The 2019 Congressional Black Caucus legislative Foundation Annual Conference was much more intense this year from a production standpoin, than previous years. Typically we just prepare for a couple of small functions and the Chicago party, which is the event that everyone looks forward too. This year, our CBC week started on Tuesday with a reception for the Congressional Black Associates followed by Wednesday with the installation of a social media lounge for the expo hall at the convention center. Friday we picked up “The New Party” at Mellon Auditorium. The New Party is a mega reception and collaboration held by New Jersey, California, Nevada and Louisiana. For the New Party, we provided lounge furniture and a dj booth. The real challenge came from loading out of Mellon Auditorium at 3am and loading into the Portrait Gallery at 6am Saturday morning for the Chicago Party. The Portrait Gallery, like other Smithsonian properties, do not close down for events and must be loaded in before or after regular hours. This year our efforts were focused on providing audio visual in the Atrium. We did our previous year’s installation of lounge furniture and lighting on the second level, but the Atrium is where most of the action happens. Sound reinforcement for the DJ was installed for the 1,500 attendees that came through the doors. An LED video wall DJ booth highlighted the DJ on the stage. It was an epic night of dancing, networking and socializing.
