Backstage at a Keynote

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a keynote?

This weekend I spent most of my time setting up a 3 minute portion of the Intel Solution Summit - Tom Kilroy keynote.  I blogged a bit about the ISS event itself on the EBS blog and thought it would be kind of cool to show some of the behind the scenes action.

Keynote prep starts weeks in advance.  We plan what we want to demo, who is going to demo it and what infrastructure we need to make it all work.  The Intel keynote is done in two locations, so this means we double the complete infrastructure.  To do a quick laundry list.

• 6 x Intel Modular Servers (Primary, Backup and Standby)
• 3 x Complete sets of spare parts
• 6 x EBS installations, based on an interim build of EBS
• Routers, USB hubs, DVD-ROMs
• Misc packing materials (patch cables, gaffer tape, screwdrivers)

Each server then gets shipped to Microsoft first, where we set everything up in our labs (or any space we can find) and then begin building each server per a standard configuration.  At the same time we're writing the actual script to ensure all of the stakeholders are happy with the content and we can build that into our testing matrix.

Once all the machines are stood up we begin loading them up.  Ensuring that any hardware failures can be found and resolved.  We build a bug log so that any errors we find can be resolved and repro'd once they're packed.  We usually make the call to lock the interim build about this time too.

Following the lock down of the build, and HW testing, we start trying to break the demos.  Stepping out of the click sequence, doing random things, like pulling out disks and failing over power suppliers.  This stage usually last for about two or three days.  Once everything has past this stage we start pack out.

Pack out means we wrap everything up to be ready to ship.  We usually use custom built cases to ensure things get there in one piece but often find that even then we get at least a few breakages when we ship to each location.  Hence such a large amount of hardware.

Then we usually don't see our hardware until we arrive at the site.  Packing in is the most nerve racking time of a keynote.  You never know if your servers have made it.  What the back of house is going to be like, and whether you'll have enough time to actually get it all together.  I don't think I've every had a keynote where there is a ton of time to actually transition from one scene to the next. 

Enter...  The stable setup.  One of the tricks I use is to create a completely isolated area where we stand up the primary machine.  Turning this on and testing it and ensuring the team has something to review the script on (yep we start reviewing the script again!) as well as a chance to isolate any new issues.

Next we plumb it all in.  You can see the dozens of screens that make up the show floor from here we control the back up machines, ensure all of the transitions work smoothly and look proactively for any glitches that might happen seconds before a keynote.  In the picture to the right you can actually see the back up laptop consoles on top of one of the primary EBS machines.  These sites are a little hostile with 100A cables all over the place and not too much light to make out obstacles.

Finally with all of the technology in place and script reviewed (we got to version 8 in this keynote) we then begin tech-check.  This lasts usually an hour or so and we can sometimes repeat this several times looking for ways to ensure our messages are clearly heard and everything moves smoothly.

So there you have it, everything leading up to actually doing the keynote.  Ironically once you've done all this and you present for the few minutes allocated it takes a fraction of the time to put it all away and ship it back to Redmond.