2026 So Far: What's Changing in Live Event Production

Six months into 2026, Rentman's Tim sat down with Heidi, founder of Technisch Creative and host of Jumpstart Workshops, to compare notes from a season of trade shows and client conversations. Between NAB, InfoComm, and Jumpstart, a few patterns kept showing up: who's buying has changed, who's working has changed, and the tools everyone's using have changed too. Here's what they covered.

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Buyers want outcomes, not gear lists

A newer generation of planners and producers is making the buying decisions now, and most of them don't care about the technical specs behind a show. Heidi said her team has stopped leading with equipment lists for a lot of clients. Instead, they describe the outcome: five speakers means five microphones, content on screen means a display solution, and the client doesn't need to see the inventory behind it.

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That shift applies especially across corporate work. Riders in entertainment still call for specific gear, but corporate clients mostly want a partner who delivers the result without forcing them to manage the details.

"Buyers want the outcomes. They don't care as much about the line items that they used to."
_{— Heidi, Founder, Technisch Creative}

A few practical shifts worth making:

• Lead proposals with the experience and the result, not the equipment list
• Use visuals and plain descriptions instead of spec sheets
• Save detailed line items for riders or contracts that actually require them

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Build partnerships with other vendors before you need them

Clients are giving less notice, and that's straining gear availability and sub-rental partnerships. Heidi doesn't expect that to change, so her advice is to get ahead of it: build the sub-rental relationships and partnerships now, so you have somewhere to turn when a job comes in on short notice.

That means having reliable partners lined up in advance, so a 48-hour turnaround is a quick call instead of a last-minute crisis.

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Pricing should reflect the real cost of the work

A recurring theme: companies are still pricing equipment higher than service, even though labor costs have climbed and clients have largely accepted it. Heidi's team leans the other way. They price labor higher relative to equipment, which gives them more room when a sub-rental is unavoidable and fewer awkward conversations when costs go up.

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The bigger point: if you're constantly busy but not profitable, the gap is often in what you're not billing for. Pre-production planning and the extra hands a job actually requires are easy to leave off a quote, and easy to absorb as unpaid hours later.

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Small companies can compete with the big in-house players

Going up against large in-house AV companies doesn't require matching their size. Heidi's approach: position your company as the planner's representative, not a vendor competing for the booking. From there, partner with complementary businesses to cover what you don't have in-house, so a client sees a full-service team instead of one small operation stretched thin.

"We tell planners and buyers that we're representing them and executing the show on their behalf. Show them the power of numbers and experience on the team, instead of representing yourself as one small business that doesn't have the resources."
_{— Heidi, Founder, Technisch Creative}

It also works the other way. In-house AV companies often need outside help when they overextend, whether that's sub-rental gear or creative production support. Knowing your strengths and finding the companies that need them is its own strategy.

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Retention is cheaper than replacement

Shannon Rodriguez's data from Jumpstart landed hard with the room: 31% of new hires leave within six months without a retention plan, and 42% of turnover is preventable. The usual culprits are poor communication, no visibility into growth, and no recognition over the first year.

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One specific tip from Rodriguez: most owners skip the exit interview entirely. That conversation, even an imperfect one, is often the only place you'll learn why someone actually left.

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Heidi's team has built in regular short-term reviews and open communication, which led to at least one case where a full-time role got converted into a freelance arrangement that worked better for everyone. The employee got to specialize, and the company kept access to the relationship.

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On hiring, the consensus was simple: hire for culture fit first. Skills can be trained. Personality and work ethic are much harder to change.

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How production companies are putting AI to work

A few practical takeaways from the AI sessions at Jumpstart and InfoComm:

• Pick a small set of tools you'll actually use regularly instead of chasing every new app
• AI experience is becoming a real hiring criterion, even for entry-level roles
• Paid subscription plans matter for privacy. Free tiers often train on your data
• Results depend on the quality of what you feed in. Clean, current operational data in means useful output out

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Real applications already in use include feedback-reduction software for live audio, AI-assisted proposal writing, and tools like Granola for capturing meeting notes and turning them into client-ready documents. One workflow Heidi described: run a discovery call through a notetaking tool, feed the notes into an AI writing tool to build the proposal narrative, then generate supporting visuals. The output is faster, more polished client materials, not fewer people on the team.

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The outlook for the next six months

Despite real concerns about the economy and travel, Heidi said most of the people she's talked to one-on-one are optimistic and actively positioning to scale. Her advice for the next six months: spend a few minutes every day learning and applying something new in AI. The gap between companies that build that habit now and those that wait will be obvious a year from today.

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When asked for one piece of advice to take into the next six months, Heidi didn't hesitate:

"I am investing at least a few minutes every day learning something new about AI and applying it. I really think that that's going to be important going forward because a year from today, we're going to be in a completely different place."
_{— Heidi, Founder, Technisch Creative}

Want more of these conversations? If you want to attend a Jumpstart Workshop, visit jumpstartworkshops.com to find out about upcoming sessions.