The Complete Conference Equipment Rental Checklist

As an event producer, organizing a business conference is a challenging endeavor. Whether it’s a national sales conference for a major corporation, a music conference with attendees from around the globe or a speaker’s conference at a small college, they all share similar requirements. No matter how big or small, every conference will most likely need staging, sound, video and lighting.

Your technical production needs are one element of the conference that will have to be planned, along with securing speakers, marketing, arranging accommodations, food and much more. The most efficient way to take care of your event’s technical production needs is by adding a full-service professional technical event production company to your team. This company will be capable of handling every aspect of your technical production needs from the conference equipment rental, to the set-up of your event, the technical experts to operate the sound, video and lights and the crew to tear down when it’s over. Let’s take a look at a list of the equipment you’ll need (and some staffing options) to cover your production from staging and audio to lighting and video.

But first….

Identify Your Needs

The first step to building a list for your conference equipment rental is to determine your needs and goals. The size of your event will dictate much of what you’ll need in terms of your conference equipment rental needs, but the fact is, every conference will need some elements of staging, sound, lighting and most likely, video (A/V) at the minimum.

If you are working with a technical event production company, they will work closely with you to define and outline your event’s needs and then develop an in depth proposal that will break down by line item, all of the staff and equipment for your event production.  Your budget, aesthetic vision and specific needs will dictate the specifics. Let’s examine the conference equipment rental list of a typical small business conference by looking at each of the production elements.

Staging

Your staging needs can range from a simple podium on a small platform to a large stage or even multiple stages to accommodate a panel of speakers. In addition, you may need soft goods such as drapery, to help dress the stage. Risers for the audience and barricades for security or other staging elements are also possible needs.

Whether your venue has a permanent structure in place or are able to provide certain elements, you’ll want to explore your staging options. If you need any staging, your technical event production company will work with you to determine your specific needs, provide all of your staging and, if needed, the crew to build it and remove it when your conference is over.

Audio

As with all of your production needs, your audio needs will be determined by the actual logistics of your event. Typically, a conference would require several wireless microphones, one for each speaker, as well as some form of sound system to broadcast your speakers voices to attendees. In addition , there is often audio playback from video, walk on/ walk off music and the need to record for archival purposes.

If you are planning on having live entertainment for a cocktail reception, for example, you may need the audio gear to handle that, including microphones, a mixing board, monitors and a PA.

Again, when you’ve hired a professional full service technical event production company, they will work closely with you during the planning stages to help determine your exact audio needs. They will not only provide the gear, but will have talented staff in house that can help load-in, set-up, operate and tear down your system.

Lighting

Creative lighting is one production area where you can make your event shine. The most important lighting objective is to ensure that your stage and speakers are properly illuminated.  If you are recording the event or using IMAG this is even more important.  Room lighting can set the aesthetic mood of your environment and even set the tone before your guests enter the venue. You can highlight architectural details of the venue with the creative use of LED up-lighting or simply add an element of interest to the room with patterns or texture.

Working with your lighting designer, you can achieve your creative vision and meet your event’s goals. Your technical event production company can supply any fixtures, controllers and staff you may need. In any event, lighting will most definitely be on your conference equipment rental list.

Video

Video technology is a must have for any conference in today’s market. Whether it’s a video screen and projector or a LED screen, power point presentations or cameras and crew for a multi-camera shoot, you will most likely have video equipment as a part of your conference equipment rental list.

Each of these elements are areas where working with a full-service technical event production company can prove to be a smart business decision.

A full service technical event production company cannot only provide you with all of the equipment for your conference, they will also put together a team of highly trained, creative professional to handle every aspect of your technical production for your event. This team will be there with you from preparing, organizing and trucking the gear to the venue, to setting up your event, providing operating technicians to run the gear during the conference and a crew to tear down afterwards.

When choosing to work with a full-service technical production company, you will have access to designers, a project manager and a single point person to help you organize your conference needs. Their single minded focus on the success of your event can remove a long list of to do items off of your production list, and provide you with a team that has the experience, expertise, knowledge, talent and creativity to help ensure your conference’s success.