The Space Foundation Space Symposium is the premier global, commercial, civil, military, and emergent space conference. The Space Symposium brings together space leaders from around the world to discuss and dream about the future of space. CEAVCO has supported many Space Foundation Space Symposiums, supplying a multi-screen video system, audio, lighting, and staffing for the annual event.
CEAVCO began working with the Space Foundation in 2005 when they were seeking a new audio visual production partner. They wanted to raise the caliber of the production to meet the expectations of top-level representatives from the international space community. Hosted at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, the Space Symposium attracts more than 11,000 participants from more than 30 nations. CEAVCO’s planning for each annual event begins six months in advance.
Kathleen S. Vinson, Vice President – Operations at Space Foundation, has praised CEAVCO’s willingness to go the extra mile and step up to every challenge. In 2019, Vinson wrote, “On behalf of our Board of Directors and the entire Space Foundation team, we would like to thank the CEAVCO team for setting the stage for a very successful 34th Space Symposium. This year truly was the best event we’ve accomplished thus far. … There were so many changes and special requirements requested …. [E]verything was flawlessly executed.
“We appreciate your team taking the extra time to meet with the Broadmoor staff prior to the Symposium to discuss schedules. We feel this makes the event run even more smoothly. Your CEAVCO team is the best and we consider it a privilege to work with all of you.”
Perhaps the greatest highlight of the 2019 Space Symposium was the live video conversation between Air Force General John J. Raymond at the Broadmoor and Expedition 59 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA aboard the International Space Station. U.S. Air Force Colonel Hague discussed his military heritage and his life and work on the orbital outpost with General Raymond, the commanding general of U.S. Air Force Space Command. Colonel Hague was in his second month of a six-and-a-half-month mission aboard the complex.
Here’s an excerpt from an email sent by U.S. Air Force Colonel Westover to the members of the NASA, Space Symposium, and CEAVCO Audio Visual team that made this conversation possible: “The audience was packed with thousands of the world’s space industry leaders (including NASA), and standing room only in the overflow rooms – the whole of the conference tuned in to see the NASA team rock their world. Mitch Brown [General Raymond’s aide] said later that General Raymond was hounded all day by folks saying how cool the downlink was.”
During the video conversation, Colonel Hague talks about the power of team and collective accomplishments. We couldn’t agree more. Establishing the video link was critical, and expectations regarding staging, imagery, and lighting were literally sky high. Through strong partnership, NASA, the Space Symposium, and CEAVCO were instrumental in making this inspirational, tightly timed conversation happen.