Metinteractive Provides AV Systems for New Tahoe Blue Event Center in South Lake Tahoe

	Metinteractive provided the venue with AV systems, IPTV distribution, TV displays, broadcast replay and cable systems plus the arena's LED display and scoring systems in partnership with Mitsubishi Electric.

Located on the south shore of Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, The Tahoe Blue Event Center complements the natural beauty of the area with a stunning, rugged facility that serves an array of purposes in the mountain resort community. Metinteractive, which provides strategic solutions for architecture, communication and technology, supplied and installed AV systems for the new venue that is owned by the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority and managed by Oak View Group.

With a Tahoe-style lodge look featuring large windows and a log cabin feel inside and out, the Tahoe Blue Event Center offers more than 50,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting, convention and exhibition space with 26,984 sq. ft. of arena floor available for trade shows, general sessions and other uses plus 10,000 sq. ft. of meeting room space. Its 4,200-seat arena accommodates up to 5,500 people for sports, concerts and other live entertainment, meetings and community events. The venue will be home to the Tahoe Knight Monsters ECHL professional minor league ice hockey team beginning with the 2024-25 season.

"There's nothing this size in the area, so everyone got behind building this facility," says Bill O'Malley, regional marketing director for the Oak View Group in Stateline. "During our first year of operation we demonstrated that the Tahoe Blue Event Center is a year round destination due to the flexible space to host conferences, entertainment and youth sports."

Facing sometimes challenging weather and a very rural setting, Metinteractive provided the venue with AV systems, IPTV distribution, TV displays, broadcast replay and cable systems plus the arena's LED display and scoring systems in partnership with Mitsubishi Electric.

"Metinteractive came highly recommended by Oak View Group, and their past performance and capabilities backed that up," says Rick Kozuback, president of International Coliseums Company (ICC) in Scottsdale, Arizona, the owner's representative and project manager for the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority. "Not every company can handle a job like this. As a government project, we also had budget sensitivities, which Metinteractive knew how to deal with."

"Our experience and expertise in handling arenas, stadiums and major corporate projects coast to coast, including other Oak View Group properties, gave us the knowledge to deal with the daily demands of this new highly flexible, multi-functional venue," notes Metinteractive project manager Don Ellis.

Metinteractive provided audio systems throughout the building and IPTV distribution in the public spaces, including the digital signage content. Teaming with Mitsubishi, they installed the arena's main LED scoreboard and 360° ribbon board, which wraps around the entirety of the bowl.

"Event centers are always challenging because they have to be flexible enough to handle a wide range of uses and be futureproof as well," explains Nick Dornford, an Associate with WJHW, which has its main US office in Dallas and served as technical systems designers for The Tahoe Blue Event Center. WJHW's Scott Bray developed the sound and AV systems for the venue and Britt Morin developed the video production system design.

"I've worked with Metinteractive in the past on arenas and college stadiums, and this was a very ambitious, fun project to do together," says Dornford. "There's always some value engineering that has to happen to keep systems within budget, and Metinteractive helped adjust our specifications where necessary to accommodate budgets. But all the equipment is at a very high level: There were no low-dollar solutions -- the technology is first rate and can be easily added onto in the future."

Dornford notes that, "Metinteractive brought Mitsubishi to the table for the LED displays and helped us resolve budget challenges there. They devised a video production environment that can handle any show."

As facility managers, Oak View Group's interaction with Metinteractive involved training support for the everyday usage of all equipment. While being trained on the equipment for day-to-day use is important; a key differentiator is the ability to tap into the Metinteractive team who understands the customized technology. "Metinteractive has been very accommodating to make all the systems work as needed," reports general manager Kevin Boryczki. "They helped us remotely set up and program the scoreboard before our first youth hockey event. You can't always train for situations requiring some degree of customization: The next team will probably want something different. But Metinteractive will be there to help us each step of the way."

To further ensure the success of the venue, Tahoe Blue Event Center plans to engage Metinteractive's dedicated managed service team for additional training, game and event support, preventive maintenance (health checks to ensure the equipment remains in peak performance) and overall AV and IT support.

"The client is very happy, and people are enjoying the building. I'd work with Metinteractive again for sure!" notes ICC's Kozuback.