The In-House Illusion: Why Venue AV Isn’t Always the Safer Choice

Many planners assume that choosing a venue’s in-house AV provider is the easiest and safest option. After all, they know the space, they’re on-site, and it seems like a seamless part of the booking process. But in reality, going in-house can come with limitations, higher costs, and fewer options for customization.

At Red Tree Productions, we work with venues—not against them. We’ve built strong relationships with hotels, convention centers, and union crews across Canada, ensuring we can navigate infrastructure requirements and union rules respectfully and efficiently. This approach allows us to deliver top-tier results without compromising venue relationships.

When you bring us in, you gain flexibility in equipment choice, staffing, and design. You also get transparent, all-inclusive pricing with no hidden surcharges, a stark contrast to the commission-based structure of many in-house AV teams. We can integrate with the venue’s systems where it makes sense, or provide our own fully tailored setup when it doesn’t.

To help you compare your options more clearly, we’ve created a side-by-side look at how Red Tree Productions stacks up against typical in-house AV providers.

We’ve successfully partnered with venues coast-to-coast, from Toronto to Vancouver to Halifax, to Calgary,  delivering events that run smoothly for both the planner and the venue team. Our focus is on making the entire production, from load-in to teardown: efficient, respectful, and seamless.