CONNECTED
MINDS
Nicola Macdonald explores the
AV connection between in-house
corporates and venues
s the events industry
continues to evolve, so
does the relationship
between venues and
event planners. For venues, in an
ever-changing and increasingly
dog-eat-dog marketplace, the slightest
edge over the competition could mean
the difference between winning a
pitch and not quite making the cut.
The question is, are the venues that
are spending significant amounts of
money on their in-house technical
infrastructure getting a return on that
investment? And, perhaps more
importantly, are event planners
noticing the effort?
“We try to use on-site AV wherever
possible for events around the country
in order to save on costs and support
the venue and the local area,”
comments Alison Fordham, group
events manager at Bravo Group.
“However, sometimes we need larger
sets and higher quality AV, which often
the venue struggles to provide, so they
need a recommended supplier to step
in and facilitate this.
“In my opinion, the provision of AV
at some venues could definitely be
improved upon. Sometimes if you
book a meeting room for 50-60
delegates you get a low-quality
projector, a six-foot pop-up screen and
a flipchart – that’s just not going to cut
it for the viewing quality we need and
style of event we run. As events
become more and more experiential,
there’s a need for video streaming and
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more in-depth/technical slides.
“A technician on-site is a must for
any problems that arise. In this vein,
Wi-Fi provision can be an issue, as
some of our events include live
streaming. We often need a venue
that can accommodate private
bandwidth and hardwired
connections. It’s incredible how much
the technical aspect of conferencing
costs within an events budget, so if
you’ve shortlisted two venues and one
has higher quality tech and more
capability – it is a major influencer in
the decision-making process.”
Central Hall Westminster, alongside
on-site technical partner White Light,
has made a significant investment in
in-house tech over the last five years,
including a motorised rigging system
built into the Great Hall dome in 2015,
a Crestron digital matrix system
connecting lighting, audio and video
throughout the venue, and the largest
in-house installation of Yamaha
equipment in Western Europe.
“The objectives were to make each
room multi-purpose, maximise
occupancy and to offer the level of
modern technology that today’s event
planner expects from a venue of this
calibre,” explains managing director
Paul Southern. “With the diversity of
events that the Great Hall can
accommodate, an automated rigging
system was essential, enabling every
configuration to save on time and
money, while offering greater flexibility.
“We have seen a significant ROI
from an increased utilisation of
in-house production services and
delivering a growing number of events
at Central Hall since White Light
became our in-house tech and AV
partners in 2015.
“Importantly, a lot of this growth
has been from enabling clients to
spend more of their budget on
equipment to enhance their events,
rather than on high crew costs for
set-ups and turnarounds.”
Budget is a significant factor in the
conversation around in-house venue
tech: if the venue can provide a good
enough technical service and include
that in their offering to organisers it
frees up not-inconsiderable funds
which can be spent improving an
www.conference-news.co.uk
AV and Production
event in other
areas.
“It’s a shame
more venues don’t have better tech,
because we would save money for us
and the client,” says Rebecca Hartley,
Founder of Saving Grace Events. “We
tend to bring in our own because it’s
usually better. We almost always use
our own AV and the only in-house we
use is projection, but the quality
varies from venue to venue.
“Clients are definitely asking for
more experiential and high production
events, but it’s difficult when clients
such as charities have a low budget
and need something high-end to
justify the ticket price, that’s when
good venue tech can make a
difference.”
“The right in-house tech can be
really transformative for a venue and
what it can offer to prospective
customers,” adds Matt Stridgen, head
of projects & installations at SRD
Projects. “A permanent technical
installation can create an
infrastructure which will allow a venue
to modernise over time and adapt to
changing client needs.”
If venues do make the decision to
invest in their in-house infrastructure,
says Fordham, it’s worth thinking
about how that advantage is
promoted to event planners during
site visits or FAM trips.
“Some of the best site visits I’ve
been on have included a
representative from the in-house tech
team or preferred supplier, where
they’ve shown what’s possible in the
space” she concludes. “At the end of
the day I’m no expert on AV, so having
someone there that is unbelievably
helpful.”
The issue of venue in-house tech is
arguably a chicken and egg scenario.
Event organisers choose dry hire and
bring in their own technical teams
because the venue offering isn’t up to
scratch, meanwhile venues are
reluctant to make a significant
investment because they aren’t
confident organisers will use their
services. The events industry is built
on successful partnerships, perhaps
all it needs are more event profs to
take the leap?