audio visual technician

sales manager

technician

project manager

director of events

Encore Global

This company will use you like a dirty rusted tool. 

I worked for PSAV as a technician and moved up quickly to a higher position. Sometimes, I actually wonder if these art schools like Full Sail, Ex'pression, Pyramind, etc. are all owned by the PSAV company. It seems to be the only place to get hired after graduating from these schools; which is unfortunate because I had a blast in college and paid about $100,000 to go to one of these. What a waste. But that's another story...

Anyways, back to PSAV... 
You will work horrible up hours that "constantly" change from
day-to-day, and you'll get the next schedule from week-to-week, need I say more!? So, don't plan on ever having a life, family time, or friend visits again. You will never be able to 
PLAN FOR ANYTHING, ever... while you're with this company! 

Around the winter (down-time/months Dec & Jan) you will get very little hours because the hotels are so slow so you won't be able to pay your rent, buy presents, and/or eat. 
Otherwise, when it's busy as can be (most all other months), you will be working your tail off working for (THE MAN) the snobby, high-maintenance clients that think and treat you like you're a 
red headed step-child on the hotel floor. 

You'll also be sent to many other hotels to work, if you're hotel is slow a couple days out of the week so that you're lost as can be while walking around that new hotel and learning your way around with a new crew, as if you are a blind man walking around trying to fit in with these guys. After, pray and hope that your paperwork of your hours worked there were sent correctly, given to your boss, and documented to your hotel computer because they have their heads up their you know what's, and don't have correct clock in/out capabilities between these hotels. 

Did I mention that you have to wear a full suit to do this job?! 
Yes, you will. You will be setting up lighting, full-sound systems, full video screen set-ups, taping down cables on your knees much during each day, climbing ladders, etc. Yes, ALL in a suit. Be ready to buy 'at least' a few suits and ALL of the MANY accessories (socks, ties, many long sleeve shirts, many short sleeve undershirts, nice shoes, etc) that come along with wearing a suit, to wear every day there, with your musty smelling, sweaty self. FYI: You'll never have time to get any of that stuff washed while working here, so you must buy multiples of everything! 

I also noticed that myself and everyone there was very 
MUCH UNDERPAID. PSAV technicians are working their tails off on the floor to get all of this gear set-up right and for big money! But, PSAV is paying peanuts for us to do this work. This company and hotel/s are making a huge amount of cash on this equipment that has been paid 1,000 times fold, back in 1990's ...and keeps on making huge money, and they charge extra high prices for this old beat-up gear to the client, plus >>> high labor, plus huge sales tax, plus plus, etc... so the client dislikes us from the get go when they arrive to do the event, and the event better go perfectly and seamlessly! The client paid SO much money to the company, so they expect the floor technicians to make EVERYTHING perfect or will ask for their money back (because they were charged so much) ...and then it's on you! No pressure. 

The only good I have to say about working for PSAV is that there IS room to move up fast within (for the next PSAV lifer to be used to work harder and for less money). I will admit this though... I did work WITH (not for) some very cool guys (and by that, I mean the other hard working floor guys; as I was). We were only making PSAV corporate richer. Notice all of the young directors... that should tell you something. Poor guys. 

If I've helped one person out by not applying and getting used by this company, I've done my job. Don't be a statistic. I have many good friends still working there now that aren't able to enjoy their lives because they are stuck there in the hotel, working every day of the week, working all day long, with much unpaid overtime every day there, and only making salary wages (not hourly). Many of these guys are alcoholics and have a hard time having time for a family and/or a girlfriend/boyfriend, and you wonder why?! Basically because they are working too many unpaid overtime hours. Not cool... and I have no idea how that's legal. But, they get away with it. 

Take care my friends...

There are pros and cons like any other company, but it can be a steady job that you can do for years and find success in, but can also be extremely political. Since the company was sold to Goldman Sachs, it has become more about the bottom line than the people, which wasn't how it used to be. So there is a much more profit-first, people-second philosophy, despite all the "we are a team" rhetoric. 

The pay is decent for the positions. Maybe a little on the low side, but there are decent benefits like medical, dental, and 401k. The work can be exciting, challenging, and fun, but can also be extremely stressful and hurried with a lot of extra hours of OT. If you are salary, be prepared to work 50-60 hours a week or more sometimes. So when it is busy, people work well over 40 hours a week, and when it is slow they are expected to just deal with reduced hours. (sometimes as low as 20 hours a week for FT employees) Property Directors are instructed to cut labor to the bone during slow periods but still cover everything that could pop up, which is near impossible. Because of this, there are serious issues of cutting corners on staffing and just sharing employees between locations instead of having full teams at each property. This leads to lots of call outs and people not showing up for scheduled shifts, which can make things even more stressful. Employees who have been hired to a specific location near them are regularly sent to far away locations that require an hour or more of commuting time and aren't given a choice in the matter. 

