Member Article

Are you ready? Ladies-and-Gentlemen, LET’S PLAY DARTS!

That was the rallying call at the start of each session of the recent British Darts Organisation’s World Championship at the historic Lakeside Country Club. Over the recent months I have brought news of all manner of events but this must surely eclipse everything that has gone before.

The fanatical support that this event attracts is quite phenomenal, which for years I have watched on television. I am not a massive darts fan, and I’m not entirely convinced that it should be an Olympic sport, yet this week long event is possibly one of the greatest live experiences that I have enjoyed in recent times.

To start with there is the fancy dress. From the moment we got on the shuttle bus wearing our union jack hats and were met with cheers from Scousers, Scots and Essex girls I knew we were in for a treat. Then there is the build up and tremendous hosting from the legendary master of ceremonies Martin Fitzmaurice - “take your hands out of your pockets, I’m doing the entertainment”. Of course the players themselves all have specific walk on music which whips the crowd into a frenzy. And that’s not to mention the mass waving of the 180 signs, the dancing to timeless Status Quo tracks and the drinking. Oh and there are some pretty amazing darts matches too!

But it’s not as slick as you’d imagine. Working in technical events there are some things that we would never allow to happen. This is a globally televised event, so you’d expect a state of the art sound system for the announcement of the “one hundred and eighty” and playback of Rockin’ All Over The World, rather than one from the 1980’s. You also wouldn’t expect to see anti-virus software warning popping up on top of the digital scoreboard. And you certainly wouldn’t expect to be able to view the entire inbox of the tournament official on the giant screens as he sent the latest results to the world.

Any one of these things would normally have been enough to have the technician responsible hanging his or her head in shame. But not at Lakeside. This event is one huge party with everyone having a great time. Sure the darts are important, but it’s the total experience that really matters. If it’s a little rough around the edges along the way nobody really minds. All of which would seem to be at odds with R&B Group’s guarantee of technical brilliance on every event, but if you are going to compromise on AV provision then you need to be 180% certain that you have that magical Lakeside formula for your content!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by R&B Group .