LIVE ONLINE COURSE

LIVE EVENT TECHNICAL MANAGER

Dates: 27 JAN 2027 - 22 MAR 2027

Duration: 7 WEEKS
MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS
5 PM PT / 8 PM ET

APPLY

DOUG YOEL
HIGHWOODS HOUSE PRODUCTIONS

LIVE ONLINE COURSE

Take the top technical seat on major live and hybrid events, leading the systems, the crew, and the show itself as Technical Director.

Doug Yoel, an award-winning Technical Director and producer with 2 French Grammy Awards, will show you how to plan, build, and run shows that hold up when it counts.

THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU, IF...

YOU ARE AN INTERMEDIATE OR SENIOR AV PRO

Deep skill in one technical area won't carry you into Technical Direction on its own. This technical event production course builds your technical planning, budgeting, crew leadership, and show management skills through site surveys, budget workshops, and live show simulations. You'll leave ready for Technical Director and Production Manager roles, with a complete Technical Production Package to prove it.
YOU ARE A TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OR PRODUCTION MANAGER

You can run a show, but today's systems demand deeper networking and infrastructure knowledge. In this event technical production course, you'll work through system design, signal-flow documentation, network architecture, and troubleshooting methods across Dante, NDI, and DMX environments. You'll oversee complex live and hybrid productions with stronger risk management and the technical fluency to back every call.

SIMULATE THE SHOW

Across eight workshops, you'll run a simulated site survey, build a technical budget, rehearse a show, and handle a live event scenario full of instructor-set challenges. Four assignments take you from a Technical Requirements Document to a complete load-in and build schedule.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD

Doug Yoel brings decades of live, hybrid, and broadcast experience into every class, from a real-world Dante demo to a teardown of how a major live event is structured behind the scenes. You'll trade show-crisis stories with your cohort and learn how past failures lead to smarter planning, with 1:1 sessions available for career guidance.

A PORTFOLIO-READY PRODUCTION PACKAGE

Your final project is a complete Technical Production Package for a live, hybrid, or broadcast event of your choice. It spans planning, systems architecture, and show execution, from the TRD and budget to network diagrams, a show runbook, and an incident response plan. It mirrors what a Technical Director produces on the job, ready to show in interviews and freelance pitches.

Doug Yoel LINKEDIN PROFILE

Works as Technical Director, Audio & Video Engineer, and Multi-Media Producer at Highwoods House Productions
Brings decades of experience leading live, hybrid, broadcast, and studio productions
Leads high-profile events in New York and around the world for global brands and major venues
Won a DigiDay Media Award for Best Web Series, WSJ+ Slow Food Fast, as Technical Director for PMGR
Earned 2 French Grammy Awards and 4 US Grammy nominations as Producer for Disques Dreyfus
Collected 23 festival awards and selections as Director of Photography for HereTV
Operates independently with a keen awareness of current and emerging production technologies

MON (1/25), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Welcome, Event Technology Leaders!

Meet your instructor and fellow cohort, walk through the course roadmap, and get a clear view of the assignments and final project you'll build over the coming weeks.

Instructor and student introductions
Course roadmap
Assignments and final project overview
Class discussion: sharing your lived experience in live events

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WED (1/27), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Modern Live Event Technology Ecosystems

Explore how live event technology has evolved and where the Technical Event Manager fits across corporate events, concerts, sports, exhibitions, and hybrid productions as you move from operator to leader.

Evolution of production technology through the Covid era
Event technology sectors
Production team structures and responsibilities
Technical departments and interdependencies
Moving from operator to technical leader
Workshop: mapping the technical ecosystem and stakeholders of a major live event

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MON (2/8), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Translating Creative Vision into Technical Reality

Learn to turn creative event briefs into Technical Requirements Documents, define scope early, and keep client expectations grounded while balancing experience goals against real budgets.

Client discovery meetings
Reading event briefs
Defining technical scope
Early risk identification and redundancy planning
Stakeholder communication plans
Managing client expectations and "Magical Thinking"

Assignment #1: Technical Requirements Document
Convert a creative event brief into a Technical Requirements Document.

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WED (2/10), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Designing AV Systems for Success - When failure is not an option!

Discover how to select the right audio, video, and lighting technologies for each client need and plan Dante, NDI, and DMX networks with redundancy built in from the start.

