An AV vendor makes money when you buy equipment or hire labor. AVaStar makes money when you understand your situation clearly enough to make good decisions. We own no equipment, employ no crews, and hold no vendor contracts. That’s not a brand promise, it’s the business model, and it’s what makes the advice we give the only fully independent advice available in this industry.

It’s a straightforward conversation about where you are and whether AVaStar can help. No pitch, no presentation, no obligation. If we can answer your question on that first call, we will, and there’s no charge for it. If there’s a fit, we’ll recommend the right service and explain exactly what working together would look like.

Yes. Above-property consulting, proposal reviews, contract evaluations, and all platform and Academy services are available nationwide. On-site event support is available nationwide as part of a project-based consulting engagement, with advance booking required.

That’s actually the most common situation we work in. Having a vendor doesn’t mean you have an independent check on that vendor. AVaStar works alongside your existing vendor relationship, not against it, giving you the expertise to evaluate what you’re being told, hold your vendor accountable, and make decisions with confidence.

Your AV company is a vendor. AVaStar is an advisor. Those are different relationships with different incentives. Your AV company benefits when you spend more. AVaStar’s only incentive is making sure you spend right. Most planners who work with us still use the same AV vendor they always have. They just stop signing things they don’t understand.

The question worth asking is what a bad AV decision costs compared to what good advice costs. A proposal review that identifies an overcharge, a contract negotiation that removes an unfavorable clause, or event-day support that prevents a visible failure, any one of those pays for itself. The free initial consultation is the right place to have that conversation specifically about your situation.

The most common version of that experience is a consultant who was technically deep but not practically useful. AVaStar is built around the opposite approach: plain language, actionable guidance, and advice that’s useful to someone who identifies as a hospitality professional, not a technician. If that hasn’t been your experience with consultants before, we’d rather you find out on a free call than take our word for it.

A freelance AV technician executes. AVaStar advises. If you need someone to run a camera or set up a projector, a technician is the right call. If you need someone to tell you whether the proposal you’re about to sign is reasonable, whether your vendor is accountable to the right standard, or whether your event budget is being spent well, that’s a different need entirely.

Your vendor handles the execution. AVaStar handles the evaluation. If your only check on AV quality is the company earning money from your AV program, you don’t have an independent check. AVaStar gives you the expertise to know whether your vendor is performing, whether your pricing is competitive, and whether your program is actually serving your property’s interests.

The Operational Analysis is a fixed-fee, one-time engagement with no ongoing commitment. Most venue operators who complete one find that the recommendations either pay for the analysis directly or give them the information they needed to make a capital decision they were already going to make. The free initial consultation is the right place to talk through whether the numbers make sense for your property.

AVaStar works above-property, which means we complement your brand or management company’s standards rather than compete with them. Brand programs set the baseline. AVaStar helps you understand, implement, and where appropriate, build on that baseline for your specific property.

That’s usually a symptom of a one-time engagement that diagnosed the problem without building the ongoing capability to manage it. The AVaStar Program is designed specifically for that situation: not a one-time fix but an ongoing advisory relationship that builds your team’s knowledge and gives you the tools and support to manage AV on your own terms over time.