Top AV Mistakes To Avoid When Planning An Event

We’ve spoken to so many companies in the past that have been working with their AV company for a long time – some over 10 years!

While building a good relationship with your supplier is great, sometimes the outcome can become a bit stale if they aren’t proactive.

If you have an event that runs annually then you may have become set in your ways of how you want to run the event and your AV company may no longer be throwing new ideas at you because you are a “safe” bet. This is where, without realising it, your events can become very uninspiring.

It is easy to fall into the trap of keeping things as they have always been because that is the way you have always done it.

We understand that when you find a good company that you want to continue using them year after year, but especially if you are a growing company, your needs and requirements may have changed significantly from when you first started out. You may now also have a larger budget to be able to afford to upgrade the quality of your equipment to offer a more professional event.

There are may reasons why you would stick with the same company, such as a good relationship and a high quality service but if you feel you are just using your AV company because it is the easy option then it may be time to consider a change.

Your event company knows your event better than you do

This is exactly the reason why you should consider switching your supplier. It is very easy to become complacent with the service that you are being given but if you think that your AV company know your event better than you do, you may be relying on them too much and not spending enough time planning your event to offer something different to previous years.

If you stick with the same thing year on year then you attendees may become bored of your event and no longer look forward to attending, or worse still, stop attending altogether.

If you have lost control of your event management and you aren’t using the latest event trends to your advantage, then it may be time to switch your supplier.

You thought you had to use the venue’s in-house AV company

This is a common mistake people make when booking a venue. Just because the venue has their own provider doesn’t always mean that you have to use them for your event.

If you come to a venue with a supplier already lined up then the venue is rarely going to turn away your business.

Companies can choose to use an in-house provider for ease but doing this may limit the quality of the production, as the company will be restricted by the equipment they have available to them. An external supplier can provide you with a bespoke setup for your requirements and ensure that your event is one to be remembered.

You don’t know anything about AV

You’ve always been happy with your AV supplier because you don’t understand it and speakers and lights are all the same right?! WRONG.

When using an AV company to run your awards ceremony for many years for example, you may not notice the level of quality that you are getting because you have nothing to compare it to. But just like all products, there are high quality and lesser quality versions of the same thing.

If it’s cheap you are looking for, because you don’t have the budget, then any equipment is a bonus, but if you’re looking for a high end, quality production then it may be worthwhile doing some research.

Good AV companies may be able to let you attend one of their events to see the quality for yourself before committing to using them as the main supplier of your event. At the end of the day your reputation is on the line.

You waited until the last minute and just booked the first one you found

AV is one of the first considerations you should make when you are looking to organise an event. Good event production companies can book up months in advance and if you aren’t organised then you can end up with the companies that are left, which may affect the quality of your event.

If you use a large AV company they are likely to have an event management department and a hire department that will be able to help you with the planning of the event and even help you to find a venue that is right for your specific requirements. Having someone who does this on a day to day basis is a huge advantage, as you may find that the venue doesn’t have the right space for a stage or is an odd shape or may only be able to accommodate the number of guests you have attending by having 12 people around a table, making it cramped for your guests. All these considerations need to be made when organising an event, especially if it is your first time.

You’ve had a bad experience with an AV company in the past

Just because you have had a bad experience in the past once or twice doesn’t mean that you are going to get a bad experience next time. Every event company is different and you are going to get some that are good and some that aren’t as good.

Make sure that you check out a company’s reviews as that is the best way to get a good idea of the quality of their AV production. The best way to do this is to look at websites such as Reviews.co.uk or Trustpilot as you will be able to see verified reviews whereas reviews on social media do not need to be verified and can be written by anyone.

Be mindful that, as with any company, you cannot expect 100% positive reviews as people’s opinions and emotions are always involved in writing reviews. You are more likely to write a review if you have had a poor service or things didn’t go to plan.

You don’t like change

If you are staying with your Audio Visual company because you don’t like change then don’t. Sometimes change can be a good thing. We see so many events that have become stale because they are exactly the same every year. Same venue, same stage setup, same lighting effects and quite often the same music. The same people attend each year and it has almost become a routine.

If this sounds like your event then you really need to think about making a change, especially if you want to attract new people. Word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools and more importantly FREE. If you want to attract new sponsors, increase attendee numbers and gain publicity then you need to ensure that you are making your event not only stand out from the crowd and be memorable but that people are talking about it afterwards. You will then start to find that people will be contacting you to attend or sponsor your event.

Other options

If any of the points above ring true then it may be worth at least considering having a chat with and getting a quote from an alternative supplier.
If you want to have a chat with one of our team to discuss your options the feel free to contact us and we can offer some friendly advice.