Can we also have four lapel mics and a live stream
The request comes in on Wednesday afternoon for a Thursday conference. It was mentioned to the sales manager on a site visit two months ago, but it did not make it into the booking. Your in-house technician, or your AV partner, has already packed the kit for what the function sheet said: a lectern mic, one handheld and a projector.
Now someone is ringing round for extra radio mics, checking whether the venue internet can carry a stream, and trying to work out who pays for all of it. The organiser assumes it was included. The invoice discussion will be uncomfortable.
AV is agreed in conversation, not captured
Most event bookings record AV as a line or two in the notes: projector and screen, PA. The details that matter are discussed later, often by the organiser's own speaker coordinator who is not the person who booked. Presentation formats, laptop connections, walk-in music, recording, hybrid attendees and stage lighting each change what the technician brings and how long setup takes.
- The booker, the organiser on the day and the speakers are often three different people.
- AV is confirmed at the end, after catering and room layout, when time is shortest.
- Your AV partner hears about changes second-hand, sometimes on the morning.
- Nobody has set a date by which AV must be final, so it never is.
The cost of the day-before scramble
Late AV requests mean hired-in kit at short notice, technician overtime and a stressed setup. Some requests cannot be met at all, and the organiser remembers the event where the stream failed, not the fact they asked too late. Unrecorded extras often go unbilled, or are billed and disputed because nobody agreed a price in writing.
Your technician also loses the chance to test. Presentations arriving on a USB stick at the lectern are the most common source of on-stage problems.
How we build an AV requirements process
- When a booking is confirmed, the organiser gets a link to an AV requirements form built around your kit list: screens, microphones by type, playback, recording, streaming, lighting, stage furniture.
- The form asks for the on-the-day AV contact, which is often not the booker, and a place to upload presentations or send them by a set date.
- Deadlines are set relative to the event date, with chasers to the organiser as each approaches and an alert to your team if it passes.
- Items outside the package are priced from your AV rate card as they are chosen, so the organiser sees the cost before it is agreed.
- A technician brief is generated from the booking and the form: room, layout, kit list, running times, contacts, presentation status. It goes to your in-house team or AV partner automatically.
- Any change after the deadline is logged as a late change with its price and who approved it, and the brief is reissued.
| Stage | Organiser does | Venue sees |
|---|---|---|
| Booking confirmed | Receives the AV form link | Form issued, deadline set |
| Form completed | Chooses kit and uploads slides | Priced extras, technician brief drafted |
| Deadline approaching | Gets a reminder | List of events still missing AV |
| Late change | Sees the price before agreeing | Change log and reissued brief |
A normal conference week, once AV is settled early
The Monday production meeting starts with a list of this week's events and their AV status: confirmed, awaiting slides, overdue. The technician knows what to pack. When a speaker asks for something new on the day, there is a price and a record, and the conversation about the invoice has already happened.
Your AV partner sees fewer surprises, which usually shows in how they respond when you do need a favour.
Is this your venue?
- AV details are mostly in email threads and site visit notes.
- Your technician learns about extras on the day before or the morning.
- Presentations arrive on the lectern laptop minutes before a session.
- AV extras have gone unbilled or been disputed afterwards.
- There is no deadline by which organisers must confirm AV.