If you are hosting your 2026 Q1 Kickoff in Bristol, Connecticut, you are operating in the shadow of giants.
Just a few miles down the road on Middle Street, the global standard for sports broadcasting is set every single day at ESPN Plaza. Whether you realize it or not, that proximity sets a subconscious expectation for your audience. When people in this town see a screen, they expect clarity, redundancy, and broadcast-grade production.
Yet, too many local businesses will book a ballroom for their January strategy session and rely entirely on the “House A/V” package.
Here is the hard truth from a team that spent 25 years in the corporate trenches before picking up a camera: The venue provides the infrastructure. We provide the insurance.
The “House A/V” Trap
We love the venues in this town. The Bristol Event Center (BEC) is world-class, and the DoubleTree knows how to host a crowd. But you need to understand the difference between Venue A/V and Production.
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Venue A/V is designed for the people in the room. They ensure the mic works and the projector turns on.
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Production (JLS) is designed for the people watching remotely. We ensure the stream doesn’t buffer when your CEO announces the 2026 targets, and we ensure the audio is mixed specifically for laptops, not just ballroom speakers.
The venue provides the highway. We drive the car.
The 4:56 PM Problem (Specific to January 2026)
Here is a detail that amateur videographers miss: Sunset today (Jan 23, 2026) is at 4:56 PM.
If you are booking the Century Ballroom at the BEC, you are paying for those stunning floor-to-ceiling glass windows. They look magnificent at 2:00 PM. But if your keynote speech is scheduled for 4:30 PM to close out the day, you are driving straight into a lighting crisis.
As the sun dips below the horizon, the ambient light in the room will crash. A standard “set it and forget it” camera setup will struggle to compensate, leaving your speaker looking like a silhouette against a dark blue window.
We don’t just bring cameras; we bring a 3-point lighting rig calculated to balance against the January twilight. We adjust exposure in real-time so your CEO looks as crisp at 5:00 PM as they did at noon.
“We Know Corporate”
Most videographers are creatives first. They worry about “cinematic bokeh” and “color grading.”
We worry about redundancy.
Because we spent two decades in the corporate world, we know that a Q1 Kickoff isn’t an art film—it’s a business asset. We know that if the stream cuts out, you don’t just lose viewers; you lose authority.
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We understand hierarchy: We know who to mic up and who to keep off-camera.
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We understand discretion: We are invisible during the serious moments.
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We understand redundancy: We use cellular bonding technology to combine multiple internet connections. If the hotel Wi-Fi blinks, our stream stays live.
The Q1 Audit
If you have already signed a contract with a venue for your 2026 events, you might think you’re covered. You probably aren’t.
Call JLS Video Solutions today at (860) 707-3402.
Let us review the technical rider on your venue contract. We will tell you exactly where the gaps are—and how we can fill them before your team takes the stage.