Organizations (agencies, corporate communication teams, nonprofits, and other technical production companies) hire enough people and buy enough equipment to service most of their events but … regardless of your speciality … natural ebbs and flows sometimes lead to capacity issues. Overlapping dates, regional windfall events, and post-pandemic surge are just a few reasons your organization might temporarily run short of resources.
Once you’ve identified a deficiency, there are several ways to temporarily expand your intellectual and/or physical capabilities.
Intellectual Capacity
Maintaining a deep pool of talented people has always been a challenge in the events industry. Skilled labor is our most precious asset when we’re busy and our largest expense when we’re not. It’s important to balance full-time staff and on-demand (freelance) resources.
Pro Tip: Experts predict a post-pandemic surge of events so planning ahead and deepening relationships should be atop most companies’ lists.
Training and professional development are time consuming which makes ramping up quickly difficult. Finding a partner with greater capacity and similar expectations enables your organization to temporarily scale at an affordable price.
Physical Capacity
While skilled labor is our most important resource, we can’t have events without equipment too. The best techs in town aren’t going to be successful without gear to setup and operate.
Purchasing popular lines from major manufacturers … we call that “rider-friendly” … inherently creates a network of local, regional, and national companies that can backfill your event needs. Some organizations even match their cases for complete consistency. This apples-to-apples approach also makes competitive pricing easier to negotiate too.
Pro Tip: If you don’t already have rental partner relationships, manufacturers are a great resource for referrals to organizations that would compliment yours.
To Outsource or to Buy/Hire … that is the question
A lot of technical production organizations were started by someone that loved buying gear. It’s in their DNA to purchase whatever equipment they need … even if it’s for a single event. They also understand that it takes people to scale so hiring becomes their second favorite activity. After all, a facility full of equipment and offices full of people means you’re successful, right?
The same experts predicting a post-pandemic surge are cautioning against long-term financial commitments. Remaining lean and agile helps weather future storms and leaves room for unplanned opportunities. Buying what your organization needs versus what its leadership wants can be two different things.
Pro Tip: Consider assigning a committee to make significant purchasing decisions … especially if leadership is resistant to contradictory opinions.
Understanding your organization’s capacity, identifying when that capacity is nearing its limit, and having partners that allow expansion without significant upfront investment will help ensure successful outcomes.
At Encompass, we have unique backgrounds that situate us perfectly to produce high end and complex offerings. We’ve worked in broadcast television, touring entertainment, live sporting events, and countless convention facilities across the country.
We have technical design experience and a disciplined process in place that allows us to easily scale events and shift from in-person to virtual without angst. There isn’t much that’s beyond our scope and we love the intensity of putting on events!
If you’re a planner working to create an event, seeking help with virtual event technology, or simply want to learn more … we can help! Sign up below to receive our updates (we promise to keep your contact information secure and won’t “overshare”).