On Thursday 15 October 2026, NI Chamber brought around 150 business leaders, educators and young people to the Clandeboye suite at Clandeboye Lodge in Bangor for the Future Workforce Summit: Next Generation Workforce. It was our third year producing the summit, after Titanic Belfast in 2024 and the Dunadry Hotel in 2025. We built a 5m LED video wall on a raised stage, put live audience polling on the big screen, brought a remote speaker into the room over Google Meet and gave three panels of up to six people clear, reliable sound, all run by three AXL technicians.
The summit asked a direct question: Generation Alpha is coming of age, so is Northern Ireland ready? Headline sponsor NIE Networks was joined by supporting sponsors Further Education NI, Workplus and The Open University Business School, with speakers from economics, education, government and business, and a closing panel of young people at the start of their careers.
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The brief
Eleven sessions had to run in five and a half hours: a welcome, a ministerial address, four keynotes, a data presentation and three panels. NI Chamber needed:
A screen big enough for the back tables to read economic data, speaker titles and live poll results
Sound that worked for a lectern speaker, a seated panel of five and a moderator, with every panellist able to come in instantly
One speaker joining remotely who could see and hear the room, and take questions from it
A tight running order with no dead air between sessions
Our solution
A 5m LED wall sized to the room
The Clandeboye suite has a dropped ceiling, so we sized the screen to the room rather than the other way round. A 5m by 2.5m LED video wall in 2.9mm pitch panels sat at the back of the stage, tall enough to dominate the room while clearing the ceiling. At 2.9mm, poll percentages and slide text stayed sharp from the front tables, and the wall's brightness held its own in a room with daylight coming through the windows.
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Live polling on the big screen
NI Chamber's team ran live Slido polls through the day, and we switched them onto the LED wall with the join code and QR code on screen, so delegates voted from their tables and watched results build in real time. When the room was asked what holds employers back from recruiting more young people, 46% said time and capacity to train and supervise, and the panel picked up the result as it landed.
Bringing a remote speaker into the room
One speaker joined over Google Meet. Their feed filled the LED wall through our vision switcher, while a 4K camera at the back of the room and a direct feed from our sound desk went back to them through a dedicated laptop. They could see and hear the delegates they were speaking to, and took questions from the room as naturally as if they were on stage.
Show control and presenter support
A PixelHue P10 4K switcher handled every source: a main and a backup MacBook Pro for playback, speaker title slides, the live polls and the remote feed. Presenters moved through their own slides with a wireless MicroCue clicker, and a 40-inch confidence monitor at the front of the stage, hidden behind a black fabric panel, showed them what the room was seeing. Our glass lectern carried a built-in screen with summit and sponsor branding. Long fibre HDMI runs connected the stage to our control position at the back of the room.
Stage and staging
A 6m by 2m stage at 300mm height with a black pleated skirt and steps gave the panels room for six chairs and kept the lectern clear of the screen.
Sound for speeches, panels and a full room
Electro-Voice 12-inch speakers either side of the stage covered the front of the room, with a pair of 10-inch delays further down the suite so the back tables heard every panellist as clearly as the front, without pushing the front rows too hard. Six wireless handhelds, numbered so panellists always picked up the right one, covered the panels, with two gooseneck microphones on the lectern and a wireless headset for the host. Directional antennas kept the wireless solid across the whole suite. Our engineer mixed on a Yamaha digital console with tablet control, free to walk the room and check coverage during the day. We also recorded the full audio of the summit and supplied it to NI Chamber with an AI transcription.
Lighting
Four LED Fresnels front-lit the lectern and stage, so speakers read clearly in photographs and on camera against a bright LED wall. Ten uplighters washed the drapes and panelled walls in blue, with green behind the screen to pick up the summit's branding.
Registration
A portrait 55-inch digital sign at the entrance welcomed delegates as they arrived for registration and networking from 8am, with the agenda and the summit's sponsors.
Delivery and technical support
We built on Wednesday 14 October, so everything was tested and the first session started on time at 9am. On the day, three AXL technicians ran the show, led on site by full-time AXL staff. That meant one point of contact for NI Chamber's events team from the first coffee to the closing remarks.
The result
Eleven sessions ran to time, three panels were heard clearly from every table, and the room voted live on the questions the speakers were debating. For NI Chamber, it was a summit that looked and sounded as considered as the conversation it was hosting.
"Please pass on my thanks to [our technician] for yesterday. Everything went smoothly and he was on top of everything throughout." Phil Murray, NI Chamber
Planning a conference? Get in touch with Team AXL.
Key facts
Client NI Chamber (Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry), returning client, third year at the summit
Event Future Workforce Summit 2026: Next Generation Workforce
Venue The Clandeboye suite, Clandeboye Lodge, Bangor, County Down
Date Thursday 15 October 2026, 8am to 2pm
Delegates Around 150
LED 5m x 2.5m LED video wall, 2.9mm pitch, on a 6m x 2m stage
Visuals PixelHue P10 4K switcher, main and backup playback, live Slido polling, remote speaker via Google Meet, 40-inch confidence monitor, wireless MicroCue clicker, digital lectern, 55-inch portrait welcome screen
Audio Electro-Voice tops plus delays, Yamaha digital console with tablet control, 6 wireless handhelds, 2 lectern microphones, wireless headset, full audio recording with AI transcription
Lighting 4 LED Fresnels, 10 uplighters
Crew Three AXL technicians, led on site by full-time AXL staff
Frequently asked questions
Does AXL provide conference AV at Clandeboye Lodge in Bangor? Yes. We produced NI Chamber's Future Workforce Summit 2026 in the Clandeboye suite with an LED wall, staging, sound and lighting, and we know the room's ceiling height, sightlines and load-in.
Can you show live audience polls on an LED wall? Yes. We switch polling platforms such as Slido onto the main screen alongside slides and video, so delegates can vote from their phones and watch results update live.
How do you bring a remote speaker into a live conference? We put their video call, on Google Meet, Teams or Zoom, onto the main screen and send a camera view and a clean audio feed from our desk back to them, so they can see and hear the room and take questions from it.
