There are too many occasions when we (as the production company) have to convince clients to allow us to conduct a technical site visit. I had a fascinating exchange with a conference service manager (CSM) on a recent site visit that helped prove why these site surveys are so important.
We were hired to manage the audio/visual component of an internal sales meeting and were bringing in most of the AV equipment from outside vendors (only using in-house for some breakout room support).
The CSM greeted us by thanking us for taking the time to do a technical site visit (again, we are not using in-house for this job.) She proceeded to tells us of the difficulties she had with the group who had just finished their conference at the hotel. As with our show, the AV was brought in from the outside but in this case, the production company or client did not see the need for a site visit.
Consequences of Running a Show with No Site Visit
Some things went wrong:
Their initial room diagram was incorrect because they were only working with the dimensions posted on the hotel website (which were not up-to-date)
They were unable to plan for the exact height and location of the chandeliers in the ballroom
The unknown lack of close freight elevators during the scheduled load-in time meant a long push and created extra delays
These initial problems resulted in the need to change the location of the screens, which changed the size of the stage, location of the power drop and front-of-house position
All of this meant delays, more stress and extra money for the client. The CSM and her team were affected too—their schedules were significantly impacted, which caused further delays.
Site visits by the production team, even on smaller events, often result in saved time, money and stress for the entire event team. Do a technical site survey!