Saskatoon Audio Visual

About Saskatoon Audio Visual

Saskatoon Audio Visual provides AV rentals and full event production, with a strong focus on the hotel and hospitality industry. Its 15-person team handles everything from equipment rentals to meetings, conferences, galas, and live streams, supporting more than 844 events in 2025 alone.

As owner and operator, Chris Lawrie plays an active role in day-to-day operations. Alongside overseeing the company, he is closely involved in quoting projects and planning the equipment and crew behind them.

The challenge: a system that no longer matched the scale of the business

When Saskatoon Audio Visual first started, the team managed its inventory and quoting through a custom Excel file. It worked well enough then, helping them search for equipment and build quotes.

But the system offered little visibility into where equipment was, where it was going next, or what was already committed to another project.

Keeping track of availability often meant relying on manual checks and phone calls. As the number of bookings increased, that process became harder to manage.

“As business levels begin to increase, there is no way we could run that same system today. None of that would work with how busy we are.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

Finding Rentman

As Saskatoon Audio Visual looked for a better way to manage its growing operation, Chris explored event management software and demoed several platforms.

Rentman stood out for the range of processes it could bring together in one place. After testing the platform and seeing how it could fit their workflow, they started using Rentman in late 2018.

How Rentman changed their operations

Today, Saskatoon Audio Visual uses Rentman across crew scheduling, equipment planning and tracking, quoting, and invoicing, giving the team a clearer view of what is happening across their projects.

A stronger foundation for growth

As the business gets busier, Rentman gives the team more control over the moving parts behind each project. Clearer visibility into equipment, crew, and bookings helps them understand what they can take on, reduce repetitive coordination, and keep a busier operation moving. Now, Saskatoon Audio Visual supports more than 844 events a year, and its annual revenue is more than 16 times what it was in its first year.

“We’ve seen our revenue grow 16x since our first year. Rentman has definitely played a part in that by helping us reduce our workload and work more efficiently.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

Crew planning with better visibility

Chris can see staff availability across the week, assign crew to projects, and spot potential overtime before it becomes an issue. Team members keep their own availability up to date in Rentman, so Chris has a clearer picture of who can take on work and can react faster when plans change at the last minute. The crew also uses the Rentman mobile app to check schedules and access project information while on the go.

“With Rentman, we can see who’s available across the team and plan around that. If a job comes up last minute, we can quickly put it out to the crew and see who can take it.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

Equipment availability for more confident planning

The team can see what equipment is available, what is already booked, and why an item might be blocked. With several people quoting projects at the same time, that shared view helps them plan around existing bookings and make quicker decisions when gear needs to move from one event to another. It also lets them confirm whether a booking is realistic before committing.

Equipment tracking that supports better decisions

Saskatoon Audio Visual tracks everything in the warehouse with QR codes, from individual items to kits and cases. This gives the team a clearer view of where equipment is and how often it has been used. Over time, that history helps them make more informed decisions about maintenance, replacement, and whether they need to invest in more of a particular item.

“We want to know how many times a piece of gear has gone out, so having that data is key. Rentman gives us that information and allows us to make informed decisions when it comes time to retire equipment.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

Faster quoting with a clearer handoff to planning

Saskatoon Audio Visual uses project templates to speed up repeat bookings and avoid rebuilding common jobs from scratch. Once a client signs digitally, the project moves to confirmed, giving the wider team a clear signal that the event is going ahead and planning can continue.

“I really like that clients can digitally sign, and once they do, it automatically confirms the event. If we’ve already done some pre-planning, the team sees that status change and knows we’re moving forward.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

The team also handles invoicing in Rentman and connects it with QuickBooks. This helps connect each project’s financial information with their accounting workflow.

What’s next for Saskatoon Audio Visual

Saskatoon Audio Visual is already looking ahead to its next stage of growth. The team is working toward moving into a bigger warehouse and expanding its hotel partnerships by becoming the preferred in-house AV provider for a second venue.

For Chris, getting there comes down to having the right systems and processes in place.

“Because we’re able to be effective and efficient with our booking system, programs, and processes, I think that will lead us down the path of success.”
_{Chris Lawrie, Owner & Operator, Saskatoon Audio Visual}

Curious what Rentman can do for your AV & event production operations? Start your 1-month free trial today.