The lead up to Christmas can be quite hectic, especially when you are planning a special Christmas function. With so many elements to an event, it’s important to remember how crucial your audiovisual needs are to the event’s success. Keeping in contact with your AV Event Coordinator in the week leading up to your Christmas event will ensure everything runs smoothly on the day.
Here are four tips for ensuring your Christmas function goes smoothly:
Hand digital content and run sheets over
You have spent countless hours preparing incredible content to display throughout your Christmas function. In the week before the event, hand the content over to your AV Event Coordinator and their team who will test your content and ensure it performs as expected. Leaving the content to the day of the event and discovering that the file does not open or play correctly on the screen is a pitfall nobody wants. Checking this a few days out ensures that any corrections can be made in time.
Put your entertainment in touch with the audiovisual team
If you booked any live performers such as a band, it is a great idea for them to touch base with the audiovisual company before the event. This ensures that they can discuss equipment requirements, stage set-up, sound-check and anything else that will ensure smooth transitions between event audio, speeches and live music.
Finalising floor plans
Finalising the floor plans locks in the layout of your event space and ensures correct catering for the event. Confirm the final numbers — particularly on large events, confirm any dietary requirements, check floor plans and make any changes to the room layout. If you have assigned seating, discuss how seating charts can be displayed; if this will be digital supply the media content.
Have a walk-through with your AV Event Coordinator
Your AV Event Coordinator is your contact for all aspects of your audiovisual needs, and it is important to schedule a walk-through with them if possible. If time and geography permits, this face-to-face meeting is when you have an opportunity to see your event space and make any last-minute requests or changes to audiovisual needs or setup and have a final review of the digital content.
About Ritchie Harland
Ritchie Harland is the Partner at Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort for AVPartners, an unrivalled provider of fully integrated event solutions to premier conferencing and event venues in Australia. AVPartners delivers superior technical production and audiovisual technology, tailored event design and styling, with teams of highly-skilled industry professionals. www.avpartners.com
Originally published in Business Events News publication 26th November 2019 for the column ‘Partner Up’.