How much does Corporate AV Cost?

What drives corporate AV costs up?

In corporate AV there are a few major things that dramatically affect the overall price of your event.  Here are the top 2 things that will get you every time.

1 - Venue Selection & Size

If you are used to small shows of 100-200 people and are planning your first medium show of 500-1000 people you may be shocked by the jump in AV quotes/proposals you receive.  Wait till you do your first 10,000 person show........The reason for that is because in AV, the venue size has a DRAMATIC effect on the amount of PA/Lighting, LED or Screens sizes needed for even coverage of the space. Speakers are like flashlights, they are bright up close and get darker as you get farther away. So, if you want a large space to sound the same everywhere (which you should! Nobody want's complaints that attendee's can't hear) you need a LOT more PA to accomplish that task. Same with lights and Video Wall......Small room small screen, large room large screen...

Typically speaking the speakers on tripod stands that are so common on smaller shows are effective out to about 50' or so from the speaker. So, if you have a 100, 150, 200' deep room, you need more speakers.   Now, you can't just go slapping speakers on stands every 50' in the middle of your ballroom, your client will freak out! Out come the line array's and rigging to fly the appropriate amount of speakers and possible delay systems to maintain even coverage of the space so all attendee's have the same experience.

Now with properly deployed line arrays (We'll get there too!) you have effectively doubled your even coverage distance to about 100'.  Nice!  Most hotel ballrooms are in the 100 - 150' range and 20+' of that is used up for backstage A2 land (where the presenters get mic'd up) and the stage itself.  You can typically get even coverage without needing delays in a room that size.  But, those line arrays are going to be hangs of 6-8 boxes each to accomplish that, hence the higher price.

2 - Schedule!

AV companies bill based on a 10 hour day.........10 hours and 1 minuet from good morning how are you, that tech is in OT which is typically 1.5x time.  That adds up quick, especially as there are more techs on the show!  At the 12 hour mark they are in double time. Obviously it's 2x their hourly rate. Holy cow that adds up SUPER fast!

So, when you are making you master production schedule (You ARE making a master production schedule aren't you?) keep this in mind and save you and the client thousands!

What drives corporate AV costs down?

Same   2 things that drive them up! Venue selection and schedule.   Pick a smaller or easier venue and shorten the schedule each day to fit in the 10 hours per day limit.

What makes some companies so expensive?

Quality

Not all AV quotes or proposals are apples to apples!  How do you tell the good from the bad other than price?

One key thing you can do to ensure success is to ask for their prediction files and designs! You don't need to know how to read them or understand them.  What you are trying to discover here is does this person or company know what they are doing?  This is a pass/fail question. If they don't have a prediction file for the show, they are winging it. Plain and simple. ALL audio systems made today that are worth a darn allow us to computer model the room or space it's going to be in and predict the outcome!  How cool!!!!  If a potential AV company doesn't have that or says they don't need it, RUN! RUN as fast and as far as you can! Anything they deploy will be a guess at best and you deserve better than a guess!  If they do have a prediction file, ask them for a low variance design.  This means you want the same sound in the whole venue. NOT stunning loud in the front and quiet in the back. I know this is new and seems like some nerd tech stuff, but SAY THAT WITH CONFIDENCE on your next call or email! We AV companies will sit up straight in our chairs and know we are talking to someone who knows what time it is!  The higher quotes will usually have it and also be able to send it to you in PDF overlay-ed to your room so you can see what your results will be before you even step foot on site!

"Prep" & Pre-Production

The best companies "Prep" everything in the warehouse before it goes onto your show.  All consoles programmed, all networks tested and functioning, all wireless coordinated for drop out free operation, EVERYTHING pre-built in the warehouse to ensure a flawless execution come show day.  No surprises. That way when they arrive on site, it all clicks together like hi-tech legos in a few hours.  The more pre pro you can do with the vendor after you have selected them, the happier everyone will be.  Here is the place to go over the production schedule and try to save on OT and DT costs, ask about how many hands they need for the in and the out. Potentially saving you thousands in unforeseen costs or wasted expenses. For example if the vendor needs 4 hands for the in and the out but you ordered 8, you wasted money that could have been saved with a simple pre pro call.

What makes some companies so cheap?

The opposite of the expensive companies. No prep, hoping it will all work OK at the event.  Often old and dated equipment. Less experienced techs that have never seen the gear before it's on site and have to try and "Make it work". No real plan and definitely no design or prediction to know how it's going to sound. They are guessing that it will be OK.

Where do our prices fall?

We are costly.  Every show is unique, but our prices start at $10K USD for a small show and escalate quickly.  This is intentional on our part. We don't like getting yelled at. We prefer having fun and being creative. Executing with precision gets us hot and bothered in a good way!  Bring us your challenging, unique and crazy ideas and we will embrace you with open arms to deliver something incredible!

Is it really worth it?

Only you can answer that, because it's event specific and ultimately every event has a budget limit.

Here are some thoughts from some of the different types of events:

If the CEO steps out on stage and the mic doesn't work, everybody is likely fired.  No matter how much money you saved on AV.

It's pretty hard to raise money for a non profit if the slides don't work or bidders can't hear the auctioneer to know when to raise their paddle. 

With Great AV, the technology disappears and the impact, emotion and message are the focus of the event. With poor AV the AV "technical difficulties" are the focus of the event......