Wedding show lacks power.
 

I'm sorry to chuckle on my Title of this, but here is my deal. I am doing more or less a no cost wedding show. By no cost, I mean all I have to give is a 25 dollar door prize.

After that, I have a 6 foot white covered table that I can put anything on. The only hitch is, all of the 'electrical outlets' have been taken for the show. My plan has always been to play a demo on my 19' lcd via my laptop. The show is between 3 and 4 hours long. I think the laptop battery is two hours, which I'm not against getting another one. So my alternative for powering the LCD is my battery backup that I use for my system. I am away from my desk at the moment and haven't crunched the numbers on how long that back up would keep the lcd going, but this is the best solution I can think of.

And by the way, if anyone has tips on what is a good item to give away at these things, I would appreciate the advise. This is my first show. I have about 900 business cards, that should get me through the show.

Have you considered producing a DVD or SVCD to give to folks who visit you at the show?

Robert, I had thought of that, this show is a little short notice, I'm not sure how many demos to produce. But yes, that is a consideration.

I haven't done a show in about 5 years but I did one last Sunday. I'm not sure why but anyway...
I had my demo playing on a laptop with external speakers, biz cards, brochures and a "special price list for show attendees". Oh yeah and a small sign about 8"X10". that was it. Of course the table was a 36" round so not a lot of room for anything else but all the vendors were in the same boat. The main reason I signed up is because it was the only show in the city of Chicago (all the rest are in the burbs) AND I wanted the list of names of the brides that registered for the show.
I doubt however that I will be doing anymore. I now remember why I don't do them anymore! I hate the shows. ;-(
Don

Hey Don, can you run an extention cord from Chicago for me?

Instead of buying another laptop battery, I'd buy two UPS's (uninterpretable power supply). While one is powering the LCD, the other can be charging in another room, or wherever you can find power.

My 17" LCD is rated at 45W. Now if I remember my equations, that's drawing approximately .375 amps. A UPS rated at 725VA will run my monitor for 725VA/0.375A/120V = 16 hours.

Did I do something wrong? That seems like an awfully long time.

Anyway, I'd spend $100 on a UPS and test it out tonight.

Sure! Do you want an orange one or green one? ;-0
Don

Chris, I have an APC at home that I have my workstations plugged up to. I'll check it out and do the math when I get home. I did however like the idea of getting two APC's instead of a laptop battery, I'll chew on it after I find out how long my APC will support my laptop or laptop and lcd. Thanks for the input.

Here in Utah we have a ton of shows. The one thing that most videographers give away is a simple photo montage. That way they feel like they've won something, and then when they come to you, you can do your thing with selling the rest of the deal to them. We've done it a couple times and so far it's worked once out of the three times. (One of the couples had a friend already making a photo montage for them....) but anyway, just an idea for what you could give away.
I'd also consider giving out a Demo DVD because most of the time Brides tend to base their decision on your demo, at least that's how it is here.

Eric Hansen
www.ehansenproductions.com

One of the reasons I mentioned SVCD is, awhile back, some of the stores around here were regularly offering 50 and 100 pack spindles of CD blanks, free after rebate (obviously to get you in the store). They were also regularly offering 50 and 100 pack slim jewel cases free after rebate. It struck me, that SVCD can look very good on a standard television, so long as you don't do anything with fast motion in it (and use max CBR). Almost free (the cost of a few postage stamps) is a tough price to beat for the blank media and jewel cases.

I don't understand what you mean by all the outlets are taken. Can't you plug in a splitter, you are going to use all of 20 watts, watt is the deal?

Mike

Is this show outdoors or something?

Something like this, rigged to a DieHard (or other good size car/truck battery) under the table, would provide power for awhile, I would think:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834999627

I have a portable battery pack with four AC outlets. It will pwer a laptop and table lamp for 7 hours. Total cost about $120. It is a little bigger than a standard car battery and is encased in a nice plastic liner. It has a power meter, radio and light built in. Put it under the table and you will have all the pwer you require. I take it with me on jobs so I don't need to run cables all over the place. It will power a video camera for 16 hours.

This is the one I have available here in Canada...should be something similar at your local hardware store
http://www.canadiantire.ca/ Look for a product called a TERMINATOR, there are many different sizes including small ones.

Mike, the show is in the mall, actually in the most expensive 'ritsy' mall we have in this area. When I spoke to the lady, one of the thing she told me was that she had a number of outlets and that they were all take, that being said, I hope I can split in with someone, I'll take my black cord in case I can. It's my impression from other people who have been to this type of thing is, we will be in the isles of a department store.

Monte: I'll look at that option to see if that I could actually rent.

Robert: I'll look at that idea as well.

Thanks for the feedback. I figure this might not be the last time I'm doing a gig without power so I might just buy something depending.