Rock Your First Corporate A2 Gig With These 25 Pro Tips

Every great A1 knows the secret to having a great show is having a sharp A2.

An A1 is usually stuck behind the console the whole gig, so what about everything else in the audio department that needs to get done?

A killer A2:

- Makes presenters feel comfortable on stage
- Mics presenters quickly and efficiently
- Solves surprise problems with ease
- Creates a rock solid RF and Comm setup
- Serves as an organized stage manager on smaller shows
- Gels the whole crew together

I know this seems like a lot, but with a few reps (and starting with these 25 pro tips) you can create a path for yourself as the go-to A2.

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[trektrek]

As an A2 and A1, these tips are all on-point.

I would and as an A2: prep the out.

Towards the end of a project, use you moments in between to prep the out: wrangle cases, re-sort spare cables, clear paths backstage, consult with the project TL or PM about the out, how many stage hands your department needs, recap any special considerations. Show initiative - all whilst the A1 is glued to the console and show.

Great channel - keep it up!

[filetransferprotocoldoctor]

one of the coolest channels for live audio techs! thanks so much for the great content

[joecrippen]

Nice Info! Old school A1 86 to 2009, seen it all from Multi projector dissolve shows, Wired Lavs with omni capsules yikes!! to the digital era.
There wasn't a resource such as this back in the day so this is great for the entry level tech.
I worked live music. Tours, staff positions at venues as well as Corp A/V production and there is a vast difference between them all to sort out.

I always impressed on my A2's that they were in charge. I'm locked down at FOH so I depended heavily on my A2's to make it all go smoothly. I even had them assign channels etc...and I would re patch my Console to my liking. I wanted them to be very comfortable with a work flow they created so they could always be right on top of their gig. I was fortunate to have had some of the best A2's in the Biz, they made my job easy.

[geoargero]

I love this! I am so glad I found you! I am an experienced corporate A2. I appreciate these tips. I do most of them already, but you definitely got me thinking...

[marckennedy]

As an A2 on large show communicate with other rooms on RF. You may be in a General Session while down the hall there is a similar meeting designated as a breakout. Often overlooked is frequency coordination between rooms. Do your RF systems play nice? At a hotel property often times your show may be self contained, however “in house” audio visual operations must continue. Seek out knowledge . What systems are around and how might they impact your show?

[DallasSoundGuys]

I’ve done corporate for years. 150-400 person sized events and I’ve been on comm as A1 but I’ve never set it up. Is there a go-to source to learn basic and advanced comm set up? Thanks!

[creativewithtech]

Wear clean clothes. It seems obvious but after a few days of corporate make sure you have enough spare left. Oh and don’t smoke (not even outside) for the same reason. It’s not good micing the prime minister with a stench on you and if you’re in the game long enough: yes you’ll meet them again!

[jamesgor]

Your RF loss through air calculations do not seem correct. Cable is a linear loss per distance. A cable that loses two dB over 10 feet would lose four dB over 20 feet. Path loss (the term for loss through the air) is not linear and falls off with the square root of the distance. My guess is if you take that spreadsheet and plug in 50 feet and 100 feet for the distance through the air you would find one number is not double the other. An example of the correct way to make the trade-off is to plug-in 100 feet of air loss versus 50 feet of air loss and 50 feet of coax loss.