When you’ve spent hours putting together an event brief, the last thing you might expect is for your production partner to start questioning it. But according to Paul Nicholls, Creative Director at Branchout productions, some of the most valuable conversations happen before anybody starts building a quote.
For busy PAs, EAs and event organisers, getting an event brief out of the door can feel like an achievement in itself.
The date is confirmed, the venue is booked, stakeholders have shared their requirements, and you’ve finally pulled everything together into something that can be sent to potential partners. At that point, receiving a quote that mirrors exactly what you’ve asked for might seem like the perfect response.
And sometimes, it is. But there are also occasions when simply pricing what has been specified misses an opportunity to make the event better.
“Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is understand what sits behind the brief,” says Paul. “It’s not about challenging something for the sake of it. It’s about understanding what you’re actually trying to achieve and asking whether there might be a more effective way of getting there.”
Start with the outcome, not the equipment
A brief might specify a stage, LED screens, lighting, sound and branding. All of those things may be completely appropriate, but ultimately they are tools.
Before deciding exactly what needs to go into the room, Paul believes there is a more important conversation to have.
“What are we actually trying to achieve? Who is in the room? What do we want them to think, feel or do differently when they leave? Once you understand that, the production decisions become much easier to make.”
It sounds simple, but practical requirements can quickly dominate an event. Production can become a list of things to provide rather than part of the process of shaping the audience experience.
Starting with the outcome creates a reason behind each decision. It also gives organisers something to come back to when different stakeholders inevitably have different ideas about what the event needs.
Rather than asking, “Can we add this?”, the more useful question becomes, “What does this add?”
A good challenge can protect your budget
Being challenged by a production partner shouldn’t automatically mean being encouraged to spend more. Quite often, the opposite is true.
Looking at the event as a whole might identify areas where budget is being used unnecessarily, where the venue itself can do some of the work, or where money would have a greater impact somewhere else.
“There are definitely times when the right advice is simply, ‘You don’t need that,’” says Paul. “If something isn’t improving the experience, communicating the message or helping us achieve the objective, then it’s worth asking what it’s really adding.”
It’s a principle closely connected to Paul’s approach in his previous PA Life article, Why Less Really Is More in Event Design.
Removing something isn’t just about creating a cleaner aesthetic. It can release budget and attention for the parts of the event that genuinely make a difference. A large scenic element, for example, might look impressive, but perhaps that money would create more value if it were invested in the content appearing on the screen.
It isn’t necessarily about spending less. It’s about spending with purpose.
Bring creative, content and production together earlier
Another common challenge is that production expertise enters the conversation after many of the important decisions have already been made.
The venue may be booked. The room layout agreed. The creative direction established. Content may already be in development. By bringing creative, content and production thinking together earlier, there is much more opportunity to consider how those elements work as one experience.
“The earlier those conversations happen, the better,” Paul explains. “Creative decisions affect production. Production decisions affect content. The venue affects all of them. If you consider those things together rather than separately, you generally end up with a much stronger solution.”
That doesn’t mean making the planning process more complicated. In many cases, it does the opposite. An ambitious creative idea can be tested against the practical realities of the venue before significant time or money is committed to it. Equally, something initially seen as a technical limitation can sometimes inspire a simpler and more effective creative approach. For the organiser, that means fewer surprises, better-informed decisions and more confidence as the event gets closer.
It’s a principle closely connected to Paul’s approach in his previous PA Life article on why less really is more in event design.
Know when to challenge – and when simply to deliver
Of course, not every brief needs reinventing. Sometimes the requirement is clear, the thinking has already been done, and what the organiser needs is an experienced production team to deliver it exceptionally well. The important thing is having a partner capable of recognising the difference.
“If the brief is right, our job is to deliver it,” says Paul. “But if we can see an opportunity to improve something, save unnecessary spend or make the experience work harder, I think we have a responsibility to have that conversation.”
And when something is challenged, it should come with a reason and an alternative.
“If we question something, we need to explain why and suggest a better solution,” Paul adds. “The organiser should feel like we’re helping them achieve what they’re trying to do, not telling them they’ve got it wrong.”
That distinction matters. The strongest relationships combine the organiser’s understanding of their organisation, stakeholders and audience with the creative, content and production expertise of the team bringing the event to life.
So when choosing an event partner, it may be worth looking beyond the quote itself and paying attention to the questions being asked.
- Do they want to understand why the event is happening?
- Do they ask about the audience?
- Do they want to know what success looks like?
- And are they prepared to tell you when they believe there might be a better way?
Because a good production partner can deliver what you asked for. A great one can also help make sure it was the right thing to ask for in the first place.
Planning an upcoming event? Talk to the Branchout team about your brief and how creative, content and production thinking can work together to make it stronger.
