Corporate Event Lighting: What to Plan For

Lighting is the part of a corporate event that people notice without knowing why. The same ballroom can feel like a Tuesday training session or a product launch, and the difference is usually the lighting plan. It also decides how your executives look on the LED walls and in the recording, which matters more now that many general sessions are streamed or filmed.

Fat Fish Media designs and runs lighting for conferences, galas, award shows, holiday parties and brand activations from our Salt Lake City shop. This guide explains the layers of a corporate lighting plan and what to ask for.

The layers of a corporate lighting plan

• Presenter light: front light on the stage that is bright and even enough for cameras, coming from the right angle so presenters are not squinting or lit from below. If the session is streamed or projected on IMAG, this is the most important layer.
• Stage wash and backlight: color behind and above the presenters that separates them from the set and ties the stage to your brand colors.
• Moving lights: automated fixtures for walk-ons, award reveals, transitions and the energy at the start of a session. They also let one rig change looks between a general session and an evening party.
• Uplighting and room color: fixtures along the walls and on architectural features so the whole room reads as one designed space instead of a hotel ballroom.
• Gobos and logo projection: your logo or a pattern on the walls, floor or dance floor.
• Table and pin spots: narrow beams on centerpieces at galas and dinners, so the tables glow when the house lights go down.

Light for the camera, not just the room

Our eyes adjust to a dim stage. Cameras do not. If the keynote is streamed, recorded or shown on LED walls, the stage needs more front light than looks necessary in person, and the color temperature of the presenter light has to match the LED walls behind it or the presenters will look gray or orange on screen. We plan presenter light with the video team so the room and the recording both look right.

Rigging and power

A lighting rig hangs from truss, either flown from the ceiling or on ground-supported towers. Many Salt Lake City hotels and convention centers have rigging points and in-house riggers, and some require their rigging crew for anything flown. Older ballrooms and outdoor spaces may need ground support. Power is the other constraint: moving lights and LED walls on the same stage need dedicated power from the venue or a generator. We confirm both with the venue during the site visit, before the design is final.

One rig, several looks

Corporate events often move from a morning general session to an awards dinner and then a party in the same room. A programmable rig lets us change the room between those moments without a changeover: bright and clean for the keynote, warm and focused for dinner, saturated and moving for the party.

Examples from our work

For the Allies Gala at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, we lit the Delta Performance Hall stage with LED walls and moving lights for a theatrical program. Our Eccles Theater venue guide covers that room in detail. For Kilby Block Party's silent disco at the Utah State Fairpark, we used lasers and saturated moving-light looks to turn a fairground building into a club. See our lighting rentals and the stage lighting rental guide for fixture types and how rental packages work.

What drives the cost

Fixture count, the amount of truss and rigging, crew hours for load-in, programming and the show, and any power or generator needs. Uplighting a ballroom is a modest line item. A full stage rig with moving lights, truss and a lighting designer for a multi-day conference is a different order of magnitude. We quote line by line so you can see what each layer adds.

Frequently asked questions

What lighting does a corporate event need?

At minimum, even front light on the stage for presenters and cameras. Most corporate events add stage wash in brand colors, uplighting around the room and, for larger shows, moving lights for walk-ons, awards and the evening program.

Why do presenters need more light when the event is streamed?

Cameras need more light than the eye does, and the presenter light has to match the color of the LED walls behind the stage. Without it, presenters look dark, gray or orange on the stream and on IMAG screens.

Can the lighting change between the general session and the party?

Yes. A programmable rig with moving lights can go from a clean keynote look to a warm dinner look to a party look in the same room, without a changeover.

Do hotels require their own riggers?

Many Salt Lake City hotels and convention centers require their in-house rigging crew for anything flown from the ceiling. We coordinate with the venue during the site visit and plan ground-supported truss where flying is not possible.

Planning a corporate event and want the room to look like the photos? Send us the venue, date and headcount and we will come back within one business day with a lighting plan and a line-item quote.