Organizations should think about set design as a multi-year investment, not a one-time expense. Investing in your own materials will reap long-term dividends. Too often, we see organizations take an all-or-nothing approach when planning the staging for their event. It doesn’t have to be $4,000 or $0. Simple and incremental is the smart approach. A banner with a brand is better than nothing. If you’re considering whether to rent or purchase your own staging materials, we encourage you to ask yourself: “Seven years from now, will I look back on my organization’s library of assets and feel like it all makes sense?”
More Funds Invested Initially Into Staging Will Reap Greater Savings
Let’s take a real-world scenario and see how this could play out. Suppose you’re in a budget planning meeting with your team to discuss the best way to steward funds for the annual conference. You and your team are confident the event will continue over the next three years, but you’re struggling to allocate funds for set design. You’re also in a period of growth as a business. You have two choices: establish a multi-year materials budget of $500 the first year, $1,500 the second year, and $2,500 the third year; or, invest $3,000 the first year and hold off on committing any funds for the subsequent years. On the surface, it may be tempting to commit fewer funds in year one, but you may be surprised at how much you can actually save by taking an investment-minded approach to your staging needs.
6 Benefits of Investing In Your Own Staging Materials
1. It’s Adjustable
Simplifying the process of making adjustments to hardware reduces costs. For example, what if your company changed its logo since last year’s conference? With the right product (we like banners from StretchShapes), you can print a new banner with the updated logo but keep the hardware. This costs much less than scrapping the entire setup/hardware.
2. It’s Scalable
Think modular. If you’re a relatively young organization with a small budget, you can take an incremental approach, and grow your set design through the years. By investing in reusable assets, you can use them year after year. If you buy a new asset every year instead of paying a vendor for a bespoke set design only relevant to a single year’s conference theme, for example, you’re able to grow into something more complex and elegant every year. And best of all, you own it.
3. It’s Portable
The quality and compactness of gear continue to improve. Your investment in hardware not only saves you from rental expenses, but it also has the potential to save you cost and complexity when traveling. Most gear we use and recommend is foldable and portable. You can literally fly with your sign fabrics and have your production company bring their own frames to the venue.