Producing any special event is a delicate dance of competing priorities that need to be coordinated with precision in order to be successful. Planning, building a superior team, working with the best technical event production company and being able to deal with the inevitable unforeseen contingencies that will occur can all contribute to the success of your event.
There are a number of possible mistakes when using event production in NYC. Drop the ball in any of these areas and you can set a chain of events in motion that can derail even the best plans and purest intentions!
Let’s take a look at the seven deadly sins of event production in NYC and how working with a professional technical event production company can mitigate the risk!
1. Poor Planning
This seems obvious, but planning a major special event requires attention to detail. If you have not staged an event of this type previously, or don’t have experience with the technical aspects of an event, you may simply not know what goes into the planning stage. Planning requires having procedures for unintended contingencies that may arise. For example, if there’s a logistical problem loading in because the production company failed to do a thorough advance with the venue.
Working with a technical event production company can eliminate many of the issues around planning your event. They will have the experience and expertise to help tackle the technical planning. If they’ve been in the market long enough, they most likely will have worked with the venue and be aware of any idiosyncrasies or logistical challenges. If not, they will know what questions to ask to ensure a smooth event. They will have executed hundreds or thousands of events and will know all of the steps, all of the pitfalls and all of the solutions you’ll need.
2. Miscommunication with Vendors
Working with a large number of vendors can sometimes result in miscommunication, which can impact your event. For example, you may need sound, lighting, video and staging. If you hire one company for each discipline, you will be working with four separate teams and will need to exchange information many times which can lead to issues.
Working with a full-service technical event production company means one point of contact, one communication and a much lower chance of a misunderstanding your event production in NYC.
3. Poor Equipment Choices
Event production in NYC is constantly changing and evolving. You job is producing events, not being aware of the latest changes in technology or the availability of specific equipment. You might not know exactly what equipment is needed, but you will know if your event doesn’t “wow” your audience.
A professional full-service technical event production company will have knowledge of all the equipment options available, including the latest state-of-the-art technology, and the creativity and technical expertise to use it to create magic! In addition, they’ll have access to everything you might need to put it all together, from power distribution to control and dimming.
4. Sacrificing Quality for Cost
The technical side of your event is no place to sacrifice quality. While it may seem easier on your budget to go with the least expensive option and keep things simple, it might not be what is best for the look and feel of your event.
When you hire a professional technical event production company, they have the experience to work within your budget to create the maximum effect for your dollars. By hiring a one-stop shop, they can work with you to find the right balance between all departments and share costs on items like trucking and stagehand labor. You also have predictability as they prepare a full proposal to show you exactly where you budget is allocated and where you could shift funds to maximize the magic!
5. Failure to Meet Your Event Goals
If you’ve done your job correctly, you have probably worked with your client to determine the goals for your event production in NYC. Whether it’s a wedding for 200, a business conference for 2000, or a charity rock concert for 20,000, you need to reach your goal. This comes from coordinating your technical production to match your event theme, your audience demographics and your overall goal, whether it’s giving a bride the memory of her life or raising $200,000 for cancer research.
Failure to plan and execute could mean failure to meet your goals. Working with a professional technical company can add coherency and continuity to your event. The lighting, sound, video and staging will all work together to reflect your event theme and be geared towards your audience demographics. A team of professional project managers, technicians and staff that have performed their jobs hundreds of times will run the production flawlessly. Their only function is to meet your event goals and realize your creative vision!
6. Lack of Project Management
An event production in NYC will have hundreds of tasks to delegate and coordinate. Adding the technical production duties to the overwhelming list is a sure way to drop a ball along the way and possibly cause your event to fail.
When you hire and work with a professional technical event production company, you are working with a talented team of individuals that have performed together hundreds of times. There will be a project manager or account manager and technicians all working together to make sure your event is pulled off without a hitch. Taking a huge chunk of tasks off of your to do list and freeing your time in the process.
7. Changing the Game Plan/ Adding Resources
One sure fire way to throw a potential monkey wrench into your well planned event is to make serious last minute changes. First, you may find yourself paying a lot of money for rush charges. Secondly, you will be taking focus off of other pressing pre-event needs.
Working with a professional technical event production company can make this process much less disruptive. First, by virtue of the fact that they will have an extensive inventory of equipment to draw upon if needed. A company that has experience in the market will have worked with hundreds of compatible vendors. If for example, your caterer cancels at the last minute, your technical event partners will most likely be able to recommend someone to do the job that they’re familiar with. They can be a valuable resource for much more than simply your technical event needs.
Undertaking an event production in NYC is challenging, complicated and intense. If you plan properly it can also be exhilarating, rewarding and exciting. When putting together your team, don’t forget to hire a professional technical event production company. They will help you to avoid the seven deadly sins of event production in NYC and can help to make your event standout!