For anyone looking for AV technician jobs, find out below the key roles and responsibilities or take a look at our current AV technician jobs to see if we have the right job for you.

What are the main responsibilities in AV technician jobs?

AV technicians are in charge of all the sound, recording and lighting equipment at live events, which can include anything from projectors to microphones and video recorders. They need to be able to transport, set-up, run and dismantle all the AV equipment theya are using. Plus, they need to have excellent technical knowledge and understanding of all the AV equipment they are using because, should a problem occur or a piece of equipment break, they need to quickly and easily make all the necessary repairs.

Depending on the requirements of a live event, the precise role of an AV technician can vary. While at one event, they might be coordinating the sound equipment needed for speeches and presentations, at their next event they might be filming live events to stream over the internet.

What are the necessary skills?

While good technical knowledge is vital, it is not enough to secure a job as an AV technician. Excellent problem solving skills are essential. In particular, AV technicians need to be able to remain calm when equipment breaks or needs to be repaired, so the problems can be resolved quickly.

As with the majority of event roles, team work is vital. AV technicians need to work with everyone else involved in the event to ensure all the equipment is ready and in place before the attendees arrive. Also, they will need to be able to liaise with event planners and organisers to make sure all the client requirements are met.

How strong is the current job market?

AV technicians are essential for any live event that relies on AV equipment. So long as events use AV technology, AV technicians will be required and it’s a technology that is always developing. With a positive outlook for the whole UK events sector for 2012, it seems likely that there will be a continued demand for those with the necessary skills.

Find out for yourself if Live Recruitment has the AV technician job you’ve been looking for.

#1 Using a podium isolates you from your audience

Delivering a presentation from behind a podium fixes you in one position and creates a barrier between you and your audience. Plus, it instantly limits your movements, giving your whole presentation a rigid feeling. Ditch the podium and your presentation delivery will become more relaxed, putting you and your audience at ease.

#2 Too much information is overwhelming

It doesn’t matter how interesting your topic is or how well you’re delivering your presentation, if you’re trying to convey too much information your audience will find it difficult to follow. Be selective when choosing what to include and consider the points that your audience will find interesting and informative. By doing this, you’ll be able to produce a more tailored and engaging presentation.

#3 Cluttered slides create confusion

Putting too much text on a slide or using too many images is distracting and decreases their overall impact. Cluttered slides will reduce the focus and precision of your presentation. Slides should complement your main discussion points and be used to highlight the key parts of your presentation, rather than a verbatim copy of your whole presentation.

#4 Timing and delivery – key to getting your point across

Presentations that either run over or are too short are irritating because both of these problems are simple to fix. A run through will help you to smooth out any timing problems and will also give you a chance to practice your delivery, so you’ll know in advance if you’re prone to talking too quickly or slowly.

#5 Not enough planning leads to presentation pitfalls

Investing enough preparation time into your presentation will make it more polished and professional. If it is not fully planned, then it will only increase your nerves when delivering it in front of an audience. Even if you manage to make it through the presentation itself, poor planning could leave you exposed during a Q&A session. Ensuring that you put the time and effort beforehand will make you more confident and comfortable during the presentation itself.

Gain more useful insights to improve your events by following Live Recruitment on Twitter@LiveRecruitment for event industry news and exciting job opportunities.

Get your profile set up properly

Putting the basics into place is the first step you need before you can begin your LinkedIn job hunting. Make sure you’ve got a profile picture, otherwise your profile page will look incomplete. Ideally, you need to complete all the sections on your profile, so you provide a complete account of your skills, experiences and abilities. In particular, highlight any professional events opportunities you’ve had, explaining the tasks you did and what you learned.

Manage your connections

Every time you do a placement or some work experience, connect with your co-workers on LinkedIn. Just like Facebook, Twitter or any other social media, LinkedIn is very useful for building your connections. It will help you to keep on top of your growing network and, should you ever need a reference, it will mean your referee has an instant point of access to remember you and the work you did for them.

Ask for recommendations

After you’ve completed a work experience placement, ask someone at the organisation if they could write a recommendation for your LinkedIn profile. It’s a great way to demonstrate the value you added through your work experience and it will help give future employers confidence in your capabilities. When you send a recommendation request through LinkedIn, make sure you personalise it, rather than relying on the pre-generated form.

Join groups to support your LinkedIn job hunting

LinkedIn have groups for every industry. Search for events related groups, particularly ones that have a good membership base and lively discussion boards. As well as considering the focus of the group, it is worth time investigating where the majority of the group’s members are located and what their role and functions are. This will ensure you only join LinkedIn groups that are relevant to you. You can find out all this information by looking at a groups statistics before you join.

