What does an independent AV consultant do for a corporate event?

They work for you, not the AV company. They specify what the show needs, get comparable proposals from production companies, review them with your team, and can stay through show day as your engineer or advocate.

Is a consultant useful if the venue has in-house AV?

It depends on the program. For a simple meeting, the in-house team may be all you need. For keynotes, many wireless microphones, playback cues or a livestream, a consultant can review the in-house proposal and coordinate with the venue's team.

Will a consultant replace our AV company?

No. The consultant reviews the proposal and plot, flags gaps and works alongside the AV company's crew onsite. The aim is a better show with the vendor you have, when that vendor is doing good work.

Can Snake Audio help with hybrid or livestreamed events?

Yes. Snake Audio plans a dedicated program mix for broadcast and recording, separate from the room mix, and coordinates it with your video and streaming team.

How is Snake Audio paid?

Consulting is a flat fee per event. Onsite engineering is quoted separately, and any vendor referral fee is disclosed to you in writing before you book.

Should You Hire an Independent AV Consultant?

Hire an independent AV consultant when the event is high stakes, the program is complex, or you have proposals you can't confidently compare. Skip it for a simple meeting in a room whose in-house system was built for exactly that. An independent consultant is paid by you, owns no equipment, and makes sure the show you sign for is the show that runs.

What "independent" should mean

Paid by you. The consultant's fee comes from the client, and any money from vendors is disclosed in writing before you book.
No inventory. An independent consultant has no equipment to rent out, so recommendations start from your program and room.
Hands-on experience. The best advice comes from people who run shows. Ask what events they've engineered and whether they'll be onsite.

Signs your event would benefit

An executive keynote or product reveal where the first words have to land
Panels and Q&A with many wireless microphones in a hotel or convention center
Playback, walk-in music and reveal cues timed with video and lighting
A livestream or recording that needs its own program mix
More than one AV proposal, with no clear way to compare them
A run of show that keeps changing, with no single person owning audio

What a consultant delivers

A technical specification for coverage, channel counts, wireless, playback, comms and program feeds, so every vendor quotes the same show.
Comparable proposals from qualified Los Angeles production companies, reviewed line by line for equipment, crew, labor hours and overtime.
Liaison with your producer, AV company and the venue's in-house team, including rider review and advance calls.
Show-day coverage as systems engineer or A1, or as your technical advocate alongside the vendor's crew through rehearsal and show.

If you already have an AV company

A consultant can still help. The job is to review the proposal and plot, flag gaps in coverage, wireless or crew, and work alongside their team onsite. The goal is a better show, not replacing a vendor that's doing good work.

How Snake Audio approaches corporate events

Snake Audio is event audio consulting by Jacob Moore, a freelance L-Acoustics systems engineer with 15 years in live audio, 11 on L-Acoustics systems, and freelance since 2018. Events Jacob has worked include Oracle AI World, Google Cloud Next and the NVIDIA conference, and he has been systems engineer on events for xAI, Google, GitHub, Smartsheet and Meta. Credits are events Jacob worked as an engineer, typically through production companies; they are not Snake Audio clients or endorsements.

Snake Audio is based in Redondo Beach, CA, serving the South Bay and Los Angeles. See corporate event audio consulting, how fees work in Fees & transparency, or request a consultation.

Should you hire an independent AV consultant for your corporate event?