Guide to event lighting for corporate gatherings

Direct answer

Good event lighting is built up in three layers. Stage light ensures the speaker stands out clearly and without harsh shadows. Ambient light and uplighting give the room colour, depth and the right tone. Accent light highlights details, such as a logo, a table or a presentation corner. If you are working with a camera or livestream, even, frontal light on faces is the most important requirement.

Below you will read how to combine these layers, which choices come into play per room, and how to prevent light and image from getting in each other’s way.

The three layers of event lighting

Do not think of lighting as separate fixtures, but as layers that together create an image. Each layer has its own purpose.

Stage light

This is functional light: it makes the speaker or the panel clearly visible. It stands frontal and slightly from above, so the face is lit evenly without deep shadows. Without good stage light a speaker fades against the background, especially when the screen is bright. Making sure a speaker is easy to see belongs to the same foundation as making sure a speaker is easy to hear, and you can read more about that in the article on intelligible speakers.

Ambient light and uplighting

Ambient light sets the tone of the room. Uplighting along walls and columns colours the space and adds depth. With colour you tune the room to your brand or theme, from calm and businesslike to warm and festive. This layer makes the difference between a bare hall and a space that feels like a real event. For a reception, dinner or festive programme, HuurAV takes care of this kind of atmosphere with party lighting.

Accent light

Accent light highlights specific elements: a logo on the wall, a product presentation, a reception table or a photo corner. It directs attention and gives a polished, professional impression. This layer is small in scale but big in effect.

Light per type of moment

Not every moment calls for the same thing. A good setup switches between modes.

• Reception and drinks: warm ambient light and uplighting, dimmed and inviting
• Presentation or keynote: focused stage light on the speaker, dimmed room light, no light on the screen
• Panel discussion: even light across all participants, so no one falls into shadow
• Networking moment or dinner: back to warm and soft light

You plan these transitions in advance in your programme. For gatherings with changing segments this ties in with the service around corporate events, where light, sound and image are attuned to one another.

Light for camera and livestream

As soon as a camera is running, the standard changes. What the eye still finds acceptable in the room quickly looks dark or dull on screen. A camera needs more and more even light than the human eye.

Watch out for these points:

• Provide frontal light on every face, so that shadows under the eyes and chin disappear
• Keep the light colour consistent, do not mix cool daylight with warm artificial light on screen
• Prevent strong backlight from windows behind the speaker, which makes the face dark
• Light the background as well, so the speaker does not stand in a black hole

For a good picture on the stream, light and camera always work together. That is part of the livestream and recording solution, and the broader approach to lighting for corporate sessions can be found in the lighting for corporate events solution.

Steps towards a good lighting plan

1. Determine the goal per programme segment: highlighting, atmosphere or accent
2. Look at where the speaker stands and where the image hangs
3. Separate the light zones so no light falls on the screen
4. Choose the ambient colours that suit your brand or theme
5. Check the daylight in the room at the right time
6. Plan the light modes in your run sheet, per moment
7. Test everything in advance, preferably with the speaker in position

Common mistakes

• Relying on room light alone, which leaves the speaker in shadow
• Letting light fall on the projection surface, which washes out the image
• Mixing cool and warm light, which gives ugly colour differences on camera
• Ignoring backlight from windows, which leaves faces dark
• Arranging the atmosphere but forgetting the functional lighting of the speaker
• Not planning light modes, so the room stays equally bright throughout the programme

What HuurAV takes care of

HuurAV creates a lighting plan that suits your room, your programme and your brand. We handle advice, delivery, setup, installation, operation during your programme and collection afterwards. You do not need to know anything about lighting technology yourself: we translate your wishes into a concrete plan with the right layers and modes, and operate the light during your event so every moment is right. If you want to combine light with a sleek stage and a neat finish, that ties in with the stage and finishing solution.

Anyone who wants to rent fixtures themselves and keep management in their own hands can go directly to SpeakerVerhuur.nl.

Next step

Do you have a room and a programme, but do not know which light suits it? Have your setup checked, so you can be sure your speakers stand out clearly and the room gets the right atmosphere. HuurAV works in Amsterdam and the surrounding area and arranges the lighting from first idea to teardown.