The people at the property levels are great, but the politics and Area/Regional Leadership leave much to be desired. Area and Regional Management tend to espouse the company mottos and only come around if there is an issue, and don't really listen to their Directors at the ground level when they request help or relay issues they are having. So they can be a mixed bag, in my experience. 

Finally, as PSAV has grown and bought up all the relative competition in the field of hotel audio visual, there are less options in the field than there used to be for employees. If you didn't like one company, you could just go work for another and vice versa. But since PSAV has bought almost everyone else up there isn't much you can do if you are unhappy. I have seen them fire people for little to no cause after many years of loyal service, especially people who were originally in another company that was purchased and who have senior pay and titles. So some of the "us vs them" mentality that some of the companies had between each other is still alive in PSAV to this day.

There are some benefits to working with PSAV: job security, steady hours, never having to call in to get work, all the benefits that come from working for a large company. However, PSAV is also well known in the A/V industry for being on the low pay/long hours side of things. Instead of adhering to industry standards like most companies (overtime after 8 hours/midnight, standard labor wages, etc.), they do the minimal they can get away with. For example: in California, daily overtime is part of the state labor laws and PSAV will follow those laws, but come to Washington and they pay overtime according to Washington's weekly law. Why the change if only because that's what they can get away with? 

PSAV is a good starting point. You learn the basics and can even learn some advanced stuff. But most technicians move on from the company if they don't move up into higher positions like project manager or management. There are definitely better opportunities in the A/V world if you're experienced and can find them. If you do come into PSAV, expect to deal with the typical profit driven, corporate mindset from management in the upper echelons of the company (CEO, VP, stockholders). Much of how you view your experience with PSAV will come from your co-workers, from management down to the lowest technicians. I am fortunate enough to work with awesome co-workers, but I know there are technicians who have not had that same experience.

Wages are low, bonuses suck, hours are either long or non-existent, scheduling is inconsistent and based on the company needs regardless of whether or not you have a life. Don't expect any significant raises unless you decide to promote. All you'll get is a yearly merit boost, which amounts to 2-3% of your current pay (so, not that much at all). 

TL;DR: PSAV has the benefits of your typical greedy corporate culture, and all of the negatives as well. If you're experienced in A/V, you can do better. If you're new to A/V, PSAV is a good place to start, then you can move on and do better.

I was hired as a sales manager at a hotel. My manager put me to work as a technician while he was getting all the sales and getting the commissions for himself. I told human resources but they told me "do what your supervisor tells you to do". 

My supervisor put me to work even weekends and late hours, because I was "salary" I was not getting paid extra hours. His idea was to save money to the company by not hiring per hour technicians. So he could get a bonus.

At the end of the 3 months trial he offered me the technicians position and I declined and left. He face was white because all the technicians where at other locations already. So now he had to work alone. He got fired a month later. 

I remember that my girlfriend was coming to visit me from Venezuela and she was arriving on a Saturday Morning, I told my supervisor I needed to pick her up and he told me: you have to work! Hey, I am sales, I am supposed to work from Monday to Friday, not to stay an entire Saturday at the office. I had to stay that Saturday because some clients had a conference with flip charts and I had to stay to be sure they markers wouldn't run out of ink... from 8 am until 6pm. Doing nothing! 

But what I saw in general was depressive. People working in the company for 10 years and earning just $13 an hour. Other technicians bragging because all they knew was to set up a power point presentation to the LCD screen... 

I realized many workers were people with low education or from low income families, literally ghetto people. Many of them very nice people but in PSAV you are cattle. Human Resources will deal with you over the phone only. If you have any complain you will get fired and replaced it, you are no body. 

My supervisor was working there for 5 years, on a Friday night he got a phone call not to return again. On Monday another supervisor arrived. No one at the office had the time to say good bye to him.

It is a good company to learn the "corporate way". But you will not achieve anything there except going back home, super tire, smelling like eggs from the smells of the hallways of the hotel. 

The good thing is that God paid me back well, I went from the lame experience in PSAV to work in another company for $50 an hour doing what I liked. 

I am not going back to PSAV unless they pay me $90K a year and only office hours.

