🔒Events contractor goes virtual amid venue closures

Scott Ling is used to serving consumer shows, conferences and parties with at least 400 people.

But the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent state restrictions on indoor gatherings, has limited indoor event capacity to just 25 people, including staff. Additionally, many convention, meeting and event venues in Connecticut are closed until the state launches the third phase of its economic reopening plan.

That’s why Ling, owner and founder of East Hartford-based Demers Exposition Services Inc., which provides audiovisual (AV) equipment, installation, and other show management services, pivoted this summer and built a handful of temporary studios — including one in downtown Hartford — for virtual events. The studios, which are meant to salvage some of the revenue and staff the company has lost during the health crisis, allow virtual events to be shot in a more formal and traditional venue setting.

In June, Ling debuted his first studio at the Connecticut Convention Center for an event held by college scholarship fund Hartford Promise. Mayor Luke Bronin and Hartford Promise President Richard Sugarman spoke live at the convention center and the event was viewed online by 70-plus scholarship recipients and roughly 1,000 remote attendees.

In an effort to replace canceled commencement ceremonies, Sugarman said his group was looking to offer a major celebration for its first class of scholarship recipients — most of whom are first-generation college graduates from Hartford.

Ling and his staff, Sugarman said, made that possible by designing a script for the 50-minute online program that included a live chat room that drew hundreds of congratulatory comments from viewers. They also handled all of the filming and pre-recorded congratulatory messages from UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma and Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, among other celebrity appearances.

“We wanted our scholars to feel honored and celebrated because they missed their graduation ceremonies,” Sugarman said. “The students felt excited and felt they got something they had lost out on.”

Ling is also operating a studio out of his warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and is currently building another one in Dallas, Texas.

The virtual event setup, Ling says, has been a major success with many of the domestic and international clients he has gained since establishing his convention services business in 1986. This fall, Ling has dozens of virtual events scheduled at various studio locations.

“People didn’t want to just do a Zoom meeting, they wanted something that was much more professional,” said Ling, who puts on the events with just eight or so workers, down from up to 30 before the pandemic. “The technology is getting better and easier. We had to learn this very quickly and make a lot of adjustments to stay in this business.”

Ling said revenue from virtual events pales in comparison to the large gatherings to which he is accustomed. The income, however, has allowed the company to keep employed half of its 30 full-time employees, while the other half have been reduced to part-time work. Prior to the pandemic, Ling, with a mostly part-time staff, employed upwards of 200 people.

“My goal for 2020 was to keep as much of my staff with me,” he said. “It took me a long time to build up a great crew of staff, and they are really committed.”

The virtual events have also enabled the company to use some of the expensive equipment, including projectors, microphones, speakers, chairs, carpets and tables, that it acquired over the years, and stores in a 150,000-square-foot warehouse on Park Avenue in East Hartford.

Ling and others in Connecticut’s events industry are eager to hear from Gov. Ned Lamont’s office on when large gatherings can resume. Advanced notice, he says, will be key in planning potential events next spring.

“We’ve got our clients already starting to plan for March and April of next year for live events,” Ling said. “If we don’t start planning six to eight months ahead of time, we don’t have a successful event.”

Correction: This story incorrectly stated that Scott Ling's last name was Demers in today's print edition.