Whether it’s a board meeting, a large conference or a gala dinner, event planners juggle all sorts of details for any event that they plan. All too often, however, these organizers overlook a crucial aspect of their event planning checklist:

the audio visual setup. Having a solid AV equipment setup is critical to the success of any event, regardless of its size or location. Audio visual production can be a complex process, which is why event organizers tend to commit mistakes that threaten the success of their event. Here, we have rounded up some of the common errors that event planners make, as well as ways on how you can avoid them.

1. Failing to Properly Budget for AV Needs

Many event planners tend to overlook audio visual rental costs, causing them to be surprised with the extra charges later on. To avoid this from happening, hold your AV equipment and PA system rental provider accountable by asking for guaranteed pricing. Have them provide you with a change orders slip for any deviations that you make from your original contract to avoid getting any surprise charges in your final invoice. Be sure to understand the pricing for replaced batteries and lights, as well as your total labour expenses, including both regular and overtime charges.

2. Deciding Based Solely on Price

This is one of biggest mistakes that event planners make when renting an AV equipment. While there is nothing wrong with bidding out your suppliers, do understand that a low price is not equal to quality audio visual services. Instead of immediately signing up with the provider with the lowest charge, check around and ask for references from family and friends. Get into LinkedIn groups and ask about AV providers like http://soundimage-pro.com/ in Singapore.

Also, find out what type of equipment the company is bidding, how experienced their technicians are and how long the AV equipment rental company has been in the business rather than just focusing on the price of their product and service charge.

3. Sticking to Just One In-House AV Bid

Opting for an in-house AV equipment and PA system rental company can be good, since they know the venue intimately and can get any last minute gear you want with their on-site inventory. However, not every in-house audio visual company is capable of providing the needs of every event, which is why it’s still a good idea to get multiple quotes from outside vendors before signing a contract.

Getting multiple quotes will allow you to compare prices and services, and help you find the best AV provider that can really cater to your audio visual needs. Just make sure that you inform your venue about this plan beforehand, since some venues in Singapore charge fees for using outside vendors.

4. Assuming That Your Venue Has the Equipment You Need

Event planners who scramble to find an AV equipment at the last minute often do so because they discovered that their venue doesn’t have the right microphone and sound system for their event. Some venues have audio visual systems in place – especially for those who host multiple conferences and events – but not all of them are equipped with the latest AV equipment.

Plus, venues that offer sound system usually don’t have audio technicians and engineers to operate the equipment. This is why it’s crucial to ask about audio equipment and production engineers while you are still looking out for a venue. If you don’t have your own equipment, but want to avoid the hassle of renting one, choose a venue in Singapore that offers on-site AV equipment and technicians that could cater to your event’s audio visual needs.

5. Neglecting Equipment Set-Up and Tear-Down Time

Underestimating the importance of having an extra equipment set-up and tear-down time often result to stressful and costly situations. For this reason, be sure to book enough time at your venue prior to and after your event so you won’t be surprised by the unexpected costs of overtime charges for your venue. Don’t expect your venue to give you extra time to set-up and take down your sound system – ask them beforehand to ensure that you got all your bases covered.

6. Cutting Corners to Save Money

As an event planner, you know that setting and sticking to a budget can be very challenging. Still, this doesn’t mean that you should already cut corners just to save extra bucks. Microphone systems are one of the common tools that get to suffer from this.

It has happened so many times that an organizer hoped to save money by renting just one or two wireless mics from their AV equipment rental provider. Yes, the need for mics would vary depending on the size of the audience and the venue – but using only one or two microphones in a large space leaves a lot of room for human error. Your guest speakers might accidentally turn off the mics or worse, the microphone cable might get unplugged. So put the risk in cutting corners into consideration during your planning process. After all, you wouldn’t want to make a decision that you will later regret.

Having a well-planned audio visual setup is crucial in making any event a successful one. So make sure that you keep these mistakes in mind so you could avoid committing them as you plan your own event in the future.