There are common struggles within each industry. The audio/visual and event production industry is no exception to that. This blog focuses on a few of the most common obstacles audio/visual and event production teams face.

In this field, companies work with a lot of employees who possess a specific skillset and different work ethics. Because of this, hiring and keeping good staff members, who have a broad range of skills, can be difficult. Professionals who are specialized in one area may be limited on the number of opportunities they can be given. Businesses are more likely to become full-time, in-house staff members if they are able to work within multiple aspects of A/V or event production.

After hiring the right staff members and/or freelancers, businesses aren’t always able to establish and maintain clear pathways of communication between their employees, which can be detrimental to any business. It is important that there is a natural plan of action for everything. Communication and confirmation are crucial parts of not only event production, but general day-to-day operation.

• Who’s covering this?

• What’s the plan for that?

• “Jim” had to be moved to X, so “John” will be covering Y now, let’s make sure everyone else knows what’s going on.

Another problem everyone in the A/V and event production industry experiences is turnover. It can be difficult to find long-term, regular employment, especially as a technician. To reduce the turnover rate, both the technicians and the companies hiring can make changes. As a technician, you want to be able to do as much as you can. You will become restless if you’re only focused on one aspect of A/V due to the limitations. You should always be learning and asking questions so you can pick up new skills and stay current on industry trends. Companies who are looking to hire should be promoting curiosity and cross-training. This way, employers can easily broaden the knowledge base of their techs and help reduce turnover in the industry.

The A/V and event production world is exciting, dynamic and sometimes hectic. Hiring full-time staff members and freelancers who are strong communicators and flexible about roles and schedules are worth mentoring and training in multiple avenues of the business. Like we said, every industry has it’s problems, recognizing these problems is a way to better your staff, business and industry overall.