Why Every Major Event Needs an AV Lead

The call usually comes late: the "AV person" quit, the event is tomorrow, and the room is full of cases nobody labeled. Expensive gear without someone who owns the run-of-show is just expensive furniture.

An AV lead isn't "the person who plugs things in." They're the one who decides what gets plugged in, when cues fire, and what happens when plan A dies at 18:40.

What the job actually is

• Build the technical plan from the agenda — mics, playback, lighting looks, who stands where
• Coordinate crew and vendors so you're not the relay between five radios
• Catch problems in rehearsal, not during the ask
• Translate planner language into console language (and back)

What goes wrong without one

Dead mic on the welcome. Without a lead: the speaker taps it, asks if it's on, and the room laughs for the wrong reason. With a lead: backup channel already live, swap in under a second, speaker never looks down.

Blue screen on slide one. Without a lead: someone is crawling under the lectern. With a lead: secondary input or a holding slide is already patched.

House lights fighting the stage. Without a lead: "Can we make it brighter?" shouted from the back. With a lead: looks are programmed, and the walk-in fade already happened.

How they save money (quietly)

They stop you from renting two of everything "just in case," and they stop last-minute courier runs for the cable someone assumed was in the case. Shorter setup, fewer overtime hours, fewer show-day fixes.

Red flags in an interview

• "I just need to know where to plug in"
• "We'll figure it out on site"
• Can't walk you through a sample run-of-show
• Talks only about gear brands, never about cues or backups

Ask them this

• Walk me through the last time a presenter laptop failed mid-keynote. What did you do?
• Who owns the clock when the program runs long?
• What do you bring as backup that isn't on the quote?

If your event has speakers, playback, or a timed ask, someone needs to own the technical spine. That person is the AV lead.