Live Event Production
Experienced production. Modern technology. One team that understands the whole show.
Comtec provides professional live event and technical production for conferences, awards ceremonies, product launches, corporate events and specialist environments across Manchester, the UK and internationally.
Our experience spans more than four decades of live production, from high-profile awards and major corporate conferences to international communications projects, aerospace, defence and large-scale product launches.
That experience matters because successful events are not created by equipment alone.
They depend on good planning, sound judgement, creative thinking, technical discipline and people who understand how every part of the production affects the audience.
Comtec can manage the complete event production or work alongside your existing agency, venue, internal events team or specialist suppliers.
The whole production or one part of it. We work both ways.
Complete Live Event Production
Every event is different.
Sometimes a client needs one production company to take an event from initial idea through planning, technical design, content, rehearsals and final delivery.
Sometimes much of the event is already in place and the requirement is for a particular technical discipline sound, lighting, screens, cameras, streaming, staging, presentation management or production direction.
Comtec can provide either.
The starting point isn’t the equipment we can supply.
It’s understanding the event.
- What is the client trying to achieve?
- Who is the audience?
- What do they need to see, hear, understand or feel?
- What already exists?
- What are the venue and production constraints?
And where can the right combination of people, technology and creative thinking make the experience better?
Audio Production
Good sound is fundamental to live communication.
Comtec can provide professional audio systems, microphones, playback and sound engineering for conferences, awards ceremonies, product launches and corporate events.
The system is designed around the venue, audience, programme and type of event rather than simply around the size of the room.
The objective is straightforward:
Everyone who needs to be heard should be heard clearly.
Lighting & Intelligent Lighting
Lighting can perform several different jobs within a live production.
It can ensure speakers are seen clearly.
- Create atmosphere.
- Transform a venue.
- Focus attention.
- Support cameras.
- Highlight a product.
Or completely change the energy in a room.
Comtec can provide stage, scenic and intelligent lighting as part of a complete production or as an individual technical service.
The right solution depends on what the event needs to achieve sometimes a sophisticated lighting system is appropriate, and sometimes a much simpler approach will do the job better.
LED Screens, Projection & Display Systems
Screens have become one of the dominant visual elements of modern events.
Comtec provides LED displays, projection and presentation systems designed around the audience, venue and content.
That last point matters.
A large screen isn’t automatically the right screen.
Viewing distances, room layout, aspect ratio, presentation content, video formats, cameras and stage design all influence the appropriate solution.
Technology should be designed around the content and audience, not the other way around.
Camera Production & IMAG
Cameras can extend what an audience can see and what an event can become.
For larger events, image magnification IMAG allows delegates to see speakers, presentations, demonstrations and panel discussions clearly wherever they are seated.
Multi-camera production can also support live streaming, event recording, additional rooms and post-event content.
The camera system becomes part of the live production rather than simply a record of what happened.
Hybrid Events & Live Streaming
Live audiences do not always have to be in one location.
Remote speakers, online audiences and additional venues can be integrated into a physical event using cameras, professional audio, presentations, streaming and technical control.
Comtec’s experience of connecting audiences and presenters in different locations began long before today’s web-based platforms and includes satellite-linked corporate communications projects across the UK and Europe.
For productions where online audiences or remote contributors form a significant part of the event, explore Hybrid Events & Live Streaming.
Stage & Set Production
The physical presentation environment affects how an audience experiences an event.
Stages, sets, scenic elements, branding and screen structures need to work together with lighting, cameras, content, speakers and the venue itself.
Comtec can provide stage and set production as part of the complete technical and creative solution.
Sometimes that means a conventional conference environment.
Sometimes it means creating something much less conventional.
The design starts with what the audience needs to experience.
Presentation & Screen Content
The technical production and the content appearing on the screens need to work together.
Comtec can support presentation management, event graphics, video, animation and screen content as part of the wider event production.
That means content can be developed with an understanding of the screens, stage, cameras and audience rather than being created separately and adapted at the last moment.
Explore Creative Media & Event Content.
