A very british hotel - A very poor advert for the entertainment industry

A few weeks ago I was watching a Channel 4 documentary about an exclusive London hotel (the Mandarin Oriental). It's a very posh hotel and they were putting on a wedding which seemed to be a very high budget event.

In my opinion (as everything is on this blog) the event was let-down by the tech. Look at the care and attention that has gone into dressing the room and then look at the plastic speakers on tatty black stands that have been supplied. In one picture you can see that the power cable to the loudspeaker wasn't even taped to the stand!

Perhaps this is an education thing? Perhaps people aren't aware that you can have really high quality audio, colour matched to your event, hiding in the background with cables colour matched to your carpet or walls, or even hidden under the carpet. You've just got to pay for it and find someone willing to go that extra mile.

The event manager says that he won't allow an event to go wrong, but yet he is happy relying on loudspeakers that are worth about the same as a glass of wine to his clients. I don't understand.

I would love to hear from the rental company that did this job and hear their side of the story. Did they educate the clients in what is possible? Why didn't they make extra effort, knowing that there was a camera crew in the room?

Also, I would love to hear from the Hotel to know if they are aware that it is possible to provide lighting and video equipment that is up to the same standard as their world-class dining and service.

Perhaps I should start a company specialising in top quality, bespoke audio and lighting systems....