At the beginning of October, coming home off the high of the WABE Media and Entertainment Technology Conference in Calgary, along with the Steinbach Pistons, and Peter Bernatsky from PBS Integration, we hosted a tour of their new facility in Steinbach, MB. The Southeast Event Centre is a wonderful example of a community coming together to fundraise, a bit of public-private partnership done really well.

It’s hard to come away with any skepticism about a facility like this when, throughout our tour, we saw the pride of those who live there, explaining how the facility is truly going to change both their hockey program and their community. The smiles, excitement, and general overwhelming positive feeling of young people being in the building, experiencing sports, is something so many of us in Canada can relate to, especially those of us who grew up in small towns where the arena was a centre point of connection for our whole lives, especially during the winter.

The Southeast Event Centre, built to be modern and mixed-use, includes a restaurant and hockey rink that can be converted for concerts. It also has box suites for VIP and business guests, as well as a track and gym for volleyball and basketball. Weddings, retirements, birthdays…you name it, this facility is going to be a centre point for Steinbach for years to come.

The group of us touring came from across the tech sector – a little bit of AV, a little bit of broadcast, some of us from Truth North Sports & Entertainment who work at the arena in Winnipeg, some from DOME Productions, and others working behind the scenes in various roles. All of us were interested in taking a peek at this new facility.

The centre is hosting the Grand Slam of Curling in just a few months and will be on stage and on the big screen, with curlers from around the world experiencing the facility. I’ve heard about other facilities in Lethbridge and new ones to come here in Manitoba. This kind of venue, with large screens and professional game-day presentation capabilities, reflects the growing desire to give local patrons an experience similar to what was once reserved only for the big leagues, now that the technology is available and affordable.

Behind the scenes, the technical build-out is impressive. There are over 28,000 feet (8.5 km) of AV cabling connecting systems throughout the space, along with two 42×14 LG video walls, each nearly 4K resolution at 3328 x 1152 pixels and weighing about 1,500 kg apiece. The sound system includes 26 main bowl speakers powered by 30,000 watts of QSC amplification, distributed paging and background music across public areas, and Crestron control touch screens at the front desk, restaurant, and rink booth.

Accessibility and communication were clearly part of the design, with 60 Wi-Fi-based hearing assist receivers, two wireless handheld microphones, and 14 broadcast boxes outfitted with fibre, HDSDI, XLR audio, and intercom connections. An RTS Omneo intercom system ties the entire space together, ensuring the facility is broadcast-ready for both local and national events.

Even the Steinbach Pistons locker room was given thoughtful treatment, featuring a 1000-watt, eight-speaker ceiling system with local Bluetooth input and controls. Throughout the venue, there are 50+ LG digital signage displays, creating a professional-grade atmosphere at every turn.

Video production upgrades include a Motion Rocket 4K control system, Marshall POV cameras, and Panasonic 4K Pro camcorders, all designed and integrated by PSB Integration Inc.

There’s power in these facilities to help train the next generation of workers. There’s also power here for businesses, who should start building relationships with them now, because in five years, when they fundraise for what they want next, their needs, desires, and ambitions won’t decrease. New business ideas, new ways to participate, new events, even though the facilities are complete and the technology installed and working well now, will continue to evolve. With additional leagues and growing interest in different professional sports beyond the large market leagues, there is real opportunity and growth coming in this size of event centre.

Whether you’re at the biggest events in broadcast or in a local arena, many of the same resources, challenges, and production expectations remain. The desire to do more and the physical constraints, like how many wires you actually have to send signals down, don’t really change.

One of the technical takeaways from visiting the centre, in talking with Peter Bernatsky, was that while the budget didn’t allow for every single desire, the wiring and preparation behind the walls were done with attention to the future. Additional technical requirements can be installed in the next five years. Just because you can’t afford the largest screen to hang on the wall right now doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have the power, network, or foresight to know that wall will want something on it in the future.

In the construction industry and in new builds, thinking about the technology, workflows, and potential desires ahead of time makes all kinds of possibilities for your facility. It’s amazing what an AV or technical group will ask you when you hire them:
• Do you think you would ever want a screen in this room?
• Do you think you would ever want a sound system?
• Do you think you would ever host something where someone would need lighting?
• Do you think that if these things were installed, you could sell or rent this room to additional parties for additional reasons?

The convergence of AV and production is here, and it’s not going away. While not every build has millions of dollars to put into a full SMPTE 2110 brand-new facility, the tools and products exist to put in the first round of video production, and the results can be truly great. Thankful to the Steinbach Pistons Hockey Club Director of Operations, Kevin Geisheimer, and Peter Bernatsky for collaborating on this tour.

It turns out that if you tell a story, put some music to it, add emotion and great visuals in sequence, you can invoke the same feelings and ideas as the big leagues. When you surround people with others in an event centre experiencing the same moment, you can give patrons an experience they remember, enjoy, and come back for again.

That is the power of video and audio.