Get involved in these groups

To get any benefit from the groups you join, you need to become part of the conversations on the discussion page. You could try asking and answering questions, as well as sharing resources that have been useful to you.

While these steps alone will not necessarily secure you a job, they will help to increase your events based network and knowledge, which are invaluable resources for anyone looking for a job in the events industry.

Follow Live Recruitment on LinkedIn, start to build up your networking opportunities and begin your LinkedIn job hunting today.

Even if you can only gain one day shadowing an event planner, it will still help you to improve your CV and give you real-life experience that you refer to in interviews. It might even confirm whether you really want to become an event planner.

We put together seven reasons you need to get events work experience to boost your career prospects.

1. Find out if working in events is really for you

Work experience will help you decide if you’re suited to working in the events industry. Just a short-term commitment of a couple of weeks will give you a sense of whether it’s going to be a good career for you. Plus, it could save you time and money in the future, as you won’t be tied to a course, training route or job for the long-term, if you decide it’s not really for you.

2. Build connections and network

Work experience is a great way to get to know people already working in the industry. You never know when someone you meet on a placement might be able to provide you with a reference or help you find out about job opportunities later in your career.

3. Stand out from the application crowd

If your CV or application form can demonstrate a good range of event experience, then employers are more likely to call you to interview. It proves to them you’re interested in working in the industry and also shows you’ve been pro-active to look for opportunities.

4. Put learning into practice

All your research into live events and everything you’ve learned through formal qualifications, such as an event management course, will make more sense in a work situation. It can help you see why certain skills and expertises are necessary in the industry.

5. Gain job motivation

Placements can increase your enthusiasm for working in events. Once you have a clearer idea of what it is you’re aiming for, it will give you the buzz and motivation to work towards achieving these goals.

6. Make an impact

Work experience in the events industry means you have the opportunity to contribute. Particularly if you’re working for a smaller organisation, the involvement you have while on work experience will have an impact on any project that you are involved with.

7. Find yourself a job

While gaining work experience isn’t an automatic route to securing a job with a particular organisation, it can help. Employers will often consider a candidate who did a good job while on a placement when they next have a suitable vacancy.

Events work experience – remember to keep a diary

Remember to keep a work experience diary while on placement. You’ll be able to see what you’ve learned through work experience and it will help you find examples of where you have demonstrated particular skills in a work place context. That way, you’ll have a useful document to draw from when the time comes to make job applications and attend interviews.

Ready to take on your next role in the events industry? Take a look at our latest vacancies and see if we have the right job for you.

[image credit education.icnetwrok.co.uk]

What can you do to make sure attendees leave an event remembering all the key points?

What is the problem with events presentations?

Engaging your attendees and creating a memorable event is about more than just delivering a polished presentation. A speaker can deliver an organised talk, covering all the main points, but the main conclusions can still get lost. If a speaker just talks and attendees just listen, it’s easy for minds to wander and lose the thread of the talk.

Just as you wouldn’t leave choosing a venue to chance, ensure all the talks at your event are structured to be memorable. Event attendees need to have opportunities to think about the information in a talk. They need the chance to develop ideas and form clear memories of the event.

Why is memory important to remembering a talk?

Getting attendees to think about the information in a presentation is the key to getting them to remember it once the event it over. Just as people will connect better with social media for your event if you encourage them to become involved, they will also respond better to your event if it is engaging and thought-provoking.

If attendees are given the opportunity to think about the points of the presentation, rather than just listen to them, then they will form a more solid memory of the event. People are better able to remember more information if they have a clearer memory of an event.

5 practical tips to deliver memorable events

Adapting traditional presentation formats will encourage event attendees to think more about the information they are receiving. For any event organiser, these tips are great ways to make talks at your event more memorable and help attendees remember the event once it is over.

1. Add time for discussion

Ensure each session ends with Q&A and give speakers clear guidance not to overrun their time slots. This allows event attendees to clear up any queries they have from the talk. Plus, even if they don’t have any questions, it gives them time to reflect on the talk before having to rush off to their next session.

2. Include discussion points during the talk

Encourage your speaker to take a couple of short breaks during their session and get people talking during this time. Give attendees a few leading questions to get their mini-discussions started. This will help them to engage with the material and also learn from each other.

3. Encourage speakers to consider their key thinking points

If your speaker knows the key points they want their audience to learn and remember from a session, then they are more likely to succeed in sharing the information. A vague idea on what a session will achieve will lead to vague results.

4. Urge speakers to cut their content

It’s more useful to cover a few points in detail, with plenty of opportunities to discuss the information and ask question, than to try and cover too much. Presentations that have a clear focus are more likely to be able to convey the relevant points to event attendees.

