A Free 'WOW' Factor Idea

"Wow" Factor Idea For Events

Oh the never ending quest for incorporating the WOW factor in your event!

This idea we explain here, we will call the Truss Spandex Splat. 
While it may appear difficult and/or expensive, it is not difficult to erect and should cost between $750 to $1500 to rent depending on the light types and quantities. 

Additionally, in this blog I will mention some vendors, in which you can buy or rent some of the items. All photos in this blog however, are from events in which A.V.Rental Services Inc. were the contracted vendor.

First of all, spandex or Lycra fabric may be used but I do recommend white when used along with lighting. I will explain how to build a system with 1 piece of fabric. For bigger events you can add more fabric, truss sticks and lighting.

We mostly use Tomcat 12" x 12" truss, 10ft long but 20" truss may be used as well. Two 10ft truss sticks must be bolted to a large truss base with 4 bolts, then stood upright making what we call simple truss towers. The fabric will be connected to the sides of each truss stick. 
If using lighting mounted directly to the truss connect the fabric to the back side pipe of the truss to allow room for light fixtures to be mounted to the front side. To connect the fabric to the truss you can buy fabrics from Rose Brand, located in NJ, CA and Canada; with built in fabric loops. Alternatively, you can tie good knots at each fabric and use zip ties to truss connection. There are splats with as little as 3 points and splats with 6 or more points. You will need a third stick of truss when using 6 point splats.
 
The third truss stick will go overhead; bolted to the two upright truss stick towers by way of truss corners; making what we call truss goalpost. (See Pic) =>

The 2 upright truss should be spaced apart far enough to stretch the fabric taut, eliminating all wrinkles. If you are building a truss goalpost your fabric must stretch to, and become taut at the width of the top truss stick. That is to say, if the top truss stick is 10 feet long then your fabric should reach maximum tightness and lose all wrinkles at 10 feet.

Once the truss and fabric portion is built you can add your lighting. You can use pars to shine a color on the fabric. We primarily use L.E.D. lighting due to all the available colors, the low electricity draw compared to conventional pars and L.E.D. pars have the ability to change automatically and fade between colors when set on auto. 

As I mentioned above, you can mount lighting directly on the truss with 'C' clamps or cheese borough clamps. (See Pic Above)

 Another light option is a gobo design with a Leko (ellipsoidal spotlight). This light system projects a gobo design, wedding party names or logo onto the fabric surface. This is a great personalization selling point for weddings.

Gobos can be purchased through A.V. Rental Services, Inc. but please allow at least a week for the manufacturer to custom build. Complete Leko & Gobo light systems can also be rented from A.V.Rental Services, Inc.

Tips:

1. For a slightly different look you can use white fabric truss covers. 
2. In addition you can put small par lights inside the truss (truss warmers) to color the truss cover fabric.

3. When buying fabrics, Rose Brand has multitude of fabrics, some with colored trim to keep with any event color schemes.

Send me your pics and let me know how you 'Wowed' your audience!

Bruce Johnson

A.V. Rental Services, Inc.

4039 Comly Street

Philadelphia, PA 19135

PH: 800-695-5943

FX: 215-904-8503

bruce@RentMyPlasma.com

www.RentMyPlasma.com