You’ve got an event in the diary and you ring an AV supplier. First question back: do you want dry hire or a full production? For anyone who works with it daily that’s a logical question, but plenty of organisers don’t know exactly where the line sits, and which choice helps their event or drops them in trouble.
Here’s the difference, plus a few rules of thumb to work out what fits.
What dry hire is
Dry hire means you hire the equipment and do everything else yourself. You collect the speakers, the lighting, the cabling and the mixing desk, or have it delivered, and your team builds it, operates it and takes it down. The supplier delivers tested, working kit and thinks along about what you need, but isn’t on the floor during your event.
This works if your own people are technically capable. An event agency with a regular technician, a production where you run the show yourself, a recurring concept you could build in your sleep. Then you pay for the equipment and not for hands you don’t need.
What a full production is
With full service we take the technical side off your hands from start to finish. We think along in the design phase, deliver a plan, build, operate during the event and take it down again. You deal with the programme, the guests and the client, we make sure image, sound and light are right.
This is the choice when the technical side gets complex, when the stakes are high, or when your own team simply doesn’t have the time or the knowledge. A hybrid event with a livestream, a festival with several stages, a corporate event where nothing may falter because the whole board is watching. There’s more about that on our page on event production and hire.
The question that settles it
Ask yourself one thing: what happens if something breaks halfway through the event?
If you have someone who knows within two minutes what’s wrong and fixes it, dry hire is fine. If you’d be standing there while 300 guests look at a black screen, you want us next to you. The equipment is the same either way. The difference is who carries the responsibility when it gets tense.
A few rules of thumb
Situations where dry hire makes sense: you do the same type of event regularly, you have a fixed technician, the set-up is manageable, and the consequences of a failure are small. Think of a meeting with amplified sound, drinks, a market.
And situations where you want full service: a livestream or recording on top, several stages or rooms, a tight running order that the technical side has to follow, high visibility towards a client or the press, or a venue you don’t know. There the certainty of a crew outweighs the cost.
Plenty of events sit somewhere in between, and there’s a middle form for that. You build it yourself, but we supply a technician for the show day. Or we build and you run it. We work out that mix per job. What you can hire from us in light, sound and video is on the hire page.
Why you can ask us without worrying
Some suppliers push you towards the most expensive option. We do it the other way round: we ask about your event and advise what it actually needs. Sometimes that’s dry hire and you save money. Sometimes it’s a full crew and you save yourself a disaster. For an event agency we work with regularly, we think long term, not per invoice.
That’s also why we like working with agencies and producers in the Randstad on a structural basis. The better we know how you work, the sharper we pick the right form, and the smoother the build goes.
How to start
Put your event to us: what it is, how big, where, and what’s involved technically. We’ll tell you honestly whether dry hire will do or whether you’re better off with a crew. Call +31-(0)10-307 54 76 or email info@massivepro.nl. Working with events more often? Then we’ll plan a conversation about a regular partnership, so you don’t have to explain who you are before your next job.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does dry hire mean?
Dry hire is hiring bare equipment that you build, operate and take down yourself. The supplier delivers tested kit and advice, but isn’t on the floor during your event.
When am I better off with a full production?
With complex technical set-ups, high stakes or little technical capacity of your own. Think livestreams, several stages, tight running orders or events with high visibility where a failure isn’t an option.
Can I combine dry hire and full service?
Yes. A common middle form is that you build it yourself and we supply a technician for the show day, or the other way round. We agree the split per event.
Is dry hire always cheaper?
In equipment costs, yes, because you’re not paying for crew. But if something goes wrong during your event and you have no specialist on hand, that can cost you far more than you saved. Weigh it against the stakes of your event.
Do you work with event agencies on a regular basis?
Yes, that’s our preference. The better we know how you work, the faster and sharper we pick the right set-up. A regular partnership saves you time on every next job.