Over 18 months ago, Bartha was selected by The Church of the Nazarene (based in Lenexa, Kansas) to produce and stage the 28th General Assembly and Conventions in June 2013 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. This quadrennial event, held every four years, attracts over 20,000 church members from around the world. With over 18 months to prepare, we utilized a number of strategies that can be applied to any large event:
Identify and Support Key Stakeholders
The 2013 General Assembly included three two-day Conventions of church groups, five major worship services, three days of plenary business sessions, and nearly 60 breakout rooms, many of these running concurrently in two massive halls of the Convention Center. Each of these had discreet stakeholders and “ownership”. Bartha created specific teams of production professionals and on-site leaders assigned to the event spaces and individual stakeholders to assure outstanding client service for every element of the two-week event.
Logistics
Scheduling becomes even more critical for events of this size. Layout a carefully planned timeline and schedule to coordinate everything from loading dock access, equipment storage, local labor, security, load-in schedules, rehearsals, etc. Detailed planning here eliminates a world of on-site headaches and controls on-site costs.
Partner with the Best
The Church of the Nazarene General Assembly required simultaneous translation in seven languages, an automated audience response voting system, captioning of business sessions for an official record, live streaming, and a number of specialized services to serve the international audience and church business. Bartha teamed with a number of trusted partners (some of the best in the country) to flawlessly and seamlessly deliver these services.
Flexibility
Even with 18 months of planning and preparation, on-site flexibility was one of the keys to overall success. Events can change in an instant—being able to adapt to those changes is simply what we do.