Audio-over-IP routing with Dante
NDI fundamentals, bridge, and remote workflows
Video infrastructure design
DMX, Art-Net, and sACN lighting networks
Media-specific latency and system redundancies
Demo: a real-world Dante workflow

Assignment #2: Integrated AV System
Design an integrated AV system for a hybrid event.

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WED (2/17), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Systems Design & Signal Flow Architecture

Master the system maps and signal-flow documentation that keep every department aligned, from audio and video pathways to lighting control, broadcast routing, and Vectorworks schematics.

Systems thinking for live events
Audio and video signal flow
Signal-flow documentation standards
Lighting control pathways and broadcast routing
Technical schematics and scenic plans in Vectorworks
Workshop: class discussion on the worst show crisis you've witnessed

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MON (2/22), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Network Design for Live Production

Build the networking knowledge live production now depends on, designing redundant IP-based architectures and deciding when AV-over-IP, traditional AV, or a hybrid approach best fits the show.

What gets networked and why
AV-over-IP, traditional, and hybrid applications
Layer 2 vs Layer 3 networking
VLANs, QoS, and multicast (IGMP)
Production network topology and bridging hardware
Network redundancy fundamentals

Assignment #3: Signal-Flow Package & Network Architecture
Create a production signal-flow package and design an event network architecture.

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WED (2/24), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Budgeting & Vendor Management

Develop accurate technical budgets, plan procurement, and negotiate with equipment vendors using scope-of-work documents and comparison strategies that keep productions on budget and properly covered.

Equipment estimation and rental workflows
Budget creation
Vendor negotiations and comparison strategies
Procurement and scope-of-work development
Insurance
Workshop: developing a technical budget for a specific event

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MON (3/1), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Logistics - Crew & Venue Planning, Site Surveys

Plan the people and places behind every show, from crew staffing, labor scheduling, and union considerations to venue site surveys covering power, rigging, internet, and access.

Crew staffing and labor scheduling
Union considerations and travel logistics
Comprehensive venue site surveys
Internet planning for hybrid events
Load-in access and venue risks
Workshop: simulated site survey

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WED (3/3), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

It's Showtime! Load-In, Installation & Systems Integration

Sequence equipment staging, coordinate departments through load-in, and commission audio, video, lighting, and internet systems while validating networks and redundancy paths before doors open.

Equipment staging and interdepartment coordination
Technical commissioning workflows
Dante, NDI, and DMX deployment
Network validation, clocking, and monitoring
Troubleshooting methodologies
Verifying redundancy paths

Assignment #4: Load-In & Build Schedule
Create a load-in and build schedule.

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MON (3/8), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Rehearsals, Testing & Show Readiness

Validate every system end to end, run technical and executive rehearsals, and apply go/no-go frameworks that tell you with confidence when a show is truly ready to go live.

System testing and end-to-end validation
Cue testing
Technical and executive rehearsals
Show readiness assessments
Go/no-go decision frameworks
Workshop: technical rehearsal simulation

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WED (3/10), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Crisis Management, Redundancy & Incident Response

Turn yesterday's disasters into today's expertise by designing failover systems and building incident response protocols for equipment failures, network outages, and cybersecurity threats.

Backup system design
Mitigating hardware and network failures
Disaster recovery
Cybersecurity
Incident escalation and crisis communication
Workshop: technical incident crisis planning

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MON (3/15), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Running Live Events Under Pressure

Step into the show-day command seat, leading technical operations through clear command structures, intercom communication, and real-time decisions while keeping stakeholders and executives informed.

Show-day leadership
Production command structures
Intercom systems
Technical decision-making and real-time escalation
Executive communication under pressure
Workshop: live show simulation with instructor-set challenges

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WED (3/17), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Managing Hybrid & Broadcast Workflows

Integrate streaming platforms and cloud production into hybrid shows, plan broadcast failover, and manage latency, recordings, and virtual participants for audiences in the room and online.

Streaming platforms and cloud integration
Broadcast failover planning
Latency across hybrid productions
Recordings and audio mastering
Virtual participants and live graphics
Workshop: operating a hybrid event scenario

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MON (3/22), 5 PM PT/8 PM ET

Event Closeout & Future Growth

Close out every event cleanly with strike, de-rig, and equipment return plans, then review what worked and explore the emerging technologies shaping your next career move.