Who should own this checklist?

One person on your side and one on the production side. Shared ownership of a pre-show checklist is how items quietly go unconfirmed — assign it to a named individual with authority to escalate.

When should each item be confirmed?

Equipment and crew at booking, power and rigging after the recce, timings two weeks out, and content 72 hours before. Anything still open 48 hours out should be treated as a risk, not an action.

What is a delegate microphone system and when do I need one?

It is a networked set of microphone units, typically Bosch DICENTIS or Shure Microflex Complete, with request-to-speak queueing, chairman priority and automatic mixing that limits how many channels are open at once. You need one for panels of more than about four people, for AGMs where members address the chair, and for any multilingual session feeding interpretation.

Why distributed speakers instead of one good PA?

Because a conference has no music to mask reflections, so intelligibility rather than level is the target. Distributed speakers aimed down into the seating and time-aligned to the stage deliver even, coherent speech at a comfortable 70 to 75 dBA. A single loud source forces the front rows to suffer so the back rows can hear.

How do you handle speakers who bring their own laptop?

A wireless presentation system sits permanently on the switcher as a tested input, so a late laptop becomes a cut rather than a cable scramble. We still ask for decks in advance, because a collected and versioned deck set is the only way to guarantee fonts, embedded video and aspect ratio behave on the day.

Do you record the sessions?

Yes, per room, with audio taken as a clean programme feed from the console rather than from a camera microphone. Recordings are offloaded and reviewed nightly on a multi-day event so a problem is found after session two rather than after the conference. Delivery is usually per-session files with speaker names and timings.

Conference AV Setup Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day

Category: Checklists
Read time: 7 min
Sections: 3
Updated: Apr 2026

Key takeaway

Before show day, confirm the conference AV setup equipment list with exact model numbers, the spares that travel with it, sanctioned power and generator changeover, rigging sign-off, named crew, the load-in and rehearsal slots, final content files and a single named show-caller. Missing any one of these causes most event AV failures.

Key takeaways

Exact models, not categories, on the equipment list
Spares for anything that would stop the show
Power sanction plus generator changeover confirmed
One named show-caller holding the cue sheet

Conference AV Setup: pre-show checklist

Equipment & specification

Delegate systems confirmed: Bosch DICENTIS and CCS 1000 D, Shure Microflex Complete with request-to-speak
Speech intelligibility target confirmed: STI of approximately 0.5 or better across the seating area
Speech level confirmed: 70 – 75 dBA at the seat from distributed, time-aligned loudspeakers
Automatic mixing confirmed: Gating and NOM attenuation to limit simultaneously open microphones
Presentation switching confirmed: Barco E2, Roland or ATEM with independent screen, stage, record and stream outputs
Itemised list naming exact models, not categories
Spares for mics, cables, processors and any single point of failure

Power & safety

Venue sanctioned load confirmed in writing against the rig's draw
Silent generator sized with automatic changeover
Earthing check completed and logged
Rigging certification and load calculations signed off
Cable covers on every walkway and crowd line

People

Technical producer named and briefed
Show caller named and briefed
Audio engineer named and briefed
Presentation operator named and briefed
Vision mixer named and briefed
Breakout room technician named and briefed

Timings

Load-in slot agreed with the venue in writing
Sound check and line check scheduled
Full technical rehearsal booked with real presenters and real content
Venue curfew and strike window confirmed

Content & handover

Room-by-room technical plan with equipment and crew allocation
Speech coverage and intelligibility measurement for the main hall
Cue-marked running order used by the show caller
Presentation standards document and the final versioned deck set
All video, audio and slides delivered 72 hours ahead in the agreed format

What this checklist is protecting you from

What can go wrong

How we prevent it

What can go wrong
A speaker arrives at the podium with an unseen deck on their own laptop two minutes before their slot.
How we prevent it
A wireless presentation system is live on the switcher as a permanent input, and the operator holds a laptop input already tested so the switch is a cut rather than a rebuild.
What can go wrong
Panel discussions become unintelligible with six microphones open at once.
How we prevent it
The delegate system's automatic mixing gates unused microphones and attenuates for the number of open channels, and the moderator is briefed on request-to-speak before the session.
What can go wrong
The morning overruns by forty minutes and the afternoon is compressed into chaos.
How we prevent it
A stage-only countdown timer and a show caller on comms, with the agreed intervention — a two-minute warning and then a hard wrap cue — agreed with the client in advance.
What can go wrong
Session recordings are unusable because audio was taken from a camera's on-board microphone.
How we prevent it
Every recording takes a clean programme feed from the audio console, recorded on a separate device, and the first session is checked and reviewed before the second begins.
What can go wrong
Breakout rooms are under-crewed and a session stalls with no technician available.
How we prevent it
Every breakout room gets a technician who can run it alone plus a floating engineer across the floor, because a room with a problem cannot borrow from the main hall.
What can go wrong
The ballroom's reflective rear wall smears speech and delegates at the back stop listening.
How we prevent it
Distributed speakers aimed down into the seating with delay alignment rather than a single loud source, verified by a measured coverage check at build.

Want this tailored to your event?

Get an itemised quote from Prime AV Solutions within 24 hours — call +91 93093 80958 or WhatsApp our producers.

Published 21 April 2026 by the Prime AV Solutions production team.

FAQ

Conference AV Setup Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day: FAQs

More Checklists

Event Production Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Event Production Company Wedding Lighting Design Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Wedding Lighting Design Company Concert Sound Systems Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Concert Sound Systems Company Line Array Systems Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Line Array Systems Company