in so staff could monitor where the show was and track cues, which was crucial. If there’s even one blip, it’s a big deal, but with Pliant we were able to communicate clearly without any issues.”
Chopper also commends the capabilities of the system’s Radio Transceivers. “The way the RTs were able to handle several packs per transceiver was impressive and helpful,” he says. “We did not have to run a dedicated line from home base to the transceivers, which saved us a significant amount of time as well. Additionally, we had to make only minor adjustments, and once we got things going, we didn’t have to constantly fuss with them, which we have experienced in the past with other systems. So, the uptime and consistency they provided really aided in a streamlined workflow. Also, the roaming capabilities of the system, allowing users to come in and out of multiple coverage areas as they moved throughout the facility, was great.”
Furthermore, Chopper specifically noted that the CrewCom system’s data recovery and error correction capabilities, along with its RF stability in such a challenging environment, was a big standout for him and his team. “In the past, the high-dome ceiling in the arena would often create radio reflective issues, but it’s clear that Pliant has gotten its error correction down. We were able to easily communicate throughout the entire venue, thanks to Pliant.”