On April 22, 2025, I found myself boarding a bus with 30 other event production pros to take a tour of Columbus’s top 3 live event production company warehouses. It was the start of an inspiring couple of days of networking and learning. Jumpstart is a conference hosted by Tom Stimson, an expert in the live event production space (full disclosure: we’re a sponsor). It’s always fascinating, and provides enormous insights into our industry — our wins and our challenges.
I’d like to share a few takeaways from the full day of talks, which I think could be instrumental in planning your H2 and beyond. Take a read, and let me know what you think.
Takeaway No. 1: Handling Line-Item Shoppers
We’ve all encountered them: they’re detail oriented, they’re fastidious, they’ve got questions. These are your clients who want to see every single individual cost without evaluating the overall value or outcome of your offering.
Line-item shoppers are difficult. But, for better or worse, we’re going to encounter them so we may as well find ways to work with them. To that end, Jumpstart hosted a roundtable discussion on just that. And the solutions were interesting, to say the least:
1. Group-Based or Sub-Project Pricing
Take out the details. Instead, bundle pricing by category (e.g., lighting, audio, video) to create digestible nuggets that appeal to the line-item shopper without getting too granular. Or break quotes down into logical section that reflect deliverables for a more focused quote.
2. Create an experience
You’re selling an experience, afterall. Create quotes and scopes of work that tell the story of the event to highlight the value you’re offering. By focusing on the outcome rather than listing gear line by line you can get the clients to stop questioning individual items and start buying into the bigger picture.
3. Take Firm Position Against Line Item Shoppers
Just say no. There’s no reason you need to engage with clients who insist on these transactional, granular, overly detailed breakdowns. They’re probably telling you something about how hard/easy they are to work with.
4. Set Clear Boundaries on Packaging
Stay calm and clearly explain that services are packaged and not available à la carte. Offer to walk them through the quote to ease their concerns and show them how the overalls quote works as a package.
5. Overwhelm them with Detail (try at your own risk)
Deliberately send a 40-page itemized quote to frustrate or discourage the request for a line-item quote. This will probably feel incredible, but might also damage your relationship and reputation so tread carefully.
However you choose to take on line-item shoppers, be firm and clear. And, if absolutely necessary, find a way to work with them to meet their needs and win their business without compromising anyone’s integrity.
Takeaway No. 2: A Good Showbook is Hard to Find
Showbooks can be the most important document of any successful event . But how can we make the most of them?
At their best, they give a comprehensive overview of each event so it goes off without a hitch. At their worst, they’re long, wordy documents that never get read. But the Jumpstart attendees had some really insightful best practices that we could all use:
1. Short and sweet: Stay high-level, know your audience, and make it easy to read.
2. Talk it out: Hold short 1-hour pre-show meetings with your show team to go over details, reinforce expectations, and fill gaps before getting on-site.
3. Empower your leads: Your on-site production managers should have in-depth knowledge of your project plan, so they can catch gaps quickly. (Note: this isn’t scalable)
4. Share responsibilities: Make sure each team knows what they’re supposed to do, what they’re responsible for, and how to communicate with each other.
Takeaway No. 3: Growing your Freelancer Network
Freelancers are the lifeblood of your business. Without them, you’d be hard pressed to get events off the ground, access diverse skill sets, and respond to last-minute jobs. The deeper your freelance bench, the more responsive and agile you can be. So how do you grow your freelance network?
- Host Monthly Socials: Partner with equipment manufacturers to sponsor events like Taco Tuesdays at your shop, where they can eat, network, check out new tech and build relationships.
- Organize Freelancer Summits: Hold annual or biannual gatherings to connect with freelancers, share updates, and strengthen ties. Attendance often leads to increased engagement and future bookings.
- Invite Techs for Gear Demos: Offer hands-on time with the actual equipment your team uses most frequently. They gain valuable experience, and you get to evaluate and connect with new talent.
- Leverage Referrals: Actively ask your current techs to recommend reliable contacts from their own networks.
Takeaway No. 4: Ghosting Prevention Strategies
Ghosting (ie. potential clients just never responding to you) might be the new social norm, but it’s rude. And the Jumpstart panelists had a few ideas on how to prevent it from happening (unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how transferable they are to the dating world).
📅 Follow-Up Shamelessly
Schedule proactive follow-ups as soon as you send the quote.
Offer a Zoom session to walk the client through the proposal and answer questions live.
Include a quote expiry date to create urgency.
📘 Spruce up Your Proposals
Use bullet points and sectioned formats to make content easy to digest.
Make the language conversational and client-centered.
Describe the event experience and weave the logistical details into a narrative to make them more compelling.
🤖 AI-Assisted Listening
Use AI transcription tools to capture client meetings so you can tailor proposals precisely and reference client language in follow-ups.
The event production space is full of personalities, that’s for sure. And it was amazing spending 48 hours with some of the brightest and sharpest. I hope you get as much out of their insights as I did!