Walk-Up Reservation: A traveler who makes a purchase from a supplier without the benefit of an advance reservation.
Wallboard: A soft wood or fiber product used in one-time paneling or where whiteness and softness is desired.
WAN: Wide Area Network. Any Internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus. It spans multiple geographic distances.
War Room: Exhibit space lottery location.
Wardrobe Mistress: An individual in charge of costumes and their upkeep.
Wardrobe: 1) Costumes and all articles of dress of a play or production. 2) Room in which costumes are store or fitted.
Warehouse Receipt: A receipt issued by a warehouse listing goods received for storage. See DOCK RECEIPT.
Warm-Up: Activity to liven up the audience prior to show time.
Warranty: Statement made on an application for insurance that the applicant warrants to be true. If untrue, in any respect, any insurance relating to that warranty can be voided.
Wasabi: Japanese paste condiment made from horseradish.
Wash Light: Colored light that softly illuminates an area.
Wash: The difference between number of reservations at cut-off date and the number of final reservations at the end of an event. Can be positive or negative and be expressed as a number or percentage. See Also CANCELLATION/NO-SHOW PERCENTAGE.
Waste Removal: Removal of trash from building.
Waste Water Drain: A temporary drain line usually leading into sewer system.
Water Closet: WC. Sanitary convenience. Also Called TOILET, LAVATORY.
Water Connection: The temporary supply of water to a booth/stand.
Water Cooling: The method used to cool high-power lasers which requires a standard water supply (such as a janitor’s sink drain). In some circumstances the water is maintained in a closed system and the heat is extracted by a heat exchanger.
Water Stations: Tables with containers of drinking water and glasses for self service.
Water Weights: When large barrels are filled with water and used for anchoring a tent.
Watt: A unit of electrical power equal to a current of one ampere under one volt of pressure.
Waveform: Shape of the wave produced by a sound. Such shapes depend on the content of harmonics of the sound, and can be viewed on an oscilloscope fed by a microphone or other sound signal source.
Wavelength: Length of waves (from crest through trough to crest) produced by propagating sound, light or electromagnetic radiation. All radiation produces waves.
Way Bill: List of enclosed goods and shipping instructions, sent with material in transit.
Weather Back-Up Plan: The process of formulating strategies or detailed plans to deal with possible and unanticipated weather conditions that may affect events or other outdoor programs.
Web: World Wide Web.
Webcast: An event that broadcasts the audio and/or video portion of a keynote presentation or other educational sessions over the Web in real-time or on-demand.
Webconferencing: Web browser-based videoconferencing.
Webmaster: The person who maintains the Web site.
Welcome Cocktail: A drink served as an introductory gesture of welcome. Can refer to a single drink, or a reception where such drinks are served.
Welcome Reception: An opening event where welcome drinks and often food are served.
Well Brand: See HOUSE BRAND.
Wet Lease: Rental of a plane with crew, supplies, fuel, and maintenance service.
Wet Mount: Process of wetting photo blow up prior to wrapping it around a panel.
Wet: Addition of reverberation to audio program source material makes the sound “wet” when compared to “dry” sounds with no reverberation. See DRY.
Wharfage: A charge assessed by a pier or dock owner for handling incoming or outgoing cargo.
Wheeler/Wheelie: An upright, manually propelled, two wheeled cart used to move objects, such as boxes or luggage.
Whispered Interpretation: Interpretation by an interpreter in a low voice to the audience usually while sitting next to the interpreter. See CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETATION, INTERPRETATION, INTERPRETATION IN RELAY, SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION, TRANSLATION, WIRELESS INFRARED INTERPRETING SYSTEM.
White Board: A board with a white surface on which one can write with washable markers. Also Called MARKER BOARD. See also BLACKBOARD, CHALKBOARD.
White Noise: Random noise whose various frequency components all share the same energy density characteristics, producing the same voltage at any particular discrete frequency over a period of time, thus causing a frequency response trend that rises the same number of decibels as the percentage of frequency increase. See NOISE.
White Tie: Formal dress requiring white tie and tails for men and formal evening dress for women. See BLACK TIE. See Also FORMAL DRESS.
Whiteboarding: A feature of videoconferencing systems which allows the placement of shared documents on an on-screen shared space or “whiteboard.” Participants can edit and mark up the document just as on a physical whiteboard.
Wholesaler: Company which packages various components of tours and travel programs for sale through travel agencies.
Wholesaler: Develop and markets inclusive tours and individual travel programs to the consumer through travel agents. Wholesalers do not sell directly to the public.
Wide-Angle Lens: Special lens on projector for wider than normal image projection.
Widow: A short line of type at the end of a paragraph, usually one or two words.
Windscreen: Porous cover for microphones to block unwanted sounds.
Wing Nut: Commonly used threaded nut with flanges. Used for connecting backwall panels, and preferred for their easy adjustment by hand.
Wings: Off-stage area out of audience sight lines.
