Quality Over Cost At Event Live Expo

President of Timeless Communications Corp. Terry Lowe,  President of Precise Corporate Staging David Stern, President of Sound Image Dave Shadoan and Account Executive - Concert Touring at Delicate Productions Jason Alt participate in a panel at Event Live Expo.

REPORTING FROM LOS ANGELES — Panelists at Event Live Expo acknowledged the costs of cutting-edge technology, but maintained the opinion that the extra cost is worth it and sometimes there are creative ways to get sponsors to offset the added dollars.

Two days of free panels featured key players and suppliers in live event production. "Bidding the Event" brought together executives from sound, lighting and staging companies who agreed that “bid” is sometimes a four-letter word.

“I hate the word ‘bid,’” said Dave Shadoan, president of Sound Image. “I always ask if they’re bidding or price-checking, because I can’t tell you how many times my bid has been used to cause someone else pain.”

Instead of focusing on giving the lowest price quote, Shadoan said that a lot of his business comes from establishing a relationship with the client and a history of quality service.

“You have to have your price and know what can work for you — what you can do is give people value,” Shadoan said. “You have to make sure you believe in what you’re doing and you’ll keep your core clients.”

Jason Alt, account executive – concert touring for Delicate Productions, agreed that, “you put out a bid for what you think is a good value for your customer and what’s a reasonable price.” Even though he admitted that sometimes there are companies across the country that submit bids for half his price, he has no problem keeping clients.

“We’re doing the Foo Fighters tour and that just came out of us building a relationship over time,” Alt said. “We’re seeing most clients coming back to us because of the value that they get from Delicate Productions as a company.”

In a later panel about stage safety, the idea of function over price came up again.

“I’ve toured extensively through the U.S. and the way I work here is similar to how I work in Europe,” said owner of eighteentwentysix ltd Joe Sanchez, currently production manager for Rihanna. “I’ve upset several drivers by bringing in double crews when things were running long because then they didn’t get paid overtime, but I want to make sure whoever is driving the vehicle that I or anyone else is in has had the right amount of sleep, regardless of the dollars.”

Kevin Bilida, owner/CEO-team leader at TLC Creative, said that he gets frustrated when clients are more concerned about the look or cost of a product than the quality.

“Sure it has to look pretty, as a secondary, but it must function and it must function safely. It won’t matter how pretty it looks if someone gets hurt,” Bilida added.

In the last panel, ‘Wi-Fi, the Internet and Your Event,’ technology panelists discussed how many times a higher price is worth it and there are ways to cover the cost.

“There are lots of little places that you could offer a perk to a sponsor within the technology to help offset the cost of implementing or offering that new technology in the first place,” said Allen Cook, moderator of the panel and co-founder of SignalShare.

Offering Wi-Fi, RFID wristbands, apps and online badges bring an added cost but, many times, sponsors see the value of being able to target young customers in a different and relevant way.

“From the sponsor side of things, I look at technology as being an integral part of everything we do,” said Stephanie Segrete Sack, an independent marketing consultant. “I’m able to engage with fans in a better and more efficient way if I and the consumer are able to use Wi-Fi.”

Sponsors are more likely to sponsor an event that offers internet access to its attendees, even at a more expensive rate, because of the added interaction value.

“There are additional avenues for me as a sponsor to engage and promote which wouldn’t be available if the venue wasn’t on board with having Wi-Fi,” Segrete Sack added.

The conference brought around 3,000 attendees to the Los Angeles Convention Center Feb. 6-7 for free panels and a sold-out exhibition. The Event Live Expo trade show, which ran concurrently with AEG Expo, Club + Venue Design and the Pollstar Live! zone, was announced as sold out to exhibitors Jan. 24, more than a week before the event, with over 150 exhibitors registered.

Interviewed for this article: Jason Alt, (805) 388-1800; Kevin Bilida, (310) 822-6790; Allen Cook, (919) 424-6066; Dave Shadoan, (760) 737-3900