Great events are rarely delivered by one company alone.

Behind every successful conference, corporate event or international programme is a network of people working together behind the scenes, venues, production teams, caterers, entertainment suppliers, designers and many others, all contributing to the same final experience.

At The Event Book, one of those long-standing and trusted partners is Acorn AV.

We have worked with Acorn across numerous events over the years, supporting our clients with professional AV, technical production and everything that comes with bringing an event to life.

And, as with many of the best partnerships in the events industry, the relationship has grown through experience.

When you have worked together across different events, clients and challenges, you start to understand how each other operates. Communication becomes easier, decisions become quicker and, most importantly, there is trust.

For us, that trust is incredibly important.

When we introduce a supplier to one of our clients, they become an extension of The Event Book. We need to know that they will communicate clearly, work collaboratively with the venue and wider supplier team, understand what the client is trying to achieve and deliver to the standard we expect.

Over the years, Acorn AV has consistently done exactly that.

More Than Just an AV Supplier

When guests walk into a conference or corporate event, they probably aren’t thinking about the AV.

And that’s exactly how it should be.

They see the stage, hear the speakers clearly, watch the content on the screens and experience the lighting, music and atmosphere of the room. But behind all of that is a huge amount of technical planning.

Sound, lighting, screens, staging, presentations, microphones, power, rigging, rehearsals and production schedules all need to work together.

A great AV team isn’t simply there to arrive with equipment on the day.

For us, the best production partners become part of the planning process and help us find solutions.

That has always been one of the strengths of our relationship with Acorn AV Director Ed Sillars and the wider Acorn team.

We can bring Acorn into a project during the planning stages, explain what the client wants to achieve and then work together to find the best way to deliver it.

Sometimes that means creating something technically ambitious. Other times, it means finding a simpler and more cost-effective solution that still delivers exactly what the event needs.

It is about balancing creativity, operations and budget, something every event planner deals with on almost every brief.

Having a technical partner who understands that makes a huge difference. Explore Acorn AV’s conference production services.

Supporting The Event Book and Cisco in Milan

One of the best recent examples of this partnership was our international event programme for Cisco in Milan.

The Event Book coordinated a multi-day corporate programme for approximately 200 attendees, based at the Excelsior Hotel Gallia, alongside an off-site experience in the city.

It was the type of project where many different elements had to come together at exactly the right time.

From guest arrivals and event spaces to content, branding, production, entertainment, transportation and the wider programme, there were a lot of moving parts happening across several days.

And with an event of that scale, AV and production can’t simply be something that gets added a few weeks before the event.

It needs to be part of the planning from the beginning.

Ed and the Acorn AV team worked closely with us throughout the production process, taking the time to understand the brief, technical requirements, timings and, importantly, the overall experience we wanted to create for Cisco and its guests.

The preparation continued on site in Milan, with setup and rehearsals taking place before the live programme began.

Those rehearsal periods are often where the value of an experienced production team really becomes clear.

Presentations change. Timings move. Speakers have different requirements. Last-minute adjustments happen.

That is simply the reality of live events.

Having a team that remains calm, flexible and focused on finding solutions is incredibly important.

From pre-event planning through to rehearsals and live delivery, having Acorn alongside us gave The Event Book team confidence that the technical side of the programme was in experienced hands.

Taking the Partnership International

Delivering an event internationally adds another layer of complexity.

You are suddenly coordinating different venues, local suppliers, schedules and logistics while often working across different languages and ways of operating.

There are also hundreds of smaller details that need to be considered, from freight and equipment to venue access, technical specifications and local regulations.

For an event management agency, having suppliers who can work as part of your team becomes even more important in that environment.

During the Cisco programme in Milan, Acorn worked as an extension of The Event Book rather than simply as an external AV supplier.

We could communicate directly, solve problems together and adapt as the programme developed.

That collaborative approach helped us deliver the standard of production expected by both The Event Book and, ultimately, our client.

And for us, that is what a strong supplier relationship should look like.

Why Long-Term Supplier Relationships Matter

At The Event Book, we deliberately build relationships with suppliers we know and trust.

Our clients often come to us because they don’t want to coordinate ten different companies themselves.

They want one experienced team and one point of contact who can understand the complete event and bring all of the different pieces together.

To provide that service properly, the relationships we have with our suppliers are incredibly important.

Over the years, Acorn AV has supported us across multiple events and different briefs, giving us a technical partner that we can confidently introduce to our clients.

Every project adds another layer to that relationship.

You learn how each other’s teams communicate. You understand how decisions are made. You know who to call when something changes. And you know that if a challenge appears on site, everyone will focus on finding the solution rather than worrying about whose responsibility it is.

For our clients, there is a benefit too.

They get two experienced teams who already know how to work together.

There is less friction, faster communication and a genuinely collaborative approach behind the scenes.

In live events, where plans can change very quickly, that relationship can be invaluable.

Small Teams, Strong Partnerships

There is also a natural fit between the way The Event Book and Acorn AV operate.

The Event Book is a small, senior event management team.

Our clients work directly with experienced event professionals throughout their project, from the initial brief and venue search through to planning and on-site delivery.

We deliberately keep that personal approach.

Acorn similarly combines technical expertise with a hands-on approach to production.

That means conversations can happen quickly, ideas can be discussed directly and both teams remain close to the project from planning through to delivery.

For us, successful event management isn’t about having hundreds of supplier names sitting in a database.

It is about knowing brilliant people across the industry and building relationships with teams that we know we can rely on when it matters.

Acorn AV is one of those teams.

After working together across numerous events, including taking the partnership internationally for Cisco in Milan, we are delighted to continue working with Ed and the wider Acorn team.

And hopefully there will be many more events, clients and cities to come.

Planning a Corporate Event?

The Event Book provides complimentary venue sourcing and full corporate event management in London, across the UK and internationally.

Our senior team can support the complete event journey, from finding the right venue and developing the initial concept through to AV and production, catering, entertainment, branding, delegate management, logistics and on-site delivery. Explore what The Event Book does.

Working with trusted partners such as Acorn AV allows us to bring specialist expertise into a project while keeping the process straightforward for our clients.

That means one point of contact, one contract and one invoice, with The Event Book coordinating the wider supplier team behind the scenes.

Because while guests may only ever see the finished event, we know that what happens behind the scenes, and the people you choose to work with, is what makes that event possible.

The Event Book: Corporate event management, complimentary venue sourcing and international event delivery. Visit The Event Book

Acorn AV: Audio visual hire and event production for conferences, meetings, gala dinners and corporate events. Visit Acorn AV | Conference Production Services