Journal · Event Planning
How to Plan AV for a Company Holiday Party
Company holiday parties are a funny mix. Part dinner, part thank-you, part dance party, and usually at least one moment where somebody important needs to say something and have the whole room actually hear it.
That mix is what makes the AV a little tricky. The setup that makes a dance floor feel great isn't the same setup that makes a toast land. Here's how we'd think through audio, video and lighting for a company holiday party so the program parts and the party parts both work.
Start with the program, not the gear. Write down every moment where people need to hear, see or feel something specific (the welcome, awards, a slideshow, the first song), then plan the AV around those moments.
Write down what's actually happening
Before anyone talks about speakers or lights, sketch the night in order. A typical company party might look like arrivals and drinks, a welcome from leadership, dinner, a few awards or thank-yous, a video or photo slideshow, and then music and dancing. Yours might have a raffle, a band, a photo booth or none of the above.
Each of those moments asks something different of the room. Speeches need clear sound and light on the person talking. A slideshow needs a screen people can see from their seats. Dancing needs music with some energy and a room that feels like a party. When your production team sees the whole list, they can plan one setup that handles all of it, instead of finding out about the awards at load-in.
Our run of show guide walks through how to turn that list into a schedule everyone can work from, including who cues each moment.
Plan the speeches like they matter (because they do)
At a lot of holiday parties, the most important few minutes are the CEO's welcome or the awards. They're also the minutes most likely to get a quick, last-minute plan. A few things help a lot:
- A real microphone for the people talking. A wireless handheld or a mic on a stand at a lectern, run through a sound system that covers every table, not just the front.
- Know who's speaking. If three people are handing out awards, plan for that many mics or a clear handoff, so nobody is waiting while one mic gets walked across the room. Our microphone count guide covers how to think about it.
- Music comes down for speeches. Decide ahead of time who brings the music down and back up, so it doesn't fight the toast.
- Light the speaker. Party lighting tends to be dim and colorful, which looks great and makes a face hard to see. Plan some simple, warm light on the speaking spot. Our speaker lighting guide goes into more detail.
Round dinner tables mean half the room has their back to the stage. Good sound coverage helps them hear, and a screen can help them see, which brings us to video.
Decide if you need a screen
If the night includes a photo slideshow, a year-in-review video, award names on screen or a remote leader dialing in, you'll want a screen or LED wall that the tables can see. If it's just a toast and a dance floor, you might not need one at all, and that's fine.
When there is video, a few planning notes save a lot of stress:
- Get the final slides and videos to your production team ahead of time so they can test them on the actual playback setup, sound included. Our slides and video handoff checklist lists what to send.
- Pick one person on your side who signs off on the final version, so a slideshow isn't being edited during dinner.
- Think about what's on the screen the rest of the night. A company logo or a simple holiday graphic beats a black screen or someone's desktop.
If you're weighing a big screen against a projector, our LED wall vs. projection guide compares the two.
Let the lighting change with the night
A lot of the party feel comes from lighting. Color on the walls makes a plain banquet room feel like an event, and our uplighting guide covers how to plan that. But the room usually needs more than one look:
- Arrivals and dinner: warm and comfortable, bright enough to see the food and each other.
- Speeches and awards: light on the stage, the rest of the room a little lower so attention goes forward.
- Dancing: more color and movement on and around the dance floor.
Planning those changes ahead of time means someone can switch looks at the right moment instead of the room staying in dinner mode all night.
Mind the patio and the early sunset
Phoenix in December is perfect patio weather, so a lot of holiday parties put the cocktail hour or the whole event outside. Just know that it gets dark early. The U.S. Naval Observatory's sun data puts Phoenix sunset around 5:20 to 5:30 p.m. through December, with full dark about half an hour later.
So a 6 p.m. patio start is a nighttime event. Plan light for walkways, the bar and any spot where someone will talk, and if there's sound outside, our outdoor sound guide covers the rest.
Ask the venue the right questions early
Hotels and venues often have their own AV setup, rules about outside vendors, load-in windows and power. Holiday season is busy for venues, and your room may have another event right before or after yours. Ask early about:
- When you can load in and how long you have before guests arrive.
- Where power is near the stage, the dance floor and the sound desk.
- Whether there are sound limits or an end time for music.
- What the venue's in-house system covers, if you plan to use it.
If you're comparing the venue's own AV with bringing in an outside team, our hotel AV vs. outside AV guide has the questions to ask.
Who runs it on the night?
A DJ handles the music. That doesn't mean they're set up to run your CEO's mic, the awards slides and the lighting changes too. Before the party, make sure every piece has an owner: who mixes the speeches, who plays the slideshow, who changes the lighting, and who the venue talks to if something comes up. One clear contact on your side and one on the production side keeps the night calm.
A short FAQ
Can we just use the DJ's speakers for the speeches?
Sometimes. In a smaller room with one speaking moment, it can work. For a bigger room, several speakers or round tables spread out, ask whether the DJ's system covers the whole room clearly and who will run the microphones during the program.
Do we need a screen for a holiday party?
Only if something needs to be seen: a slideshow, a video, award names or a remote guest. If the night is a toast and dancing, you can skip it and put that effort into sound and lighting.
When should we start planning the AV?
As soon as you have a date, venue and rough program. Holiday season is busy for venues and crews, and knowing the program early leaves time to test slides, videos and the room.
Let's plan your holiday party together
SPRK plans audio and video and lighting around the program and the room. Send us your date, venue and what's happening that night. We'd love to help make the speeches easy to hear and the party feel like a party.
Back to the Journal for more practical event planning guides.
Free worksheet: the Show Moment Blueprint
Write down the moments that have to land (the opening, the big reveal, every handoff), then note who is on stage, what cue runs, who owns it and what happens if it doesn’t. Bring it to the planning call and everyone works from the same page.