5. Tailor evaluation forms

Getting feedback is, of course, a great way to find out what your audience thought worked well in a session. But, if you tailor your evaluation forms to ask more specific questions, such as asking attendees how they will implement the ideas from the session into their work, you’ll get them to engage more with the talking points from the session. It will encourage attendees to consider how the points of the talk are relevant to them.

Find out more hints, tips and ideas to enhance your event, follow Live Recruitment on Twitter @LiveRecruitment for all the latest event industry news.

[image credit: cambridgewineblogger.blogspot.co.uk]

1. Cover Photos

The first, and most obvious, change that timeline brings is the cover photo at the top of your page. Cover photos are 851x315px, which gives you plenty of room for an eye-catching, creative image. Fill this space with an image that encapsulates your event, so anyone looking at your Facebook page will know exactly what it is all about. A clean, striking image which isn’t too text heavy, will have the best impact. You can change your cover photo as often as you want. However, Facebook has issued some guidelines for cover photos, which you’ll need to bear in mind:

2. Views and Apps

The old left hand navigation has been moved to boxes that sit under your cover photo. In Facebook terminology, these are now called views and apps. You can re-arrange which app boxes are shown. But, only 4 boxes can be displayed, so choose carefully which ones you want. You can also edit the images of the app boxes by going to ‘Manage’ on the ‘Edit Page’, which gives you the opportunity to personalise your timeline and make the images more relevant to your event.

3. Pinned Posts

This new feature means you can fix one story to the top of your page timeline for up to seven days. So, if you’ve got an exciting update about your event that you want everyone to see, this is a great way to make it doesn’t get lost further down your timeline.

4. Highlight Posts

Similar to pinned posts, the highlight option allows you to draw attention to posts on your timeline by making them bigger. This is particularly useful for sharing images of your event, as it gives them more space to make an impact. To highlight, just click on the star icon in the top right hand corner of any post.

5. Edit and Re-arrange posts

You can change the date anything appears on your timeline. This is handy if you want to bring an old post or image that’s still relevant back to the top of your timeline. You can also easily remove posts, meaning if something is no longer relevant or you need to change the details, you can delete it from your timeline.

While the changes may take some getting used to, Facebook certainly remains a powerful social media tool for events professionals. As timeline is much more image driven than previous Facebook formats, these updates are beneficial for event planners looking to share the visual impact of their events.

For more event news, advice and job opportunities, follow Live Recruitment on Twitter @LiveRecruitment.

What makes an excellent event planner?

Event planners need to draw on a range of skills and characteristics to make sure their events are a success. Events work to strict timeframes and budgets, meaning planners have to work with these in mind.

Being well-organised is essential to get everything done and in place before the event begins. If you don’t already, keep a day book and organise yourself with to-do lists and make sure you understand all the elements that go into planning an event. You can use tools such as the urgent/important matrix to help organise yourself (and your events).

Event planners also have to co-ordinate all the people working on the event, while remaining flexible to any last minute changes or alterations. Delegate the tasks for the event to everyone involved  and set clear instructions, so everyone knows the part they are responsible for. Then, record this all in an event activity log. Not only will this help you keep track of who is doing what, it also means that if there are any set-backs, you’ll quickly be able to see who is available to help out. There are plenty of free event planning tools around to help make this a bit easier for you.

On top of this, strong communication and presentation skills are vital to become an event planner. Focus on being clear and concise when speaking with others. This is particularly important when delivering instructions. You also need to be an excellent listener, to ensure your event meets your client’s precise requirements. Nothing improves communication skills like practice, so take every opportunity to engage with people. Ask questions if you’re ever unsure and consider what you want to achieve when communicating with someone. You’re much more likely to be successful if you have a clear aim.

How can you demonstrate these skills?

Nothing beats work experience to prove you have the ability to make a fantastic event planner. Voluntary work and internships will show potential employers your dedication. Also, formal qualifications can be an advantage to gaining employment and often provide opportunities for you to demonstrate your skills in practical situations.

Looking for sandwich courses, that include a year in industry, mean you’ll benefit from real work experience before you even graduate.

How can you prove your abilities?

It is useful to document any work experience, so you have a resource to draw from when you’re making job applications and attending interviews. Try to be as inventive as possible with your records. Use videos, blogs and social media, as this will also show your creative abilities.

If you’re looking to start your career as an event planner, get in touch with LiveRecruitment and take a look at our event planner vacancies.

We’ve all been on the mercy of technology failings. But, at a live event, you know you can’t afford for mistakes like this to happen. To avoid the pitfalls of live blogging, here’s our handy checklist and make sure you have everything you need to make your event blogging a success.