I have the privilege of working with a great team with talented leads and supportive directors/producers. I'm also in a different position that I'm not tied down to a certain property, and am almost considered and treated like a production/show team member. I'm different than most workers as I haven't started from bottom and worked my way up in the company, but came in at certain level. 

That being said, the work environment is pretty toxic and elitist. I understand that's how the industry is, but the culture here is just blatantly rude depending if they know your job description. 

Multiple times I've come in to projects outside of my home team where I am unknown to Production Managers or Tech Supervisors, and I've been treated like dirt because they assume I'm a lowly floor tech. But when they realize I'm a lead, they show a completely different face. 

Why be rude to anyone, regardless of their position or paygrade? It's just something I've noticed. You have to be thick skinned to work in this industry, but you will need to have a hardened heart to survive this company. 

They are working on changing this workplace environment through HR training videos, so there's that. 

The hardest part of the job is doing your job with the equipment they give you. Fortunately if you're in production, you get to choose where to get your equipment from. However, most of the time you are using the company's inventory, which is mostly broken, outdated, and not quality controlled. 

This company is really a mixed bag. Its a mixture of different production companies that were bought out, so each property has its own culture, work ethic, management style (or lack thereof) and inventory based on their previous company history before getting bought out. 

Pay rate is okay but not the best. The higher up you are, the more money you get, the less physical labor you are expected to perform. The lower you are on the ladder, the less money you get and its mostly physical labor. 

Overtime policy isn't too bad, with overtime over 8 hours. Minimum 4 hour work day if calls are cut short. Just watch out for properties that will take advantage of your time. 

All in all, not a horrible place to work because they have almost all the contracts in this area, but definitely not a long term career. Great for those adding to their resume. 

Encore Global seems like a great company on paper. But, once you get a glimpse of the behind the scenes stuff that goes on, the illusion quickly fades.

Sure, I learned a decent amount about live event production, but only from my coworkers, not so much from the offered "training" or any of my management. Most management doesn't have the background or knowledge on even the simplest of each aspect of production, yet chooses to pay employees below average to be subject matter experts in every aspect of said production. They over charge their clients, while under-delivering with outdated, poorly kept equipment. They look for ways to "get one over" by billing labor fees and overcharging for things and hours clients don't even need. They are constantly having to refund portions of contract costs due to poor equipment, and then reprimand the techs for having to give money back to the client. 

They cut deals with hotels to keep their contracts by offering to have their unqualified techs cover power requirements (per the law, you must be a licensed electrician to work with heavy power, and power design for large events) and I.T. networking. When the power or Internet fails, they assume the individual that isn't even qualified for that type of work is the reason for the failure, instead of themselves for having people not suited for said jobs handle those jobs. 

Overall, Encore is a company that presents themselves as the standard for corporate A/V and live events, while simultaneously being one of the worst options for clients. There is a reason after a few events with Encore companies hire outside A/V companies to handle their production. 

If you just need something on your resume, I guess it's not bad. But, I wouldn't recommend Encore as a career move to anyone. There are so many better options that pay more, place you in positions and situations that actually benefit you and aren't, for lack of a better term, scamming their clients. 

I wouldn't suggest anyone I personally know work for Encore. But, if you need a resume filler, apply at your own risk. 

Encore is an overall okay place to work. The work can be fun and meaningful, there is a ton of opportunity for training and learning, there are opportunities for upwards mobility to a certain point (once you get up to the DET level there isn’t much opportunity to move up), and opportunities for sideways mobility (i.e. switching from technical work to sales). The people that you work directly with are mostly awesome, and often your supervisors will encourage you to move up when you are ready, put in a good word, etc etc.
Upper management and talent recruitment are disorganized and slow. If you try to transfer to a different state, for example, it can take months to get the transfer in order because people are slow to get back to you and need to be hounded for a response. 
Work-life balance is non-existent. Busy season is all work, slow season is all life. It is very “feast or famine” and so you are forced to take on tons of overtime during busy seasons in order to save up money to survive the slow seasons. Schedules are subject to change literally at any time, and you don’t receive a schedule at all until Wednesday the week before, if they are on time. Hours can be all over the place as well. This makes it difficult or impossible to plan for commitments outside of work. Time off is sometimes respected, however management will sometimes try to weasel you out of your time off, especially if it is for a weekly non-work commitment.  
Benefits are decent. Pay is okay but should be better considering how much they price gouge their clients. Company hires people green and then doesn’t offer much incremental pay increases unless you get a promotion. 
Dress codes are either dress blacks or suits and ties, which is dependent on the specific venue you are working in. 
Encore is an overall okay company. Some people stay for a long time, some people use it as a stepping stone. It is a good place to get your start in the AV/Live Events industry as they will hire relatively green and train you. 

