4,500 miles clocked up on the rental van; 350 engineers, end users, customers and rental companies seen in 29 days across 27 locations – the 2021 DiGiCo and KLANG roadshow was nothing short of ‘epic’. The DiGiCo team toured the UK with a DiGiCo Quantum 338, Quantum 225, SD12 and a KLANG Immersive Personal Monitor package, as well as showcasing the KLANG:vokal immersive processor and the new KLANG:kontroller. Stopping at various rental companies, venues and customers along the way, the team provided two three-hour sessions a day offering a closer look at the new consoles and refreshers on the SD-Range with the company’s experts.
“When our world slowly started to come back, we began to get an increasing number of requests from engineers to pop into our HQ in Surrey for some refresher training, so we thought ‘why don’t we come to them instead?’, which is how the idea of a Roadshow around the UK came about,” says Tim Shaxson, Technical Sales Manager at DiGiCo. “In addition to answering any questions engineers may have had on the SD-Range, it was also the perfect opportunity for us to show them the new Quantum consoles and to demonstrate and explain the benefits of the KLANG Immersive IEM system.”
Strictly adhering to Covid Policies, each session was limited to a maximum of 12 people, who all had to register in advance via a dedicated section on the DiGiCo website. Each informal event consisted of 45-minute ‘show and tell’ training on Quantum 338/225 and KLANG followed by a two-hour refresher on the SD-Range.
DiGiCo’s Tim Shaxson and Mark Saunders were in charge of organising roadshow, with Mollie Autherson and Tom Williams completing the DiGiCo Team, covering all the sessions between them.
“We appreciate the time that people had to take to come and see us, so we did all we could to provide them with an experience that was both useful and enjoyable to make it worth their while,” says Saunders.
The very first stop of the UK roadshow was Millstone Sound in Cornwall and from there, it travelled the length of the country, concluding in Ireland with three stops in Limerick, Dublin and Belfast organised by Rea Sound, DiGiCo’s NI Dealer.
“The roadshow was important as it was a transitional time from Covid to live shows, and offered us an opportunity to not only get hands on with the latest DiGiCo gear, but also for engineers to have time on the desks and network for the first time in over 16 months,” says Chris Honey, Director at Millstone Sound.
Honey went on to explain how useful it was to have the DiGiCo Quantum range presented alongside the SD range, so they could clearly see the difference between the products. “The information we learnt about the true power of the consoles inspired us to upgrade our SD12 with HMA optics, Waves, and the -96 option, along with the purchase of a new fully 32-bit HMA SD Rack,” he adds.
Calum Mordue, Touring Director at Patchwork London agrees, “We loved having DiGiCo over to our brand-new warehouse / Prep Lab to give us and our clients a refresher on the SD range of consoles, as well as present the new Quantum 225 and KLANG. It was perfect timing for both us and our clients to see the Q225 in person a couple of weeks before taking delivery of ours ahead of shows and tours planned with the console,” he stated.
“After such a long hiatus for most, and the uncertainty the industry has faced, it was great to get out in the field and bring engineers, end users and customers together all under one roof, or a series of ‘roofs’ to be exact, thanks to our rental partners, venues, and customers, who generously offered their premises for these practical refresher sessions and a glimpse into the future,” concludes Saunders. “A huge thank you to everyone who participated and helped us make this whole roadshow a success. The feedback from the sessions has been fantastic!”