As an audio visual scheduler, it's important to approach each AV project with an open mind so you can cater to the individual crewing needs of each project. How you coordinate a new project often depends on the type of event you’re crewing and who is needed to achieve the project's completion and success. In order to make this process easy and efficient, regardless of the project, there are a number of tips you should follow -- from understanding the different positions and their qualities to automating scheduling. Utilize these audio visual technician hiring and coordination tips to ease the crewing process from start to finish.

1. Hire based on qualifications and trust

While the AV contracting and hiring process is always slightly different, choosing the right crew members to fill each position usually takes on a similar process. There’s identifying the special skills and training you’d like your crew to have, comparing equipment lists with gear handling experience, and then locating the qualified candidates whose schedules aren’t in conflict.

Breaking down positions and their responsibilities and comparing those to each crew member’s work history will help you find and select the best professionals from your pool of internal employees and verified contractors. This tried-and-true crewing process will help you hire crew members who will know how to safely and efficiently meet your project requirements. If you’re short on candidates for a specific position, or your usual candidates are unavailable, you can consult with a staffing agency as a last minute effort to locate the crew members you need.

2. Line up the proper insurances

If you’ve hired crew from your pool of internal employees, you’ll likely have access to Certificates of Insurance (COI) for them and will be able to verify their coverage amounts and status. However, working with AV contractors requires a bit more up-front work to collect each COI, verify its status, and ensure that their coverage amounts meet the amounts required by your vendor and venue -- a process that’s a must, even if you’re working with a staffing agency that has been able to provide coverage in the past.

In order to reduce the time spent on lining up or verifying insurance for contractors, there’s also the option of working with a third-party company who can handle all of this paperwork for you. For example, MertzCrew has over 15 years of experience coordinating insurance for contracted AV crew and can take over arranging insurance coverage for you.

3. Incorporate user-friendly tracking tools

Because you are in charge of coordinating your AV team to ensure that your projects are on time and tasks are completed as needed, you should invest in a tool that will assist you in doing this. The right tracking tool should give you an overview of your project’s status and should give you quick insights into how long your crew has been on-site each day. This data can help you determine if your project is running behind and will allow you to add more crew members as needed to ensure the project is finished on time.  

4. Use an AV Crew Scheduling Software

Even if a scheduler is experienced or is used to handling AV crew scheduling manually, implementing a scheduling software to streamline and expedite the process can be a boon to efficiency and accuracy. A real-time scheduling tool saves schedulers time going back and forth between crew members coordinating schedules, responsibilities, and project details. As project needs change, an AV crew scheduling software keeps schedulers in control with the ability to change dates, times and locations, send schedule updates direct to crew members, and schedule contractors and employees in one central location. And since life is never so simple as having one AV project at a time, this software lets a scheduler manage multiple projects and crews at the same time.

5. Streamline and systemize everywhere you can

When hiring and coordinating AV crews, one thing every scheduler can relate to is being short on time. Your time and your crew are your two most valuable resources, so finding ways to manage both efficiently can take the stress out of coordinating AV crews. So many schedulers are left to coordinate and manage AV crews through disjointed project management tools -- managing communications via email, time tracking via spreadsheets, schedules in another spreadsheet, and on and on. While these tools get the job done, they eat up precious time. Instead of connecting all the dots manually, schedulers can save time and improve efficiency by introducing an all-in-one online crew management solution that includes scheduling, tracking, communication, reporting, time sheets, and more.

A complete crew scheduling, management and tracking tool is the best thing you can do to improve your AV hiring and coordinating process. MertzCrew provides the tools AV professionals need to seamlessly schedule, track and coordinate their AV crews all in one easy to use online platform. Take a tour of the AV crew management solution that is revolutionizing the AV industry.