As an event planner, tell me if you’ve heard this one before:
“We can definitely accommodate your event, and it’s great that you have an AV vendor you want to use, but we have an in-house AV team, so you’ll need to work with them.”
I’m willing to bet you’ve heard it a number of times! However, contrary to what the venue may lead you to believe, you are usually not obligated to use their audio visual services. Of course, there are some things you need to be aware of if you choose not to use them.
Why Do Venues Want You To Use Their In-House AV Team?
For most hotels and other venues that insist you use their onsite audiovisual team it all comes down to money (exceptions are when the venue has a union contract, which you can read more about here). Most in-house AV companies aren’t employed by the venue; rather, they are an outside company that simply has a contract with them. In order to gain this contract, the AV company has agreed to give back a commission or split of the revenue to the venue. This holds true for just about any in-house AV provider/venue partnership. This gives the venue a major financial incentive to have you working with their provider. Unfortunately for you, you’ll be paying more, because their provider will undoubtedly charge you a lot more for equipment and service to cover the loss in revenue they have to give back to the venue.
Choosing your own outside third-party provider brings your expenses back down to face value, but that means the venue will lose the commission they would normally receive for their in-house AV team. So, they’re incentivized to get you to agree to their terms and work with their team.
Reasons Venues Will Say Their In-House AV Team Is Better
Of course, the venue isn’t going to tell you the reason they want you to use their onsite audio visual team is financially motivated. So, be prepared to hear any of the following excuses—and understand why they’re simply not valid.
- Our in-house AV team knows the venue better. While this could be true, it’s not normally a pain point for most people. Any reputable event productions company has worked in hundreds of different venues and can easily acclimate themselves to a new one. They’ll also get into the venue early to gain an understanding of what they’re working with. So, this is really a non-issue.
- Our in-house AV team is better equipped to troubleshoot. Again, reputable AV production companies are highly experienced at troubleshooting any problem; plus, they’ll be bringing in and working with their own equipment, so they’ll be prepared to handle any challenges that arise just as competently as an in-house team.
- Our in-house AV team served all sorts of clients, so we’ve got you covered! You can say that again. In fact, it’s likely their team will be serving other clients at the same time as they’re taking care of you! Without a dedicated team, there won’t be someone always on hand; so, you may need to track down a technician who’s occupied with another client’s system setup. And if a problem arises during the event and they’re not on-hand to resolve the situation immediately, things can go south quickly and reflect on you as the event planner.
- We are a unionized venue and must use our in-house AV team. While venues with a union contract ar required to use their unionized team, a unionized venue can still bring in a third-party AV team. They may require shadow labor, resulting in additional fees, however, a good event productions company knows their way around this tactic too. Read more in our blog on shadow labor.
Bringing in a Third-Party AV Team
Despite what a venue may tell you, and except in the case of a union contract, you can almost always bring in your own audio visual event companies. After all, the venue wants your business. Of course, they’d love to get all the business, but would ultimately prefer to get part of it and a happy repeat customer than get no business or a dissatisfied customer who won’t come back in the future. Besides, most venues make the majority of their event business off of rooms and food & beverage, so if you’re blocking overnight stays and using their catering business, they’ll play ball when it comes to AV. They also know that in cities like New York, a venue that won’t lock you into using an in-house AV team is just down the street!
After they’ve given into your third-party demands, be sure to review your contract carefully; because they’re losing commission on the deal, they may try to charge you on the back end with items such as audio visual services liaison fees, rigging fees, floor covering, and more. Always take note of and negotiate these details before signing any contract. Remember, everything is negotiable, and your business is important to them. Just a hint that you’re taking your business elsewhere may be all it takes to get exactly what you want, without any hidden fees, especially at hotels. After all, the main goal of a hotel is to fill rooms, not gain incidental hotel audio visual commissions.
Hosting an Event?
The venue tends to be viewed as the be-all, end-all of event planning and most event planners try to book that first. At One Way Event Planning, we have another idea: book your audiovisual company first! We will work with you to find a venue that can accommodate your needs and will negotiate with them on your behalf to get you the very best deal. It’s just one way (wink, wink) that we go above and beyond for our customers. Contact us today to learn more about our audiovisual event services, to get a quote, or to learn how we make event production painless!
