90th Annual Tennessee FFA State Convention Goes Big with Bandit Lites

	0th Annual Tennessee FFA State Convention

More than three thousand Future Farmers of America (FFA) members gathered at the 90th Annual Tennessee FFA State Convention to compete and receive recognition for their work throughout the year. Bandit Lites supplied the lighting for the event, including the stage that presented scholarship awards for accomplished FFA members, the presentation for the "Regional Stars" in Agribusiness, State Stars in Agriscience, along with skits that celebrated the FFA culture.

"Turning a convention center ballroom into a theatre is always a challenge," said Bandit Lites general manager Giff Swart, "but Bandit has a talented group of folks who can work magic in any situation when given the right tools. John Lucksinger was our lighting designer, and he was the right man to make magic with this rig. Wayne Lotoza was our crew, and he is unmatched when you want something to get done right and in record time."

Bandit Lites provided 110' minibeam downstage loaded with Bandit's exclusive GRNLite Moving Washes for stage front-light along with lighting the room in between sessions. Philips Vari-Lite VL 2500 Spots and VL 3000 Spots outfitted with gobos painted the room and generated excitement with movement.

A 50' midstage truss featured GRNLite Moving Washes, GRNLite LED Pars, and 54 sections of Chroma-Q Color Web 250 surrounding two projections screens and hung with black drape.

"The Color Web was mapped entirely from the MA Lighting grandMA console and was fed words and chases to create a unique backdrop for the event," said Swart. "This midstage truss with draping also provided a mask on the 28' deep by 70' wide stage to create a backstage area at stage-level. Performers and participants have only to walk around the ends of the midstage to be backstage."

"The Color Web worked great for this event," said LD Lucksinger, who noted the Color Web was ideal for its cost-efficiency. "It was bitmapped, so I could scroll images and words across. At one point I put up an American flag."

To complete the theater look, Bandit provided one hundred feet of A-type truss with GRNLite LED Moving Washes and draping to completely mask off the back wall, with the LED Fixtures backlighting stage right and stage left positions and streak the ceiling.

"This show was pretty straight forward," shared Lucksinger. "The main challenge is that there are young adults on stage and they do not know how to stay in the light, so there were times I had to manually follow them with a moving light to keep them lit for video."

And while these kids may have struggled with staying in the literal spotlight on stage, the ambition and drive demonstrated by the FFA members impressed Swart immensely.

"It is a humbling privilege to be a part of this event," he said. "Our part of the state convention is the celebration of the FFA and what it stands for in America."