InfoComm 24 will be held in Las Vegas in June of 2024. We are proud to attend this upcoming event and host two events of our own. The first is Mertzcrew Accelerate, which will take place on June 11th, the day before Infocomm begins. The second is a head-to-head competition that we’re calling Wrap Battle, which will take place on June 12th. 

We’re dedicated to helping live event companies find, hire, and manage the best AV professionals. Our attendance at InfoComm 24 represents an opportunity for us to connect with live event companies and other AV professionals to share the benefits of Mertzcrew’s freelance management solution. In this post, we’ll tell you about the two events we’re hosting and share some of the ways that Mertzcrew can help you create memorable experiences for your clients by making your crewing and production process seamless.

Learn and Connect with AV Professionals at Mertzcrew Accelerate

Mertzcrew Accelerate is an event that we’ve designed to help InfoComm 24 attendees learn about our AV freelancer management solution and address the toughest challenges in scheduling AV labor. 

Test Your Skills: Go Head-to-Head in Our Wrap Battle

The second event that we will host at InfoComm 24 is the Wrap Battle. Don’t worry, we’re not expecting you to drop off-the-cuff rhymes and beats! This is a competition designed to engage AV professionals and give them the opportunity to show off their skills.

We decided to include the Wrap Battle as part of our participation to encourage some friendly competition. While every trade show, conference, and convention is important in our industry, they can be draining, too. There’s a lot of learning and networking and it can be tiring to be “on” for the whole experience.

The Wrap Battle is a timed XLR cable-wrapping competition. It’s designed to be a fun and competitive activity to break up the day and give participants a way to burn off some steam and unwind. If you’re someone who’s spent years wrapping cable and you’re confident in your skills, this is the competition for you!

We will host the Wrap Battle on June 12 at West Hall #1179 in the Lights Out area. Anyone who’s interested in competing can register for the event now.

Learn About Mertzcrew Features

Here are some of the features that you’ll find when you choose Mertzcrew as your AV freelancer management solution.

Compliant Contracts

Compliant contracts are a must for every event production company. With the right freelance management platform, it’s easy to create compliant contracts, collect signatures, and store signed contracts for quick retrieval. We also streamline the process of creating compliant contracts for the freelancers you hire and giving you an accessible place to store them. This is key to AV production for any successful live event.

Freelancer Insurance 

Insurance management is one of the most challenging administrative tasks related to live event production. AV freelancers need both general liability coverage and workers compensation insurance. One of the things that sets Mertzcrew apart from other crew management solutions is that we can help you with risk exposure by obtaining insurance for freelancers who don’t have it and making it simple for you to track their insurance.

Freelancer Invoice Processing and Payment

After a live event, you can use Mertzcrew to collect invoices from the freelancers you hired and process payments. Using a freelance management solution like Mertzcrew makes it easy to pay freelancers on time and ensure that they’re happy and willing to work for you again.

Freelancer Hiring and Onboarding

Event production companies who use Mertzcrew can access our huge database of freelancers in locations across the United States. Our system simplifies planning by making it easy to hire and onboard freelancers before events.

AV Talent Management

Without freelance management software, it can be a challenge to keep track of which freelancers you’ve vetted and approved, and manage everything from event assignments to invoices. Mertzcrew simplifies the process.

Event Scheduling and Administration

Every live event requires production companies to hire and schedule freelancers, communicate with them during the production, and track freelancers’ hours. AV freelance management systems make it possible to track everything from one convenient dashboard.

Learn Best Practices for Labor Scheduling

Producing a large live event, whether it’s a concert or a major corporate event, presents scheduling challenges for production companies. At Mertzcrew Accelerate, you’ll learn about some of the ways that Mertzcrew can help you with that by encouraging best practices, including the following:

• Segment large events into smaller tasks 
• Find freelancers with the exact skills and experience you need
• Use our advanced logistics and scheduling tools
• Manage segmented tasks by specific projects, e.g. setting up lighting for an event or building a stage to your client’s specifications.
• Maximize accountability for the freelancers you hire
• Improve communication between your staff and the freelancers before and during events

You’ll also have the opportunity to network with other Mertzcrew Accelerate attendees to share experiences and best practices.

Mertzcrew Helps Clients with the Crewing and Production Process

Before you arrive at InfoComm 24, we want you to know why it’s important to visit the Mertzcrew exhibit while you’re there. If you’re not already a client, you’re missing out on the most robust crew management software available.

What sets us apart from other freelancer management solutions is that we help you with more than crew scheduling and management. We provide features that help you organize your production team, but we go far beyond that by being able to provide additional features that can help reduce your risk and your costs at the same time.

Let’s start with risks. All live event production comes with some risk to live event companies, but fortunately, there are ways to mitigate it. Mertzcrew reduces your risk and:

• Helps you create and track compliant contracts for every freelancer you hire
• Makes it easy to obtain insurance for freelancers who don’t already have their own, including worker’s compensation insurance and professional liability insurance
• Allows you to track insurance and request updated policies as needed
• Enables convenient communication with crew members to streamline events and minimize the risk of errors

Having Mertzcrew behind you to minimize your risks leaves you more time to focus on live events that will leave a lasting impression on every client. And we can help when it comes to cutting costs, too:

• Efficient scheduling means you’ll pay for only the hours that freelancers need to complete their work
• You’ll spend less time onboarding new freelancers
• Streamlined communication can help reduce the time you spend setting up for an event and minimize mistakes that can add to freelancers’ time
• With an easy way to obtain and track insurance, you’ll reduce the risk of legal and financial liability

InfoComm 24 will be here before you know it, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there! If you want to learn more about how Mertzcrew can help you hire, onboard, and schedule freelancers, come check us out. At the end of the day, you’ll have less risk and fewer expenses than you would without us. We hope to see you at Mertzcrew Accelerate on June 11th. Please note only a few spots remain so click here to register today!

And, if you’re in search of a fun event to break up your time and allow you to burn some energy, compete in our Wrap Battle!