An Event Planner’s Guide to Production Roles
It truly takes a village to pull off a memorable event without a hitch. Event planners must bring together a diverse group of professionals, from digital strategists to stagehands, to produce experiences that leave a lasting, marketable impact through Instagram recap reels, email newsletters, blogs, and more assets.
Coordination is an important part of your own role as an event planner. This guide details key roles for your team, including stage managers, stagehands and rigging pros, audio and video techs, lighting designers, and marketing specialists.
Event Marketers
Remember, events are valuable marketing assets that increase brand awareness, engagement, and loyalty.
Event marketers use a suite of creative and data-driven tools to identify quality event leads, craft personalized outreach campaigns, and deploy live digital strategies on the day of the event. They also create recap marketing materials to boost brand equity and drive interest in subsequent events.
Event marketers use analytics tools to uncover the following insights to suggest relevant themes, strategies, and venues:
- Previous event attendance
- Pain points
- Communication channels
- Average spend per guest
- RSVP data
- Feedback and reviews
For instance, you may learn that planning a hybrid event with in-person and virtual guests could increase revenue and global audience engagement. Marketers can also assemble live social media marketing teams to engage with virtual guests through Instagram Lives.
Stage Managers and Stagehands
Next, select an experienced stage manager, as you will work closely with this professional to ensure a smooth event operation. This is especially important if your event is featuring live music, theater, light shows, or performance art.
Your stage manager oversees several aspects of the event, including:
- Posting production schedules
- Fine-tuning rehearsals
- Calling stage cues (for lighting, audio, and video)
They’re also responsible for managing stagehands. That’s why it’s important to include your stage manager in the hiring process by reviewing industry resources together, such as AV Nation stagehand services, to find stagehands experienced in cable management, scaffolding, scene changes, and more duties.
Stagehands perform more essential heavy-lifting duties, including loading and unloading trucks, building truss structures, and dismantling event sets.
Rigging Specialists
If you’re planning a large-scale event at an arena, you’ll need experienced rigging pros who can safely climb into the venue’s ceiling grid to calculate precise structural load capacities and install heavy sound systems, video walls, and lighting trusses. These professionals have critical safety roles, as they’re responsible for installing heavy suspended event elements.
Lighting Operators
Lighting experts bring color, dimension, and drama to event stages. Their expertise is critical for capturing compelling photos and videos for social media. They’re also responsible for the following elements:
- Positioning fixtures
- Connecting lights to software (patching)
- Configuring lighting consoles
- Creating sharp spotlights
- Moving color lighting effects
If you’re planning a large event production with heavy lighting effects, you may need a separate board operator to execute technical cues, while the lighting director (LD) focuses on artistic lighting production.
Audio Techs
Event audio teams are tasked with providing clear, crisp audio for keynote speakers, event hosts, and live entertainment. However, balance is essential. You don’t want the sounds of clinking glasses and chatter to drown out your event speakers, but you also want to avoid disrupting the ambience with booming, amplified voices and music.
The A1 (audio engineer) is responsible for mixing live event audio, meticulously balancing the volume, clarity, and tone of all microphones, instruments, and playback tracks. This role is positioned at the front-of-house (FOH) sound mixing desk.
Meanwhile, the A2 (audio assistant) works primarily backstage, managing wireless microphone frequencies, placing headsets on stage talent, and running cable lines from the event stage to the A1 mixing desk.
Video Production Crew
Video production can instantly boost event engagement levels with compelling media, such as documentaries about environmental causes, brand storytelling videos, and patient testimonials for healthcare industry galas. To bring these experiences to life, you’ll need a V1 (Video Engineer) to manage the following elements with a dedicated production team:
- Video switchers
- Camera shading
- Overall signal flow
- Projection mapping
- LED screen management
Video assistants, camera operators, and media server specialists further support the video product team. They play vital roles in handling smooth live camera feeds, screen presentations, and pre-recorded videos.
Event production teams never go live without a series of rigorous audio, visual, and stage management pre-checks. This phase also includes speaker and entertainment rehearsals, as well as strict safety run-throughs for any cable management and connection issues.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Start brainstorming your next event with your production team.
Work with event marketers to target relevant leads and generate real anticipation. Assemble an audio and video production team that can bring magical experiences to life in person and through recap videos on Instagram. Hire a stage management team, with stagehands and rigging pros, to ensure structural safety and event flow.
Find the local services you need to produce a memorable local event. Our blog is also packed with tips and tricks for digital marketing, social media strategy, fundraising, and more!
