Audio/visual services: enhancing events and extending event impact.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: Conventions & Meetings - Company overview

Businesses don't generally have events just on a whim. Business events are purposeful: celebrating clients, fundraising, education, networking, and a myriad of other goals. No matter the purpose of a business event, it's vital for the event to meet that goal.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One way to improve the quality of any event as well as build long lasting returns on time and money investments is to make sure to properly utilize local audio/visual (AV) services. There are various AV vendors that provide a range of services from setting up, taking down, and operating presentation equipment; filming at event venues and other locations; editing footage; and preparing materials for promotion after the event.

E Street Audio Visual

E Street Audio Visual started business in Alaska in the mid-90s according to Marketing Director Erica Thomas. "There weren't a lot of [A/V] companies up here yet, at the time, and [the owner's] clients were in need of services like that," she says. It's a small business of approximately ten employees, though she says that AV services in Alaska are incredibly seasonal and their number of employees increases in the busy spring and fall shoulder seasons.

"We provide services for any industry that's looking for services at an event," Thomas says. "Whether that's a corporate event or not--we've done receptions, we've done seminars, we've done board meetings." E Street provides various options to their clients. "We can rent out equipment for a small, 10-person meeting or run and rent the equipment out for a weeklong, 2,000 person event." It just depends on the customer's needs. She says they also do live feeds, either for live events or in a crisis management situation.

Beyond recording services, E Street has a production arm. "That's where our production company and our AV arm work together: we can not only put the cameras out there for your event, but we can also put the video together for your event," Thomas says. "It makes us a little bit all inclusive."

As with all corporate events, it's always beneficial to schedule services far in advance. Thomas says whether or not the company can respond to a last minute request depends on the situation, "How much equipment they need and when they need us," she says. "We will always try to make it work." She says in one case she received an email in the morning for a quick turnaround and was able to accommodate the request by the next day.

E Street has provided services in the Hotel...