10 Event Production Best Practices You Shouldn’t Ignore
Want to avoid AV nightmares? These event production best practices can help you plan smarter and avoid last-minute chaos.
You know the stories. The mic that cuts out mid-speech. The video that won’t play. The CEO stuck in a dead silence on a hybrid panel, while the virtual audience disappears one by one.
But here’s the real horror: these disasters aren’t freak accidents. They’re symptoms of rushed planning, siloed communication, and reactive thinking in event production.
At AVFX, we don’t just fix problems—we prevent them. With decades of experience in live event production, hybrid event strategy, media production, and technical direction, we’ve seen how even the smallest detail can make or break an experience.
So here it is: our field-tested, straight-talk list of event production best practices that will help your team avoid event production nightmares—and deliver events that land with impact.
1. Prioritize AV Strategy as Early as You Prioritize Content
Event production is not a plug-and-play function—it’s a co-architect of your entire event experience. Yet too often, it’s looped in after creative is locked. The result? Beautiful ideas that can’t be executed—or worse, major compromises made under pressure.
Incorporating your AV production company in the earliest planning conversations allows us to co-create solutions, identify risks, and align tech with creative—including your presentation content, media assets, and audience interaction strategy.
Don’t just “book AV”—bring us in to build with you.
2. Treat Internet Like Infrastructure, Not an Afterthought
Venue Wi-Fi is often built for attendees—not production. Add in streaming, speaker Zoom-ins, cloud-based media, and mobile audience apps, and you’re asking for a crash.
At AVFX, we treat event internet as mission-critical. We run our own network, test for interference, and build redundancies. Because in 2025, a great hybrid event still depends on 1990s wisdom: a hardline and a backup plan.
Pro tip: Ask your venue what happens if the internet fails. If the answer is “we’ll reset the router,” call us.
3. Don’t Confuse “Included” With “Integrated”
Yes, many venues offer bundled AV packages. But that doesn’t mean they’re tailored to your show’s complexity, pacing, or audience experience. Cookie-cutter solutions might check boxes—but they rarely elevate the brand.
Great corporate event production is holistic. It aligns lighting, sound, visuals, staging, and timing into one consistent story. This includes your media assets—from presentation visuals to immersive screen content to interactive displays.
Think of it this way: Would you trust a hotel to run your content strategy just because Wi-Fi is “included”? Event production deserves the same respect.
4. Don’t Just Rehearse—Pressure Test
A walk-through is not a rehearsal. A rehearsal is not just hitting the clicker. Real tech runs simulate full show flow: transitions, cue timing, mic handoffs, video playback, live switching, presenter entry/exit, virtual interaction delays.
This is where we see the snags before your CFO is onstage—and where media playback and visual transitions are tested in real-world conditions, with presenter timing and audience flow in mind.
Hot tip: Book rehearsal time with the same production team and the same tech setup as show day. Practice under real conditions—or prepare for surprises.
5. Understand That Hybrid = Two Shows, Two Experiences
You can’t bolt a webcam onto a ballroom and call it a hybrid event. Engaging both physical and virtual audiences requires intentional design, separate production flows, and often, different content delivery models.
We treat hybrid like a dual-stage production: one in-room, one virtual—both worthy of attention. From camera angles to audience engagement, to media content tailored for each environment, nothing is an afterthought.
Bottom line: If your virtual audience feels like spectators instead of participants, you’re doing it wrong—and leaving value on the table.
6. Have a Show Caller Who Can See Around Corners
When everything runs through the tech director or stage manager, one person is juggling too much. That’s where your show caller shines: orchestrating the timing, calling cues, managing transitions, and maintaining flow across AV, talent, and program teams.
They’re also the conductor of your media timing—ensuring videos, animations, and slide transitions hit perfectly.
A good show caller doesn’t just react—they anticipate.
What to ask: “Who’s calling show, and have they done an event like this before?” If it’s crickets, bring in a pro. (We have them.)
7. Be Ruthless About Timing
Creative teams tend to dream big. But a 5-hour setup window for a 3-camera shoot with scenic build, lighting focus, and show programming? That’s not ambition—it’s a risk.
Great technical event planning builds in breathing room. Load-in buffers, tech checks, breaks, resets. And yes—time for proper media testing, syncing, and adjustments.
The most seamless shows are built on generous time blocks—and producers who protect them.
Rule of thumb: If it sounds too tight, it probably is.
8. Make Design Part of the AV Conversation
Event production is more than function—it’s form. Lighting directs attention. Video walls set mood. Camera blocking impacts how presenters move. Scenic elements shape perception.
Bring your production designer, scenic fabricator, and AV team together early. We speak the same language. We just need to be in the same room.
9. Redundancy Isn’t Paranoia—It’s Professionalism
We don’t “hope” the audio works. We bring backups for everything: wireless frequencies, signal paths, video playback, even power. And when we run critical cues, we duplicate feeds across isolated systems.
This includes media redundancy across servers and playback systems—so your keynote video doesn’t hinge on a single laptop.
Great AV teams never run a show on single points of failure.
10. Choose Partners, Not Just Providers
There’s a difference between a vendor who brings gear and a team who owns your outcome. A true AV production partner thinks like a strategist, solves like an engineer, and communicates like a producer.
At AVFX, we embed with your team. We read the run of show and the room. We ask better questions, bring tested solutions, and treat your brand like our own.
That includes custom media production built to enhance your message—not distract from it.
Because your success isn’t just about what we do—it’s about what your audience remembers.
The event production landscape has evolved. Your production approach should, too. Whether you’re running an internal town hall or a global conference, your event deserves more than duct tape and crossed fingers. By following these event production best practices, you can create events that resonate—and avoid the horror stories.
Avoid the horror stories. Plan smart. Partner well. And integrate media that connects, engages, and elevates your story.