Live Event Production: Choose Peace of Mind Over Chaos

Does your live event production team have a fire drill mentality? Do they spend their time addressing one eleventh-hour emergency after another? If so, they may be causing unnecessary stress by shifting the focus from strategic show production to back-end crisis management. Fire drills come at a cost.

Live Event Production 101

Poor planning can cause much bigger problems than the fires being put out. It’s dangerous to work with a company that’s always scrambling and that seems to thrive on emergencies. When everything moves at a frenetic pace, important details tend to slip through the cracks.

To be fair, it’s hard to reverse a fire drill mindset, especially when tightly timed events have so many moving parts. Choosing the right live event production partner is key. Below, I’ll describe three ways you can forgo the fire drill: (1) eliminate chaos through better planning, (2) seek expert guidance, and (3) demand accountability and service.

Eliminate Chaos Through Better Planning

First and foremost, we’re always asking our clients what we can do to relieve them of some of their planning burden. We communicate early and often, asking questions about budgets, the venue, and event goals, size, and attendees. We also help them review price lists and packages, use our easy reference tools and checklists, and understand critical information about the technologies, materials, and supplies they need.

With proper planning, adding tasks and fixing problems on the fly become a lot easier. We have found that remaining calm and really thinking through the details of our clients’ events bring our clients less chaos and stress, a better show flow, and more engaged attendees.

Seek Expert Guidance

A lot of confusion and chaos stem from the fact that clients often don’t know what they don’t know. They may not be sure what questions to ask, what technologies they need, or how best to achieve their event goals.

Live event production isn’t just about the latest technologies. It’s about what you want to achieve and the best way to achieve it. Many clients want creative ideas that optimize their budgets, make a big impact, and bring consistent results. They want to know what works, what doesn’t, and why so they can make better decisions.

They want a real event production partner vs. a commodity solution that provides rote response, makes too many assumptions, and neglects to weigh in when expert input is critical.

When you’re working with the right partner, you have someone in your court that knows what to look out for and makes sure you’ve covered your bases. By involving your partner early in the planning process, you can get the guidance you need and ensure every detail of your show is addressed from beginning to end.

Demand Accountability and Service

Bureaucratic live event production processes and a lack of accountability won’t give you peace of mind or make your shows run more seamlessly run. Choose a partner who hires strategically, invests in staff training and certification, and knows how to plan and execute live event production in order to capture the attention of discerning audiences, make your shows more memorable, and reinforce your reputation.

Make sure every member of your live event production team has the authority to act in support of your needs without having to follow complex, time-consuming approval processes. Your account manager should serve as your dedicated point of contact, but the entire company should answer to you.

You should expect service, collaboration, and no surprises from start to finish. Your partner should account for every detail in a simple, efficient manner and never leave you hanging.

Choose a Live Event Production Partner That Always Makes You Look Good

TST recently received a call from an exhibit house that forgot to place a large order. We were able to fulfill the order in just 12 hours, making our on-the-fly support invaluable to them. Another client realized at the last minute that they forgot to order a video projector for a breakout session. We jumped in and took care of that client as well. We do whatever it takes to protect your reputation and make your shows the best they can be.

Our culture of planning and preparation means we’re able to help out in a pinch; however, accounting for every detail means that stressful, emergency support is usually the exception rather than the rule. Instead of simply fixing problems after they occur, we can help you anticipate problems ahead of time. Our methodical planning will give you peace of mind that every one of your shows will go off without a hitch.