Win-Win Situation: Negotiable concept in which all parties benefit from the contract.
Wipe: Scene in a motion picture that appears to be pushed off screen by a new scene.
Wire Nut: Plastic thimble with recessed spring that closes spliced wires so that electrical contact is maintained.
Wireless Infrared Interpreting System: An interpreting system operated by radio waves and hence without wire or cable connections to audience headsets. See CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETATION, INTERPRETATION, INTERPRETATION IN RELAY, SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION, TRANSLATION, WHISPERED INTERPRETATION.
Wishbone Leg: Fold-up leg on display table.
Without Reserve: A term indicating that a shipper's agent or representative is empowered to make definitive decisions and adjustments abroad without approval of the group or individual represented. See ADVISORY CAPACITY.
Won Ton: Chinese ravioli.
Woofer: Loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-frequency sound only. Some woofers are called full-range loudspeakers and are used alone, e.g., ceiling speakers. Woofer in systems are usually used below about 3000Hz.
Work Lights: Lights used for rehearsal or working on stage.
Work Rules: Jurisdictional regulations which govern union craftsperson's working arrangement, include what work exhibitor may perform, when overtime begins, etc.
Work Time: Paid time that begins as soon as the workers are turned over to the exhibitor. Stops when the exhibitor releases them.
Working Drawing: The detail plans from which an exhibit is constructed.
Working Foreman: Employee who functions both as an employee and a supervisor at the same time. May be a workman part of the time and a foreman the rest of the time. May or may not be considered a supervisor under the Wage-Hour Law and the Labor Management Relations Act.
Working Group: 1) A meeting at which participants learn about a specific subject by means of practical “hands-on” application to that subject. 2) A meeting at which the participants discuss a particular subject, usually with the expectation of arriving at a common position within the group for proposing a solution to the problem.
Working Language: The language in which the various aspects of a meeting are conducted in practice.
Working Lunch: Light meal for small discussion groups, without a break from working sessions.
Working Program: Timetable of conference content.
Working Session: Every pre-arranged session of a formal meeting such as a congress or convention.
Workshop: 1) Meeting of several persons for intensive discussion. The workshop concept has been developed to compensate for diverging views in a particular discipline or on a particular subject. 2) Informal and public session of free discussion organized to take place between formal plenary sessions or commissions of a congress or of a conference, either on a subject chosen by the participants themselves or else on a special problem suggested by the organizers. 3) Training session in which participants, often through exercises, develop skills and knowledge in a given field.
World’s Fair: An infrequently occurring celebration that typically showcases the latest or future advances in the arts, culture, and technology.
Worldspan: One of the four major Computerized Reservation Systems (CRS) or Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
Wrap-Up: 1) To conclude an event. 2) To prepare the final report on an event.
Writing Chairs: See TABLET CHAIRS.
Xenon Lamp: Extremely high intensity lamp that is replacing the carbon arc light source in follow spots and long distance projectors.
XFMR: Abbreviation for “transformer.”
XL Connector: See XLR CONNECTOR.
XLR Connector: Typically, a three-pin plug or receptacle with a metal shell used for microphone cables and line level signal-carrying cabling.
XML: eXtensible Markup Language. An organizational markup language that describes text in a digital document.
Yakitori: Japanese term meaning "grilled" (yaki) "fowl" (tori), usually referring to pieces of marinated chicken that are skewered and grilled. Other meats may be used in place of the chicken.
Yellow-Dog Contract: Employment agreement, oral or written, providing that, as a condition of employment, an employee will not become or remain a union member. Illegal under the Norris-LaGuardia Act.
Yield Management System: A sophisticated computer based pricing system that vendors use to adjust prices based on anticipated demand. Also referred to as Revenue Management.
Yield Management: Computer program that uses variable pricing models to maximize the return on a fixed (perishable) inventory, such as hotel rooms, based on supply-and-demand theory.
Yield: 1) Number of pieces obtained from any given unit. 2) Exhibit revenue divided by net square feet or conference revenue divided by total number of conference attendees.
Yoke: The metal, U-shaped support, which holds a lighting instrument.
Zero-Based Budgeting: The process of building a budget without benefit of a previous year’s budget.
Zone Fares: Unpublished rates offered from the areas of the U.S. and Canada to specified event destinations; they do not require Saturday night stay over.
Zones: The rightmost part of an Internet address is called its zone. Name zones are divided into two categories: the three letter zone and the two letter zone. Three letter zones are set up by type of organizations; .com stands for commercial; .edu stands for educational institutions; .gov represents government bodies and departments. Within the United States, most Internet sites have names in one of the three letter zones; elsewhere, it is more common to use geographic names, by country or other recognized political entity.
Zoom Lens: Projection or camera lens of variable magnification that permits a smooth change of subject coverage between distance and close-up without changing the projection or the camera position.
Zulu Time: Greenwich Mean Time, the world time standard. See UCT (UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME). See Also GREENWICH MEAN TIME.