08/25/2026
60% of corporate event planners named advanced AV a top priority for 2026 (The Event Planner Expo). Most of the conversation that follows is about gear.
Here's what we keep coming back to: what separates a production partner from an AV vendor isn't the gear list. It's what happens between the first call and event day.
A vendor quotes off a form — audience size, room dimensions, three checkboxes, a number back. Fast and transactional, and there's a place for it. A partner starts with a thirty-minute call where the planner does most of the talking. We're asking about the run-of-show, the IT contact, the load-in dock, the rigging points, whether the audience is hybrid. We size crew and gear off the answers, not off the form. When the venue is unfamiliar or the production has a real curveball, we walk it with you — not every room every time, but when it'll change the answer.
Three questions worth asking any AV partner before you sign:
• Can we get on a call before you quote?
• Who from your team is on event day?
• How do you size crew?
If the answers come back vague, that tells you which one you're hiring.
We wrote up the whole model — discovery, pre-con, and how the relationship grows across events. Full read in the comments.