The Live Blogging Essentials

1. Laptop/tablet: The basic necessity for writing down your blog content and getting it up on the internet for everyone to share.
2. Digital/video camera: Add pictures and short videos to your live blog to give it a real interactive feel. Click the link for more great ideas on using video at your event.
3. Smartphone or tablet: With the ability to upload pictures and content straight to the web, a good smartphone will save you valuable time while live blogging.
4. Blog account: Before the event begins, become familiar with all the features and functionalities of your chosen blogging platform. You’ll save yourself plenty of time on the day if you’re already confident with your blogging platform
5. Notepad and pen: For when you need to jot down a quick note for later on, nothing beats good old-fashioned pen and paper.

Back-ups and cables

1. Power cables: Keep your power cables to hands. When your laptop battery warning pops-up, you just need to plug it into a socket and keep on blogging
2. Connection leads: Nothing worse than having some fantastic pictures and videos to share but no means of getting them onto your laptop. Keep all the leads you’ll need with you, then you’ll be able to transfer images and add them easily to your blog.
3. Spare batteries: Be prepared for a camera battery failure with a spare. A quick change and you’ll be back to taking pictures

Keep it all safe and protected

Live Recruitment are events industry specialists. Follow us @LiveRecruitment for industry jobs, news and tips or take a look at our current vacancies to find your next career move.

1. Create Interest before the day starts

Posting videos on the internet before your event will give potential attendees an idea of what to expect. Use videos to capture people’s attention and use it promote your event beforehand.

2. Reach more people with video

Sharing a video of your event means anyone unable to make the event itself will still be able to see what it was all about. Your event can continue to have an impact, even after it’s finished. There really isn’t a limit to the number of people who you can reach with video online and it’s a lot easier to watch a two-minute video than read 500 words of copy.

3. Video viewing is on the rise

Sharing a video, either before or after your event, will help you capture the growing trend of online video viewing. According to Comscore, online video viewing in the UK grew 42% and 34m internet users viewed video during January this year. That’s over 60% of the online population. YouTube gets by far the biggest share of nearly 20m views but other sites like Vevo, Facebook are popular too.

Check out our recent blog article on using YouTube to find out how you can use it for your event.

4. Encourage Involvement around your Event

Posting a video on YouTube or other social media sites invites people to comment and share their opinions. It’s a great way to have a conversation with attendees at your event and find out directly what they liked and what they would change about a specific event.

5. Direct Engagement at your event

Take this involvement a stage further and use video at your event to capture opinions of the day from the people there experiencing it. This makes great footage to share with others and is an invaluable resource for planning future events.

6. Record your success

Videos online are a great way to promote your work and achievements. They are proof of your experience and expertise, showing exactly what you are capable of doing.

Want more up-to-date insider tips, latest industry news and live events job opportunities? Follow Live Recruitment on Twitter  @LiveRecruitment.

Economic conditions have been tough for the last few years. Brand and experience marketing can often be one of the first casualties of a round of budget cuts even though live events are a key opportunity for marketers to bring their brands to life. However, whilst recent research shows mixed fortunes in the live events industry it also shows positive signs and highlights some strong performers.

A rough patch for the live events industry?

Plimsoll’s Industry Analysis of exhibition and event organisers told a sad story last year. It reported numerous companies making losses from their events as a result of the worst trading conditions seen in the past decade.

“Whether its fuel, materials or wage demands, every company in the UK exhibition and event organisers industry is being squeezed by ever increasing costs,” said senior analyst David Pattison. “When we examined profitability in the exhibition and event organisers market last year we found millions of pounds worth of profit being wasted.”

Some exhibition organisers are profiting

However, the industry may be on the path to recovery. This year’s findings from Plimsoll found that only 241 of firms surveyed were making a loss, compared to 276 in 2011. Whilst the industry average profit margin is 3%, some firms are standing out from their peers, achieving profit margins over 6 times higher of 19%. These few companies – referred to as “profit kings” – have rebuilt their profits following the recession through excellent management and by resisting the temptation to reduce prices in order to make sales.

In 2011, Plimsoll noted that despite 64% of companies finding a drop in their profits, “many are reluctant to pass on price rises for fear of losing customers to cost-savvy competitors”.

The overall outlook for both the exhibition and wider events management industry is unclear. What is certain is that amongst the middle of the road organisers, some are shining with outstanding profits, whilst others are sinking and becoming prime targets for takeovers. So how is your company faring in the intensely competitive exhibition industry?

Get your events career started at Live Recruitment by browsing our events management jobs.

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