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Historic 19th Century Building Becomes Event Space

When a fire swept through the downtown area of Walnut Ridge, AR in 1915, only one building survived but it remained vacant for nearly a century — until September of 2014 when local business owner Fran Cavenaugh purchased the historic building and transformed it into just what the town needed: The Studio, a premiere space for residents and businesses to host private events. Since Walnut Ridge has no other communal event space, Cavenaugh knew that she needed to provide patrons with a superior quality luxury AV system that was both efficient and easy-to-use. To do so, she turned to Ryan Heringer at Sound Concepts, who suggested that an ELAN control system was the ideal way to go. 

 “We host all different types of events, from wedding receptions to class reunions to local business meetings,” Cavenaugh said. “We needed the technology to be versatile to cover a wide range of uses depending on the renter.” For larger parties like wedding receptions and birthdays, music is of the utmost importance. Taking that into consideration, Heringer installed ten different speakers, two of which are outdoors in the front and back of the building. “With the new audio system controlled by ELAN, hiring a third-party music provider isn’t necessary. 

While The Studio’s management staff controls the system from a mounted Apple iPad and an ELAN remote, Cavenaugh also uses the ELAN g! app on her smartphone so that she can troubleshoot remotely. “It’s been life-changing to not have to be physically present to troubleshoot a minor, fixable issue,” Cavanaugh emphasizes.  The Studio has been a success in less than a year since the venue opened. “We’re currently averaging three business meetings a week and one wedding per weekend, and we expect those numbers to grow,” Cavenaugh said. “It’s been a wonderful experience thus far, and ELAN helps us ensure that every renter’s event is the best that it could be.”

A truly easy format

“What we are able to provide through the ELAN system is a dead-simple interface that turns everything on and presents the video options and computer connections in a truly easy format so even a first-time user can dive into operating it with ease.”

– Ryan Heringer, Sound Concepts