Running IT for a live event: what I check before the doors open
A live event is the only environment where a reboot is a public failure. Everything has to be checked while the room is still empty.
The checklist
- Power first. Every production PC on a UPS, every UPS actually tested under load.
- A spare of anything that is single. One production PC means one failure away from a dark screen.
- Network paths, not just connectivity. Can the ticket scanners reach the server when the guest Wi-Fi is saturated?
- Displays and content. Viplex schedules loaded, resolutions matched, content tested on the real screens.
- Audio. Levels set in an empty room, then rechecked once the room has people in it, because a full room sounds nothing like an empty one.
- Cameras. PTZ presets saved, so a camera that gets bumped can be restored in seconds.
- A written fallback. For each system, one sentence on what we do if it dies mid-event.
During the event
The control room watches, nobody touches a configuration, and every fix that cannot wait gets made on a spare rather than the live machine.
The measure of this work is that the audience never learns your name.
Need this done properly?
I set up and support networks, IT systems and websites for businesses in Erbil and across Iraq.
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