HOW TO WRITE AN RFP FOR AV HIRE FOR YOUR EVENT

So what should be in your AV hire RFP?

You can loosely split your AV hire RFP into two categories of information: Event planning, and venue information. Let’s start with event planning:

EVENT PLANNING INFORMATION

To provide a realistic price and spec for your event, your AV supplier will need to know the following from your RFP:

1. PURPOSE OF THE EVENT: Although this may be self-explanatory, explaining what your event is, and what you’re hoping to get out of it, will allow the AV hire company to spec the right setup.
2. DATES AND TIMEFRAMES: When is your event, and how long will it last? Again, this is obvious, but cost could be affected by availability of equipment and crew against other jobs the AV provider might have going on. Plan as far as you can in advance to get the best price and availability.
3. LOOSE AGENDA: A complete event agenda isn’t essential, but it’s important for us to understand what your event will include. Will you have live music, presenters, speakers, or awards to hand out? All of these will have an impact on the setup of your event.
4. NUMBER OF ATTENDEES: It’s important for an AV hire company to not just have an idea of numbers, but how you expect people to interact with your event. Will attendees be seated (and will all of them need to be seated at once)? Are you expecting to have things like exhibition stands? All of this will have an impact on AV equipment.
5. TYPE OF EVENT: What will the feel of the event be? Is there a particular style or look you’re going for? This isn’t just about the physical branding, but the whole experience you’re trying to create.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but all of these factors will help your AV company understand the requirements of your event, and start to put together a realistic proposal.

VENUE INFORMATION

As well as the general plan for your event, if you’re at the stage of creating an RFP, most AV companies will assume you already have a venue organised as well. If so, it’s helpful to provide the following information about your venue in your RFP:

1. FLOOR PLAN: A plan of your venue and/or a seating arrangement is useful. In addition to the main setup, are there peripheral components like tents for an AV hire company to consider?
2. RIGGING SPEC: Your venue’s size, dimensions and structures (e.g. stage) will be important for us to understand what rigging is needed to host AV equipment. If you don’t have this information, you can ask your AV provider to visit your site and assess the setup you’ll need.
3. LOADING ACCESS: Your AV company will need to understand the building’s logistics. Where can they load and unload equipment? Are there any restrictions or limitations to consider? If the venue is split over several floors, are there freight elevators?
4. VENUE TECHNICAL CONTACT: Finally, providing the details for your venue’s technical contact will allow the AV hire company to reach out for any extra information if needed.

So, now we’ve covered the essentials of what to cover in an RFP, let’s take a look at the information you don’t need to include.

INFORMATION YOU WON’T NEED TO INCLUDE IN YOUR RFP

While it’s important to provide plenty of detail about your event – don’t be tempted to over-specify. Some clients provide us with a full equipment list, and while this helps us provide a proposal, we’d much prefer to spec the equipment to your requirements for the best possible outcome and price.

When writing an RFP, it’s important to leave some flexibility. Trust in your chosen AV hire company’s expertise to deliver the best event for your budget.