Insights, Venues
Choosing an AV partner for your venue: preferred supplier, white label, in-house or event by event
A venue guide to AV partners: preferred supplier, white label, in-house and event-by-event models, what to ask, and what your sales team gains.
Choosing the right AV partner for your venue starts with the brief the client arrives with. The clients booking your rooms bring technical requirements: two screens for the conference, a filmed AGM, a look for the gala that does not exist in the house rig. Venues that can answer those briefs with confidence win the booking.
This guide is for venue managers, operations teams and the sales team who have to quote. It sets out the four ways venues work with an AV partner, what each one asks of you, what a good partner gives your sales and operations teams, and the questions that separate a partner from a supplier.
Four models, and what each asks of the venue
Preferred AV supplier
The lightest arrangement. The partner sits on your recommended list. Your team brings the partner in, the partner quotes the venue and delivers, and you keep a supplier who knows the building. It asks almost nothing of the venue beyond a call and a shared understanding of the house rules. It does not need exclusivity.
White label, as your team
The partner works as if it is part of the venue. Quotes go out on your paperwork, the crew wear your uniform or plain black, and the client deals with the venue from start to finish.
In-house AV partner
The partner becomes the venue's technical department. A named contact for your sales team, crew who know the building on your busiest days, and one set of prices your team can quote from without waiting. This is the model for venues where technical delivery is part of every booking, from conference hotels to arenas. It asks more of the venue: shared calendars, agreed working practices and a commercial arrangement that suits both sides.
Event by event
A client's event outgrows the house system. Your team calls the partner, the partner adds what the room needs, from a bigger PA to a full production rig, and the client still deals with one venue. Many venue relationships start here and settle into one of the others.
None of these lock you in, and the right venue AV partnership depends on how much of your business is technical. A wedding venue with a good house system and one big party a month needs a different arrangement from a conference centre with three events a day.
The commercial side
A venue whose technical quotes feel inflated loses the second booking even when the first one went well. Whatever the commercial terms, the client-facing quote should be itemised, explain what each line does, and be one the sales team can defend. The partner should be as easy to work alongside as to work with: if a client brings their own production company, the partner works alongside them and stays available, rather than making life difficult.
What your sales team should get from a partner
Sales teams lose enquiries to delay more than to price. A partner earns its place by making the technical part of a proposal quick:
- Costed options by room and audience size, so a coordinator can answer a client on the first call rather than the third.
- A capability sheet for each room: what the house system does, what can be added, and photography of the room dressed for an event.
- Quotes on your paperwork if you want the venue to front them.
- A named contact who answers the phone, including on show days.
What your operations team should get
Operations teams judge a partner by the state of the building afterwards. The basics, before the first job:
- Risk assessments, method statements and public liability insurance on file.
- Equipment tested before it travels and used within the building's loading limits.
- Crew inducted to the building: access routes, fire routes, quiet hours, loading bays, lift bookings.
- Floor protection, cable management that keeps fire routes clear, and a de-rig that leaves the room as it was found.
- An out-of-hours contact while an event is live.
What your clients notice
Clients rarely praise the technical delivery; they notice when it is missing. What they do notice is how the crew present themselves, whether there is one person to talk to, and how the team behaves when the running order changes an hour before doors. A partner that stays calm makes the venue look calm.
Questions to ask a prospective partner
- Do you own your equipment, or do you sub-hire it? Who prepares and tests it?
- Who will be our named contact, and who turns up on site?
- Will you visit the building and produce a capability sheet for each room?
- How quickly can our sales team get a costed option for a typical enquiry?
- Can quotes go out on our paperwork?
- What happens when a client's event is bigger than the house system?
- How do you work with a client who brings their own production company?
- What insurance, risk assessments and method statements do you provide, and when?
- How do you protect the building: floors, walls, fire routes?
- What is your out-of-hours arrangement during a live event?
- What are the commercial terms, and how are they shown to the client?
- Can we speak to another venue you work with?
What the first three months look like
A partnership is easier to judge by its first quarter than by its proposal. The sequence that works:
- Survey. The partner walks every room with your operations team: power, loading routes, house systems, fire routes. A capability sheet per room comes out of it.
- Paperwork. Insurance, risk assessments and method statements are filed before the first event, and the crew are inducted to the building.
- The first events. The same production lead and, as far as possible, the same crew on the first few jobs, so the building becomes familiar and your coordinators learn one set of names.
- Review. A short meeting after the first quarter: what the sales team needed and did not get, what operations noticed, and what the clients said. Adjust the arrangement then, not at renewal.
When exclusivity makes sense, and when it does not
Exclusivity is reasonable when a partner is carrying the cost of being available for every booking. It is unreasonable as a condition of a preferred-supplier listing. Even in an in-house arrangement, it should be your call, with a sensible route for clients who arrive with their own supplier.
How we do it. We work with venues in all four ways and let the relationship find its level. Commercial terms are agreed venue by venue, quotes are ones your sales team can stand behind, and we are easy to work alongside when a client brings their own team. See how we work with venues for the detail.
Frequently asked questions
Does an in-house partner mean installing new equipment?
No. We do not install permanent systems. A partnership runs on what the venue already has, with the partner bringing equipment in when a booking needs more, and a good partner will tell you when the house system is already enough.
How is a partner different from a supplier?
A supplier delivers what was ordered. A partner helps you sell the room, knows the building, and takes responsibility for the technical outcome across every event, not just the one on the order.
What does it cost the venue?
A preferred-supplier arrangement usually costs the venue nothing. In-house partnerships vary with what the partner provides and are agreed venue by venue. In every case, ask how the terms appear on the client's quote.