How to Level Up Your Event’s AV

Guest post written by Laurel Miller, Seamless Events CEO

It’s Spring 2021, and we all want to meet live and in-person again. We want to celebrate new beginnings, milestones, and achievements in the same physical space; we want to catch up with family, friends, and colleagues. “Hybrid events” have begun to take shape — and with various combinations of both in-person and virtual audiences for the same event, AV planning has become a lot more complicated. 

At Seamless Events, our clients relied on our extensive audio visual expertise when the pandemic forced in-person events to change to virtual. Today, we’re continuing to help event planners “know what they don’t know” so they make smart AV choices for their hybrid or socially distanced in-person gatherings. To orient your planning, you’ll need to know the same things you’ve always started with: 

• what do you want your Leftbank Annex event to accomplish?

• who’s your audience?

• how you can best meet your event’s objectives with an experience that makes attendees feel valued?

Below, we’ve shared some tips for thinking through your event’s audio visual needs in our current environment.

Exceed your audience’s expectations

You’ll find AV needs for standard live in-person events differ from socially distant in-person, hybrid, virtual, or other types of events — especially when you have multiple audiences. Your AV expert will help you:

• learn why getting things to look right for remote attendees may require in-person attendees to make some adjustments. 

• consider pre-recording elements of your event such as toasts, speeches, or remote speakers. 

• think through using an AV studio to livestream a ceremony or speakers while your in-person guests enjoy themselves. Keeping much of the AV gear at a studio allows you to host more people and ensures all your guests — in-person and remote — hear and see important moments. By pairing Leftbank’s AV options with our nearby Seamless Events studio space, you can deliver a great attendee experience while keeping logistics simple.

Collaborate with your AV team early and often

AV plays a role in all events, but technology plays an even bigger part in connecting your audience to your message than ever before. An experienced AV partner can work with you to: 

• plan for your specific AV and content needs so each individual audience benefits. 

• figure out how to deliver engaging content to your attendees in a budget-friendly way.

• get ideas for building excitement and community during your event, especially if you have multiple audiences.

Maximize your budget 

Unsurprisingly, we spend lots of time with planners discussing budgets as we all embrace new types of events! Your AV partner can ensure you:

• know the costs associated with giving multiple audiences the most engaging experience.

• map your budget to your priorities.

We’re in a period where what’s allowed and what potential attendees feel comfortable doing evolves constantly. If you’d like a free consultation to help you better understand your AV solutions, we’re happy to share what we’ve learned; contact Seamless Events today.