Key Points:
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Know what to ask before hiring: gear ownership, venue experience, who’s on-site, and the backup plan.
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Good AV is more than screens and speakers — sound, video, lighting, and live operation all have to work together.
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Expect a detailed proposal, pre-event coordination, and a technical rehearsal. If those aren’t offered, that’s a red flag.
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Vague proposals, templated quotes, and resistance to a tech rehearsal are warning signs.
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For larger events, AV works best bundled into full-service production — one team, one plan, one point of accountability.
Audiovisual is the piece of corporate event production that most planners think about last and stress about most. The stage looks great, the catering is locked in, the agenda is set — and then someone asks, “Who’s handling the AV?” and the room goes quiet.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Hiring an AV company for your corporate event is a straightforward process once you know what to look for, what questions to ask, and what good actually looks like. Here’s everything you need to know going in.
What an AV Company Actually Does
“AV” is short for audiovisual, but in the context of corporate events, it covers a lot of ground. A full-service AV company for a corporate event typically handles:
The Questions Worth Asking Before You Hire Anyone
You don’t need a technical background to hire a good AV company. You just need to ask the right questions.
Do they have experience with your venue?
Every venue is different. The acoustics of a hotel ballroom are nothing like those of a convention hall. The rigging infrastructure at McCormick Place isn’t what you’ll find at a boutique event space. An AV company that has worked your venue before already knows its quirks, its loading dock schedule, its house systems, and its technical staff. That familiarity translates directly to fewer surprises on event day.
At Absolute Production Services, we’re an approved AV contractor at McCormick Place and Navy Pier, and we’ve produced events at venues across Chicago and beyond. When we walk into a room, we’ve usually been there before.
Do they own their equipment or rent it?
This matters more than most planners realize. A company that owns its inventory can guarantee specific gear, control quality, and respond quickly if something needs to be swapped. A company that brokers rentals is dependent on what’s available from third parties — which introduces variability in both the equipment and the accountability.
Ask directly: “Is this gear yours, or are you renting it?” You’ll learn a lot from the answer.
Who will actually be on-site?
The person you meet in the planning phase is often not the person running your event. Ask who your lead technician will be, how much experience they have, and whether you can speak with them before the event. A good AV company won’t hesitate to make that introduction.
What’s your contingency if something fails?
Equipment fails. It’s rare, but it happens. A professional AV company has backup gear on-site — a spare laptop, a backup wireless mic pack, a redundant signal path. If an AV company can’t clearly explain their backup plan, that’s worth noting.
How do you handle last-minute changes?
Presenters change their slides at 7am on event day. A keynote speaker adds a video nobody mentioned. The run of show shifts by 20 minutes. How your AV company handles these moments — and how calmly they communicate about it — is one of the best indicators of whether they’re a true partner or just a vendor.
What the Process Should Look Like
If you’re working with a professional AV company, here’s roughly what to expect from first call through final load-out.
Initial consult — Expect lots of questions: What’s the event? Layout? Program? Video content? What formats? Any speakers? These aren’t overhead — they’re how a good team designs the right system for your event.
Proposal and design — You should know exactly what equipment will be used and what it will cost. Be wary of vague line items. A proposal built for your specific event looks different from one built for a generic one.
Pre-event coordination — your AV team should be in regular contact leading up to the event — confirming the run of show, collecting presentation files, coordinating with the venue on load-in times, and flagging anything that needs to be resolved before the day.
Load-in and setup — AV load-in typically happens the day before the event or early the morning of. Your team will set up, cable, and test every element.
Technical rehearsal — Speakers should do a walk through, video elements should be tested, and transitions or cues should be confirmed. Problems caught in rehearsal don’t become problems during the event.
Live operation — During your event, your AV team is behind the scenes running everything in real time. You shouldn’t need to think about them. If you do, something has already gone wrong.
Wrap and load-out — Once the event ends, equipment gets struck and the room gets restored. A professional team manages this efficiently so you’re not left dealing with logistics after a long day.
Green Flags (and a Few Red Ones)
Green flags when evaluating an AV company:
- They ask more questions than they answer in the first meeting
- They can name specific technicians who’ll be on-site
- Their proposal is detailed and specific to your event
- They’ve worked your venue before
- They proactively raise potential issues rather than waiting for you to ask
Red flags:
- A proposal that arrived within hours of your first conversation (it wasn’t built for your event)
- Vague answers about who will actually be there on the day
- No mention of backup equipment or contingency planning
- Resistance to a technical rehearsal
- Communication that goes quiet in the weeks before the event
Working With AV as Part of a Full-Service Production
For many events — especially large conferences, general sessions, and high-profile corporate productions — AV is most effectively managed as part of a full production package rather than as a standalone hire. When staging, lighting, rigging, and AV are all coordinated by the same team, the technical elements are designed to work together from the start. You get one point of contact, one integrated plan, and one team accountable for the whole picture.
That’s the model Absolute Production Services operates on. We handle AV as part of a broader production approach, which means your lighting is designed alongside your stage, your video is planned with your run of show in mind, and the people running sound on event day have been part of the production conversation from week one.
Ready to Talk Through Your Event?
If you’re in the early stages of planning a corporate event in Chicago, we’re happy to walk through what AV and production support would look like for your specific event — no commitment required. We’ll be straightforward about what you need, what you don’t, and what it’s going to cost.