Chase Creative Unlimited - Event Staging and Audio/Visual Services

How Can You Ensure Successful AV on Your Next Event? (An article written by Brad Johnson)

What is the main goal of every corporate meeting? In order to be successful, corporate meetings must connect an important message to the attending audience. The only way to insure that the message is successfully relayed is through the effective and budget minded application of audio visual technology. There are some easy steps that a meeting and/or event planner can follow in order to best protect themselves from a bad AV experience.

1) Partner with a dedicated audio visual services provider:

If your meetings require significant audio visual equipment needs, you really need to look into building a relationship with an AV supplier that you can count on and trust your business with. Qualified AV companies work day in and day out obsessing over perfect event applications of the technology that they sell. Good AV companies look at building long term relationships with their clients so they always know what to expect from each other.

The more you work with a single AV supplier the easier the relationship can become. In the rare occasion that you cannot negotiate the AV portion of a venue contract (see below) or when you have a meeting where your AV needs are so minimal that it is not financially viable to bring your AV partner in to a venue, an AV partnership will still benefit you. If you have developed a true partnership with them, they will be more than happy to consult with you on the decisions that you need to make.

2) Negotiate the AV portion of your venue contract:

The easy way to deal with your AV needs is to rely on the AV resources that a venue you book in can provide for you on site…Tell them what your needs are and move on to the other things that you have to worry about. This is the most crucial mistake you can make. Unless you have had exceptional experiences in the past at this particular venue, you are rolling the dice any time you follow this practice. If you know nothing about this venue’s AV department, you have no reason to assume that you will have a good experience.

If you have no qualified information on the AV resources available to you, negotiate the ability to bring in your trusted AV partner at no financial penalty to you. The bottom line with most venues is that they still want your business (room rental, catering, sleeping rooms, linens, etc.) and they will be willing to concede the AV revenue to get the rest of your business. If you can do this, you should. At the end of the day, if the room looks great, the food tastes great, but everyone in the back half of the room could not hear the speaker or see the projection screens, you have failed to connect the message to your audience and your AV resource is to blame. Do not take this chance.

If you have had a great AV experience at a venue, continue to use their AV. This allows them to continue to provide this great service to their clients. The AV portion of your event is too important to leave to chance, so unless you have qualified the AV department, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.

3) Do not low bid your AV needs for any event OR make sure you know the difference between cheapest price and return on investment. Remember that no one will ever ask you “How cheaply your event failed?”

This is one of the biggest mistakes we see in the industry. There is nothing wrong with bidding out your suppliers and, considering the economy we are all drudging through, it is certainly understandable. However, if your goal in bidding is to get the lowest possible price at all costs, you will likely lose in the end. AV companies are no different than any other business. They will work hard to earn your business, but if you make it clear that the lowest price will win regardless, unfortunately many suppliers will do whatever they can to get you to sign on the dotted line. Once they have the contract, they will try to figure out a way to make it still a profitable endeavor for them…This means cutting corners or back billing (see below).

It is easy to confuse cheapest price with the best possible return on your investment. However, they are often two completely different things. Cheapest price usually will not deliver the best return on your investment because doing what is needed for that price, will not necessarily be the best application of audio visual technology for your needs. Pick an AV supplier that is willing to go the extra mile to hold your hand through the bidding process and help you to understand what you are getting for a targeted price. This will only lead to a partnership you can count on.

4) Hold your AV supplier accountable by asking for guaranteed pricing:

This is important in sticking to your budget. Unfortunately in our industry, there are a lot of suppliers that make it a habit to try to make up their revenue on the back end. Changes happen in the event world and that is unavoidable, but there is no reason for any of your final invoices from an AV supplier to have charges that you were not expecting. Demand that they provide you with change orders for any deviations from the original contract. If you make a change after you sign an agreement, you should be provided with a written notification of those changes and after you event, your final invoice should be exactly what you expected. If it is not, than your AV supplier has failed you.

5) Qualify your AV Supplier as an actual AV company and not the “guy working out of his house.”

There are AV companies and there are people who sell themselves as AV companies. Do not let yourself be fooled that there is not a BIG difference between the two. AV companies have inventories of equipment that they can control the quality of and guarantee its performance. “AV Guys” have to go out and subrent all the equipment you need and cannot be responsive if something goes wrong. Make sure you qualify your AV suppliers. Take the time out of your busy schedules to go out and tour their facilities. If they are hesitant for you to do so, there is definitely a problem. If there is not a facility to check out, do not hire them.

These are five things you can do to help insure that your future AV experiences are good ones. Good AV companies sell the fact that they take the, all too familiar, “AV headaches” away and there are a lot of good suppliers out there. Partnering with a qualified supplier will always benefit you in the long run. After all, if you successfully connect your client’s message, they will continue to turn to you for their future events!

*Brad Johnson is the Director of Business Development for Chase Creative Unlimited and works out of their corporate office in Plymouth, Michigan. Chase Creative is a national audio visual event staging and production company with sales offices and warehouses of rental equipment in Plymouth and Grand Rapids, Michigan. From these locations, they roll their trucks nationally supporting their clients’ audio visual needs.