Making educated crewing decisions for an AV project takes time and deliberation. Do you have the right employee or skilled freelancers in your network? What was their last project with you? Are they really skilled at what they do? How do you know? There are many boxes to check and verify, and no easy way to do it.

The gig economy may be expanding in various industries, but it’s always been a big part of the AV world. Freelancers have long been a part of AV projects, providing specialized skill sets and extra hands on deck when large projects land on an AV company’s desk.

AV freelancers have long been a part of executing projects in the AV industry. Yet even with their longstanding role in the AV industry, there’s still a lot of confusion surrounding how to properly pay AV freelancers.

As AV projects become larger and more complex, they require even higher levels of thoughtful project and crew management. The introduction of the right smart technology solutions may allow AV teams to better manage growing crew member numbers, the search for crew members with specialized skills, and evolving project needs.

AV companies face an interesting dilemma in 2016: companies in industries all around them are adopting SaaS tools to optimize their projects and workloads while gaining better efficiency, while AV companies themselves struggle to find a SaaS solution that can fit their processes well enough to merit a switch from the disjointed project management tools they’ve used for decades.

Process improvements are the key to establishing a workflow that improves your AV team’s productivity and helps your team deliver exceptional work for clients.

But before you can make any crew management process improvements, your organization needs to identify where inefficiencies exist, what possible solutions may fill them, and how to get the rest of your team on board with these new changes.

It’s easy to cling to an AV project planning process that has been with your organization since its start -- your employees are used to it and it works (for the most part) -- but it’s important to consider whether your process is still serving your company as well as it could.

Mertzcrew is proud to announce that we are partnering with Evolve Academy, a leader in Training & Education within the AV industry! This partnership is focused on helping freelance AV technicians develop their craft, provide a higher level of skilled service, and to increase the earning potential of technicians! As part of our partnership, Evolve Academy is offering a 10% discount on training classes to technicians that are registered with Mertzcrew. 

This year’s InfoComm is packed with things to see. From innovative exhibits to beer gardens and more, there are more than a few stops you should include in your #InfoComm16 itinerary. We’ve done the research for you to help you plan an exciting, informative, and stress-free InfoComm visit. Here are the sessions, forums, receptions, and booths we recommend you include on your list of things to see!

Las Vegas, NV (May 25, 2016) --  Today, Mertzcrew announced they will unveil their newest iteration of smart solutions for AV companies at InfoComm 2016 in Las Vegas. The Mertzcrew team has developed a powerful all-in-one AV crew management system that brings 16 years  of AV crew management experience into a cloud-based service that will strengthen operations, increase efficiency and accuracy, and save valuable time and money for growth-minded AV companies.