Key Takeaways
- Event management: manages logistics and vendor relationships. Event production: designs and executes the event's experience. AV rental: supplies technical equipment.
- A production company is accountable for the show's quality — an event management company is accountable for the logistics that support it
- Most corporate events above 200 pax need a production company, not an event management company — the distinction is visible on the day in terms of who is responsible for what
- AV rental companies can produce excellent events when the client or a production manager provides the design and show-calling — but they are not production companies
The three categories
Event management companies coordinate the logistics of an event: venue booking and management, vendor procurement and coordination, delegate registration, accommodation, ground transport, catering coordination, and on-site logistics management. They are excellent at ensuring things happen on time and in the right order. They are not responsible for the design quality of the experience — that is the client's brief, translated into logistics management.
Event production companies design and execute the event's experience: the creative concept, the stage design, the AV specification, the run of show, the show-calling, the technical execution and the post-event quality assessment. They are accountable for the show — if the PA fails, if the lighting is wrong, if the transitions are ragged, the production company owns the failure and the solution. The production company may also manage logistics, or it may work alongside an event management company that handles that layer.
AV rental companies supply technical equipment and, in most cases, operate it during the event: PA systems, lighting rigs, LED walls, video playback systems, and the crew to install and run them. They are excellent at supplying equipment and operating it reliably. They are not typically responsible for the design decisions that determine whether the equipment is the right choice for the event, or for the show-calling that determines whether the equipment is operated correctly in the context of the programme.
Which one you need
For events below 150 pax in a hotel meeting room: a good event management company plus the venue's in-house AV is often adequate. For produced events of 200–500 pax: an event production company that combines production design, AV specification, show-calling and logistics management is the correct choice. For events above 500 pax: a production company (responsible for the show) working alongside an event management or logistics company (responsible for delegate experience outside the show) is the standard structure. For events where the AV specification is straightforward but the logistics layer is complex: an AV rental company plus an event management company can be a cost-effective combination, with the production design and show-calling owned by the client's internal project lead.