A MEETING MASTERS MEMO

Created by
John K. Mackenzie

Previously we outlined six techniques for collecting overdue invoices. In this Memo Bob Cherny gives planners and producers some basics on predicting power costs and how to reduce them.

When asked what event planners and meeting producers should know about electrical power, most techs say the same thing, "It's expensive!" That it is. For a frame of reference, let's jump into the middle and then work our way back.

Lighting for a basic general session, with a stage 24 feet wide and 16 feet deep, might include 24 1 kW par cans on the front truss, 18 on the rear truss, and a half dozen or so "specials". Toss in a couple of intelligent lights and power will cost you around $2,000 – whether you use in-house facilities or not.

• This is a typical one-time charge, unless your meeting runs longer than a week.

Add a sound system for 500 people and now your power bill will consume around $3,000. Other than meeting outdoors (or in the dark) there isn't much you can do that will have a significant impact on your bill. But Bob Cherny will have a couple of tips for you at the end of this article.

POWER BASICS

The power in the wall of your home, or at your business, is called "110 volt single phase". When you are working with 110 there is a simple formula to determine how much electricity you need to do whatever it is that you are doing. Power (in watts) equals voltage (in volts) times current (in amps).

So a 40 watt light bulb in the lamp in your living room is drawing 4 tenths of an amp (0.35 if you are a purist). So let's go back to that 1 kW par can. It uses 1,000 watts of power divided by 100 volts is 10 amps. And our front truss has twenty-four of them. That's a lot of power and running a lot of orange extension cords all over the room, just doesn't cut it.

In the meetings industry you order power by the amp. An amp is the amount of power flowing at any given moment in time. So when you order power you're not ordering it like gasoline for your car; where you order ten gallons and use it until it's gone.

You order your power by the maximum amount you expect to need at any time during your event. How do you know how much that is? Have your lighting and sound company tell you how much power you'll need when they submit their proposals: bearing in mind that the information they give you is based on the information you give them!

Lighting:

Lighting tends to be the 600 pound gorilla in the power business. Many new lighting units have more efficient reflectors and lamps that produce more light than older units. You can insist that your lighting company use these new units. The Source 4 is probably the best known. The Source 4 comes as a focusable unit, and a unit that mimics the 1 kW par 64. These units draw 575 watts as opposed to the parcan's 1,000.

• Another way to save power is to give the lighting company enough advance information so they can program the show in their shop. This way they can do much of the basic programming before they arrive on site; and you don't have to run the lights as long while they program and rehearse lighting cues.

Audio:

On the audio side, new digital processing devices have replaced older power hungry units. But the real saving in audio is simply: "Don't order more then you need!" Again, a good staging company, or experienced meeting producer, can help you here.

Video:

With video the only real power consumer is the projector. The electronics racks and monitors the video folks use don't draw that much. Considering how important the clarity of your message can be to the success of your meeting skimping on the video projector is a false economy!

Proper advance planning is the best way to reducing power costs. Switching to newer, more efficient lighting and audio will help; but your best bet is: always plan ahead!