UVLD was invited by production powerhouse Bellwether to be part of Workday Rising 2016, which took place this year at McCormick place in Chicago. Workday offers enterprise-level software solutions for human resource and financial management, which means they provide personnel software to huge (and medium-huge) companies; it’s all cloud based, and this conference brings together their partners, vendors and clients.

Executive producer Jeff Dixon lead the team; Greg Cohen served as Lighting Designer. The set, designed by Martin Christoffel, had a large cyc with three 16:9 screens downstage of it. Unique for this day and age, the cyc was treated exclusively by lighting. “I love a ton of video as much as the next guy,” notes Cohen. “But it was great to have a large canvas to paint with. Having that much control over the picture was great.” Cohen felt especially great because Kevin Lawson was his programmer. In keeping with the old-school theme, we were able to rely on long time collaborators Inlight Gobos to create end-client logos and branded iconography.

The three-day meeting featured a live band and demos which, thankfully, were flawless.

The gear was from Upstaging, with Jeff Quinn serving as Production Electrician.

Chicago is a great town, but too often we are there in the dead if winter when it is more challenging to enjoy the city. This September show was a great opportunity to work together in a great town with the great people of Bellwether.