"This job is not mean't for everyone... Do not plan your life around you work schedule, there is no exit time and if we need you you are expected to be at work." That was said in the last Staff meeting. Which fueled my decision (among 5 other coworkers) to start looking for other opportunities.

I've been in the AV field for 10 years now, though I do have mix feelings about the work place and enjoyed what I did. The Lack of Work/life balance, the demand from the Supervisors, and the amount of work load for a 4 people team is just not right. 

For those who graduated with Bachelor's and want to acquire experience, This is a stepping stone, you will gain knowledge and will have hands-on training. 

If you are shooting for Show team, Good luck, they'll only let you do grunt work. If you are assigned for a property and there is no work, you WILL be sent out to other properties. The company does not cover for gas, and can choose to send you to a location that is 1.5 hours away from your location and not compensate you for it. If you put your foot down, and try to create a balance, you will be treated badly and will try to instigate you so you feel bad. Lastly no support nor accommodations for people with Religious Believes and Practices.

Although the benefits does help, Keep in mind the pay is basically minimum wage. I know of someone who had a master's in the field and was getting paid $15 in the company. 

They have a "Retail Store" mentality and only support those who say "YES" all the time.

Lastly, If you are involved in the community, have a family, have a band, you have your side hustle, or enjoy your personal life. This is not a great place to work for. I do not recommend this company to anyone.


This job is great for a single person. The tech and industry is fast paced and there is a lot of room for growth especially if you are willing to move. Set designs can be really fun and you get a big sense of satisfaction taking something from a pen and paper design to a full on production.It will also give you a really good sense of what it's like to essentially run your own business, manage your P&L, and learn to effectively build and schedule a team. 

Now the bad.

Budgets can become unrealistic very quickly. No matter what you tell your superiors, your budget increases on average 5-10% year over year even if every single analytic says you're about to have a bad year. When confronted they shrug and say they can't change it and hold you to them anyway both on financial and punitive.

The following is just a sign of the times and is unfortunate that this company has succumbed to this mentality.

Family/personal life does not matter to this company nor does sickness. If you are salaried, you are on call. Period. Took PTO after working 60+ hours a week for 11 months straight to try and spend time with your family you've barely seen? Too bad you still have to attend meetings and answer phone calls and half the time go into the office. Got the flu and are running a 103.5 fever? Too bad for you. Those reports, sales calls, and questions all still need to be dealt with whether you are able to or not. 

My family life is suffering tremendously since taking a directors role which is why I am looking elsewhere. I'm to the point where I would rather work two jobs than this one because i would still have more time with my family. I don't live to work, I work to live.

No communication between the sales team and operations.  We'd have have to reset rooms several times before it was set right.  More times than not, we would have to asked the house men for diagrams of the rooms.  The sales team would never give us them.  Managers would call me in before my scheduled in time on a daily basis and expect me to stay until my scheduled out time (not getting to leave early for coming in early).  We would set rooms the way the sales team wanted at night and the next day when we would come in, the room would look completely different.  Management wouldn't find replacements for techs that would call in sick for their shifts, leaving sometimes just one or two techs to set a huge workload.  Management would disappear for hours and not be on radio, not giving specific direction on basic tasks. When they would finally show up they would get upset on how little work was done. WTF? Management promised to train me in several areas of AV.  It never happened.  80% of the time we wouldn't get a lunch/dinner break.  I would usually hit 40 after only working 3 days.  Too big of a hotel and not enough staff.  You would walk in to a storeroom to get a piece of gear and the case would be empty, or the gear would have no case.  Management would rent gear out for personal events and not tell anyone, leaving us scrabbling to locate gear that our clients had ordered. We would end up having to cross-rent gear, when the books said our gear was on property (it wasn't). Management would always bend over backwards to accommodate internal hotel meetings and not put the order in the system, making us scramble before the meeting was supposed to start.  I kept accruing vacation, but management would never approve time off.  I would look in the system to see how busy we were for a specific date and a month out we wouldn't look busy.  I would look at the date a week out and we would be busy.  We didn't have price lists for pop up gear that clients wanted.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Audio visual technician 1 salary reported	$47,500 per year
Sales manager 3 salaries reported	$61,000 per year
Technician 3 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Project manager 5 salaries reported	$82,960 per year
Director of events 22 salaries reported	$65,391 per year

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