AV production for conferences spans two disciplines, and organisers constantly conflate them. First, the AV layer: sound, lighting, screens, staging and playback. In short, everything the room experiences. Second, the video layer: cameras, vision mixing, recording and streaming. That is everything the camera sees, and everything remote or future audiences experience. Most conferences need both. However, almost no supplier excels at both. So here is who does what, and how to make two teams work as one.
The AV Layer: Serving the Room
This layer covers PA, microphones, stage lighting, comms, staging and playback. Success here is invisible. Everyone hears clearly and nothing hums. Also, venues increasingly bundle AV through integrated partners. That works well, provided the video layer gets specified alongside it rather than afterwards.
The Video Layer: Serving Everyone Else
This layer covers multi-camera capture, IMAG cuts, stream production and redundant recording. It also owns the content pipeline, per our conference video guide. Success here is measurable. For example: remote watch time, sessions delivered, clips consumed. The full division of labour sits in our partner comparison.
The Four Seams to Manage
First, IMAG: AV owns the screens, while video owns the cut on them. So agree who switches. Second, audio: the room mix and the broadcast mix are different jobs. Therefore agree the feed and format. Third, playback: presentations reach room and stream at once, so agree the routing. Finally, power and rigging: both teams draw on the same venue capacity. Agree it together at the site visit.
Making Two Suppliers Work as One
Introduce them before contracts finalise. Then hold one technical call with venue, AV and video together. Thirty minutes settles feeds, positions, power and schedule. Also share one run sheet. As a result, the two galleries talk like colleagues on show day. In practice, this is our weekly pattern with partners like Vibration and Aztec. It is why multi-stage shows feel like one production.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one supplier do AV and video?
Some offer both. However, excellence in both is rare. So use a specialist video partner where streams and content matter commercially.
Who owns the broadcast audio mix?
The video team, fed from the AV desk. Indeed, a room mix on a stream is the most common quality failure.
How do the layers price?
AV scales with staging ambition. Meanwhile, the video layer scales with room count, streaming and deliverables. So brief both together and compare specifications rather than totals.
Two Teams, One Show
We slot alongside your AV supplier, or bring trusted partners with us. So talk to us about your conference.