Technical Direction & Show Calling
A live event may involve sound engineers, lighting operators, camera crews, presentation technicians, video playback, streaming teams, stage management, speakers, performers and venue personnel.
Individually, each discipline may work perfectly.
The production succeeds when all of them work together.
Technical direction and show calling coordinate those elements around the event programme so that cues happen at the right time and the audience experiences one coherent production.
Production Management
Successful live production starts long before anybody walks onto the stage.
Depending on the project, Comtec can support venue and site visits, technical planning, production schedules, supplier coordination, crew planning, speaker requirements, rehearsals, documentation, logistics and onsite production management.
The purpose of good production management isn’t paperwork for its own sake.
It’s discovering problems while there is still time to solve them.
Event Recording & Content Capture
A live event can create valuable communication material beyond the people who attended on the day.
Presentations, keynote speeches, interviews, panel discussions, product demonstrations and other moments can be captured for future use.
That content can support internal communications, training, marketing, social media and on-demand viewing.
Planning content capture as part of the original production usually produces much better results than deciding afterwards that something would have been useful to record.
Awards, Conferences & Product Launches
Different events place different demands on the production.
Awards ceremonies depend heavily on atmosphere, timing and pace.
Conferences depend on clear communication between speakers, presentations and audiences.
Product launches need to focus attention, communicate the product story and often create a moment people will remember.
Comtec has dedicated production experience in each.
Explore Awards Ceremony Production, Conference Production and Product Launch Production for more detail.
Complete Production or Specialist Technical Support
This is commercially important:
You don’t have to give Comtec the whole event.
We are equally comfortable managing the complete production or becoming part of an existing production team.
- A client may need everything.
- An agency may need technical production.
- A venue may need additional specialist capability.
- An internal events team may need cameras and streaming.
- Another production company may need lighting, screens or content support.
- Or an organisation may simply need experienced people to help bring several existing elements together.
We can provide exactly the level of support the project requires.
Production in Demanding Environments
Not every event takes place in a hotel or conference centre.
Comtec’s experience includes productions delivered within industrial, aerospace, defence and other controlled working environments where access, safety, security, documentation, technical planning and operational discipline can be as important as the production equipment itself.
Working in demanding environments has influenced the way we approach every event.
- Plan properly.
- Understand the site.
- Respect the procedures.
- Prepare for what can go wrong.
And don’t leave important decisions until show day.
Experience Changes the Decisions You Make
Comtec has been producing live events since 1982.
During that time almost every piece of production technology has changed.
- Projection became brighter and larger.
- LED transformed displays and lighting.
- Digital audio replaced analogue systems.
- Cameras became smaller and more capable.
- Satellite links were joined by internet streaming.
- Presentations, graphics, video and animation became digital.
But experience isn’t valuable simply because somebody has been doing something for a long time.
Experience is valuable when it improves the next decision.
It helps identify problems earlier.
It helps distinguish between technology that adds something to the event and technology that simply adds cost.
It helps teams react when something unexpected happens.
And sometimes it helps us find a simpler solution that works better than the obvious one.
Ideas First. Technology Second.
Some of the most memorable productions Comtec has delivered did not begin with an equipment list.
They began with a question:
What could we do that would make this audience remember the moment?
Over more than four decades that approach has led to productions in conventional venues and some decidedly unconventional environments.
Technology gives us the tools.
Production experience tells us how to use them.
Creative thinking decides what might actually be worth doing.
Our Comtec Experiences tell some of those stories.
Live Event Production in Manchester, Across the UK and Internationally
Comtec is based in Manchester and provides live event and technical production throughout the North West, across the UK and internationally.
We work in hotels, conference venues, event spaces, workplaces, industrial locations and specialist environments.
Whether the requirement is complete event production or one technical element, the process begins in the same place:
understand the event before specifying the solution.
Planning a Live Event?
Tell us what you’re planning, what you already have in place and where you need support.
We can provide complete production or individual elements including sound, lighting, LED screens, projection, cameras, staging, streaming, presentation content, recording, technical direction and production management.
Make the production work.
Make the audience experience better.
Make the client’s life easier.