Groundbreaking ceremony AV on an open site

A groundbreaking ceremony is short and built around one moment: the guest of honour, the ceremonial dig and the photographers. Everything before it is speeches. Everything after it is photographs. The AV job is to make the speeches audible outdoors and to land the moment on cue.

Power comes first

A construction site may have no mains power where the ceremony is, or a temporary supply that was sized for site equipment. Sound, screens and lights all depend on it, so where the power comes from, and who arranges a generator if one is needed, gets settled before anything else.

Sound outdoors works harder

Indoors, walls and ceilings help sound carry. Outdoors there is nothing to reflect it, so the speakers do all the work, aimed at the guests and away from the road and the neighbours. Wind is the other problem: a microphone without a windshield turns a breeze into a rumble under every word.

Site noise does not stop for the ceremony unless someone asks it to. If work is going on nearby, agree a quiet window with the contractor.

Shade, rain and the ground

Singapore's sun and rain usually mean a tent, and the equipment needs cover as much as the guests do. Cable across wet or uneven ground needs protecting and marking. A stage or platform needs levelling before anything goes on it, which takes longer on a construction site than on a ballroom floor. The stage rental guide covers the build.

A screen in daylight

If the programme has a video, or a backdrop with the project on it, daylight decides the screen. Projection washes out outdoors, so a screen that has to be read in daylight is an LED wall, and one rated for outdoor use. The LED wall guide covers sizing.

The moment needs a cue

The ceremonial dig happens once, and every camera there is waiting for it. The emcee, the guest of honour, the sound desk and the photographers all need the same cue: a countdown, a music sting, a pause long enough for the photographs. That is worth a run-through on site, with the guests' positions marked, before anyone arrives.

On site, site rules apply

A construction site has its own safety rules, and they apply to the AV crew as much as anyone. Check what the contractor needs from suppliers before the setup day: access times, protective equipment, and any briefing the crew has to attend.

What moves the price

Where the power comes from, how far the ceremony area is from where a vehicle can unload, whether a screen is needed in daylight, the size of the tented area, and how long the crew needs on site to set up around the work going on there. Sound and screens come under our services, and the kit is on the equipment list.

What to send us

The site address and how vehicles get in, where the ceremony area is, whether it is tented, the guest count, the programme, what power is available, and whether media are attending.