What AV Equipment Do You Need for a Conference?
The AV equipment for a conference comes down to one goal: every person in the room hears each speaker and reads each slide. Use this checklist to build your list room by room, then compare it with what your venue already has.
The essentials in one list
A typical general session needs this audio equipment rental and display gear, plus a person to run it.
- Speakers sized to the room, with extra speakers along long or wide seating.
- Microphones for every voice on stage at once, plus one or two for audience questions.
- A mixer as soon as you have more than one microphone.
- A screen and projector or an LED wall. Image height should be at least the distance to the farthest seat divided by 6.
- Laptop connections and a confidence monitor so speakers see their slides without turning around.
- A technician who stays from sound check to the last session.
Breakouts, recording, stage and lighting come on top. The checklist below covers each one.
Conference AV checklist
Go through these sections with your agenda in hand. Each session, room and speaker change adds a line to the list.
Sound system
Clear speech matters more than volume. A conference needs even coverage, so the back row hears what the front row hears.
Room shape decides the setup. High ceilings and hard walls bounce sound around, and a wide room needs speakers along the sides. In one audio for a seated presentation in a high-ceiling hall, we placed powered speakers on stands along the rows and at a separate side seating area. After a sound check before guests arrived, the presenter came through clearly in every row.
When you compare sound system rental quotes, check the number of speakers and where they go, not only their brand.
Microphones
Count the voices that speak at the same time. A panel of four needs four microphones plus one for the moderator.
- Handheld wireless. For hosts and audience Q&A.
- Lavalier. Clips to a jacket and leaves the speaker's hands free for a clicker.
- Headset. Stays close to the mouth when a speaker walks and turns.
- Podium microphone. For a speaker who stays behind the lectern.
In a convention center, many exhibitors and rooms use wireless microphones at once. Ask your AV team how they will coordinate frequencies so your mic doesn't pick up the room next door.
Screens and projector rental
Start with the farthest seat. Divide its distance from the screen by 6 to get the minimum image height. A 30 ft room needs a 5 ft tall image, and a 60 ft room needs 10 ft. Round up for dense slides and small charts.
For smaller rooms, a 6 ft screen works for audiences under 100, and an 8 ft screen for up to 300. Bigger general sessions need fast-fold screens or large screen projector rentals.
Light changes everything. If the venue can't dim the house lights to at least 50%, the projector needs more brightness, or an LED wall makes more sense. Projection doesn't work at all in direct sunlight. Our LED wall rental page explains when the switch pays off.
Plan where the projector sits. Placed at eye level in front of the stage, it puts the presenter in the beam and their shadow on the slides. A ceiling position or rear projection keeps the image clean. With a standard lens, the projector sits about twice as far from the screen as the screen is wide.
When you book projector and screen rental, send the room dimensions and a photo of the windows.
Stage and lighting
A raised stage lets the back rows see the speaker. Front light keeps faces visible to the room and to any camera. For risers, steps and skirting built to your room, see our stage rental.
Laptops, playback and the run of show
Collect slides before the event and load them on one show computer. Speakers who plug in their own laptop lose minutes to adapters and display settings.
Add a confidence monitor at the front of the stage, a clicker that works with the show computer, and a playback source for walk-in music and videos.
Breakouts and side rooms
Each breakout is a small conference room with its own AV equipment needs: a screen or TV, a laptop connection, and a microphone if the room seats more than a small group. Plan the lobby and the networking area too. Music and announcements there need their own speakers.
Hotel AV services or your own provider
Many hotels have an in-house AV company. You're often allowed to bring your own, and a hotel AV alternative can make sense when you want one team across the general session, breakouts and evening event.
Check the contract first. Ask the venue about outside vendor rules, power fees, rigging points, union labor, loading dock hours and the freight elevator. Ask for the house AV spec, because a ceiling sound system that's fine for background music can struggle with a live panel.
What the quote should spell out
A clear quote lists microphone types, speakers, mixer, screens, stands and cables, plus delivery, setup and teardown times. Ask what isn't included. Power drops, cable ramps, podiums and playback laptops are easy to miss on both sides. Use the list when you compare rental AV equipment offers.
Conference AV rental with a technician
We bring the sound, screens and people, set up and test before your first session, and stay until the last speaker is done.
As an AV company for conferences, we cover audio visual event production for one room or a full program:
Audio. QSC speakers, wireless and wired microphones, mixers and playback.
Display. Projectors, screens, TVs and LED walls sized to your room.
People. A technician on site all day to switch microphones, cue videos and fix problems on the spot.
Delivery, setup and teardown. Anywhere in the U.S.
We have two bases, Los Angeles and Orlando, with an office and warehouse at 310 N Orange Ave in Orlando. Our crews work across the U.S., on the West Coast, the East Coast and in Florida.
You can book AV rental with a technician on its own. If you also need the agenda, venue and attendee experience planned, our conference planning services put corporate event AV and the rest of the program under one team.
Questions
What AV equipment do we need for a small corporate meeting?
For corporate meeting AV with one speaker and a small group, a microphone and one or two powered speakers are enough. Add a TV or a screen and projector for slides.
Do we need microphone rental for a room of 50 people?
Usually yes. Without a microphone, people in the back rows strain to hear, and any recording or stream picks up almost nothing.
What conference room AV equipment do breakouts need?
A screen or large TV, a laptop connection, and a microphone if the room is larger than a meeting table. Add a speaker phone or camera if remote people join.
What video conferencing equipment does a large room need?
A camera that covers the stage, and a second one for the audience if remote people ask questions. Feed every microphone to both the room speakers and the call, and use a wired internet line. A technician watches the call audio separately from the room sound.
Do we have to use the hotel's AV company?
Not always. Many hotels allow outside event AV companies under set rules and fees. Ask the hotel for these rules before you sign the venue contract.
Do you offer nationwide projector rental?
Yes. Our team brings projectors, screens and sound and runs them on site anywhere in the U.S.
How much does AV cost for a conference?
Every event gets a custom quote. It depends on the number of rooms, session hours, screen size, microphones, crew and travel. See how we quote, or send your agenda and we'll reply right away.
Planning a conference?
Send us your agenda, the venue and the room sizes. We'll put together an AV list for every room and check availability in minutes. Tell us the event type, dates, city, number of guests and rooms, and your budget. A floor plan or the venue's AV spec helps us quote faster. Or call +1 213 912 1010
