You already said it... Point the loudspeakers at the people.
Where are the people going to be? On the floor or in the seats? Hopefully all the people are concentrated in one area. That way you can point your loudspeakers at that area.
Where is the power and what power is available? Do you have a suitable distro to interface with that power?
You definitely need to have some people who can just handle the audio setup and lighting setup so you can concentrate on the other things.
What are you flying? How are you flying it? Do you know the load required for each point? Is that load suitable for what is available in the venue? Is the venue not going to require the use of their riggers?
Do you have enough loudspeaker cable?
What about snake length and XLR cable?
Where are you putting FoH? Have you checked with whomever is producing this event?
Will you need cable ramps? Do you have any cable ramps? Do you know how many you will need?
Just a couple thoughts for you... but remember, the key thing is to point the loudspeakers at the people. There is no reason to use a line array if you already own loudspeakers that can be flown and can cover the required area.
Thanks, for the response. I've tried to think through all of those questions. Here are my answers as of now.
The center will be carpeted with approximately 600-800 (can't remember count) seats. So there will be some spill onto the sides/back seats.
3x 20A circuits located around the arena on the sides (for the score keepers) There is 3p N/G 120v camlock (not sure what the feeder panel rating is, but I'm assuming it is enough) for our DIY distro. Sadly, it is located a fair distance away inside a maintenance room so we'll be running feeder cable closer to the stage from there.
Can't fly anything. I didn't even try to obtain permission for that. I plan on sticking the speakers on truss sticks L/R of stage while center clustering the subs. I'm currently working on a plan angle the speakers down and in slightly for the up close crowd which will be the main recipients of the sound.
Don't need much speaker cable as mains are powered & subs will be within 45' of amps.
150' for snake. I figure stick that on stage and go as far as possible and put the booth there. Should be roughly 3/4 at the back of the floor. The producer basically has left the details to us. and the owner/manager of the venue doesn't want his basketball floor hurt because it's his pride and joy. so catering to the manager is slightly necessary.
Haze was a big issue that he was concerned about damaging his floor even though it will be covered.
I'm thinking about a raised booth; advisable? yes?
Lots of Gaff tape. We don't have cable ramps. I doubt we will need cable ramps we'll use rugs in some of the high traffic areas.
I was entertaining the thought of turning off their system except for the speakers for the sides which could be used to supplement where our system won't be pointing (sides).
Obviously this is a big step for us and we might not necessarily have the perfect gear but we have adequate gear. My goal is to not try and do something silly or stupid in an arena. I mean I'm just trying to cover my bases by thinking about the pitfalls before they happen. I'm sure we could easily show up and do our typical setup and run things just fine. But I'm trying to alleviate any of those 'what-if's'
I would guess that being this is a memorial service after a funeral, speech is going to be very important. At least you are not dealing with a rock concert in there. I would try and have a listen to the house system and fill in as needed.
The event will be primarily consisted of Hillsong Young & Free style music Christian upbeat; good bass; electronic; worship style music. So it needs to be fairly loud. 100dbA average center room would probably be our goal.
I was really confused as to where you were getting that this event was a memorial service as I couldn't find anywhere that I said that. (probably should have specified in my original post), but I see the caption of the image...that image was a random image off of Google of the venue to help.