Ellen Michaels Presents, Inc.
Battling a Blackout at Show Time
3Com Networks3, North America Conference, Dec. 7-10, 1998, Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco. Seven hundred people attended the conference, which provided 3Com's customers with updates on networking products and services.
Ellen Michael's Presents of San Jose, Calif. A company with over eleven years of meeting planning experience.
As 650 delegates waited for the ballroom doors to open on a customized video and laser show that was to kick off the conference, the entire Bay Area -- including San Francisco -- was plunged into darkness. It was the most widespread power outage in the city's history.
EMP staff used cellular phones to find a resource for a portable generator that could handle the general session production set. "We then worked with the staff at the hotel to rewire the breakout rooms' electrical systems to the generator in order to support our audiovisual requirements.” The conference was up and running within one hour, thwarting a catastrophe. And as for the food: "We were lucky in that the St. Francis uses gas stoves and ovens to cook so, thankfully, the Chinese buffet luncheon was served right on time."
