audio visual technician

service technician

audio visual engineer

senior audio visual technician

director of events

Pinnacle Live

Let me preface this review by saying that I worked for this company for nearly a decade, and within many different capacities. I started out as a part-time technician, to full-time, to many different stages of management. As someone who has a passion for production, the idea of this job is great! The execution, however, is a different story. 

Management is mismanaged on many different levels. Nepotism runs deep, and while there are no bad humans working for AVMS, personal allegiances, anxiety over job security, the intense personalities within flagship hotels, and the desire to put profits over the needs of technicians just to make a (possible) commission really hurts everyone.

Commission is dangled in front of Directors, Sales Managers, and Project Managers as a golden ring to chase, but to get these (at times) really good bonuses you have to meet very specific quotas. I have seen people squabble over necessary overtime for technicians barely making rent just so they can make a little extra themselves. Management doesn't get paid enough as is so this leads to a culture of "I got mine" more often than true teamwork. 

The main focus of this job is hotel AV. Please, know this before applying. As management I interviewed many qualified hopefuls who had just left an audio engineering program, with so much talent, to be mislead by upper management into thinking they would get to do sound work only to end up wrapping cables or being underutilized. Understandably, this breeds a lot of resentment when you have a Lead Technician making barely enough to live on while a salaried manager takes a three hour lunch, doesn't answer their phone, and doesn't understand the technology themselves that they sold on a show. 

There is so much more to say, but I'll leave it at this. The people you work with all mean well and are wonderful, but corporate greed and pitting working-class people against one another is a pervasive issue at this company (and most major hotel AV providers).

You'll learn everything you SHOULDN'T do when you eventually go to another production house. Enter at your own risk.

This company has no communication at all with its employees. I have had no communication in THREE MONTHS following the initial furlough due to covid-19. I have no other choice but to look for work outside of this company.You can't own a large company and not update furloughed employees during a global pandemic. What do you expect is going to happen? I understand our industry took a major blow. Nobody is expecting AVMS to retain every employee where there is very little work that can be done.. But at least tell us to find new jobs.. Some of us will now have to move out of state to chase opportunities in the AV field after 20+ years in the industry. I mean, what else are we to do? 
  MANY other AV companies have kept their employees in the loop during this time. I stay in touch with friends. AVMS received the federal money but only retained around 50 employees. Opting instead to pay for our insurance during this time. How is that supporting us? I can't even get my name on a dang company flyer these days to stay up to date. I throw out a call to a higher up and they tell me they are working, try to promise to upate me when they can. Weeks turn into months and I never get an update but I am still considered "employed." Which means I can't qualify for real assistance from the state at a time when I NEED it. 
  We would rather have the reduced pay and still have our jobs just like the other guys! Insurance isn't going to help when nobody goes out and gets sick during a quarantine. I can't believe how poorly this company has handled this. I should have known when the owner's right hand man told me personally (after getting hired) to consider myself on my own from now on because I won't get any support to response from the owner or upper management. He was NOT kidding. Not to mention the amount of favoritism that goes on within the company regarding incompetent and inefficient managers in several states. I can't wait to get the heck out of this place and find a reputable business to work for again.

AVMS seems to have really gone downhill since coming back from Covid. After losing maybe half our regional staff during furlough, the execs continued to expand operations in the area, which stretched the remaining talent too thin. Those of us who had remained (or came back to) the company after quarantine were left doing twice as much work or more for the same rate of pay. The low pay meant that new hires needed to be trained in how to do the work, usually from the ground up. While I don't begrudge the new hires for this, by the time they had been brought onboard, we were too busy for proper training, which has led to an obvious decrease in the quality of the work.
Adding to this, the lack of staff capable of handling routine parts of the job (standard AV sets, gear transfers, etc.) means that techs looking for experience can't move into operating or rigging positions without spreading the floor staff too thin. While AVMS has never been great about helping its techs get experience, things are so much worse now that moving upward seems impossible.
My next big issue with the company is the pay. AV isn't the most lucrative career on a good day, but the amount of work we put into keeping the various hotels operating justifies far more than anyone gets. Raises are based on annual performance reviews, of which I received 2 in my 4 years with the company, and I had to hound my supervisors to get those.
That's pretty typical of communication with the higher ups. I will grant that most directors are decent at communicating, but several are very difficult to get a hold of, which is great when emergencies come up or we need advice/approval on last-minute set changes. And they're not shy about calling on *requested days off* to try to get you to come in to work.

Working at Pinnacle Live is a solid opportunity for anyone looking to grow within the live events and AV industry. The company operates in a fast-paced, client-facing environment where no two days are the same, which can be both exciting and challenging.

One of the biggest strengths of Pinnacle Live is the exposure to high-end events and diverse clients. It’s a great place to build technical skills, client management experience, and problem-solving abilities under pressure. Leadership tends to emphasize service excellence and professionalism, which helps elevate overall performance standards.

The team culture can be collaborative and supportive, especially among on-site staff who rely heavily on each other to execute events successfully. If you’re proactive, reliable, and willing to learn, there are opportunities to grow and take on more responsibility.

That said, the role can be demanding. Long hours, irregular schedules, and last-minute changes are common in the events industry, and Pinnacle Live is no exception. Work-life balance can be tough during busy seasons, and communication or organization may vary depending on the property or leadership team.

Pros:
	•	Hands-on experience with high-end events
	•	Opportunities to grow technical and client-facing skills
	•	Strong team camaraderie in the field
	•	Exposure to a wide variety of venues and setups

Cons:
	•	Long, sometimes unpredictable hours
	•	Work-life balance can be challenging
	•	Operational consistency varies by location
	•	High expectations in a fast-paced environment

Advice to Management:
Continue improving internal communication and consistency across locations, and invest in staff support during peak seasons to reduce burnout

It’s a great place for anyone starting off for Audio Visual or for anyone looking for a career change, but not for longevity. 

It’s a good place to learn corporate culture, specifically hospitality, and clients of the like. 

Promotions do happen often and they promote within, however this is mainly because lots of people leave. 

Work/life balance is very subpar, and you’re subjected to the ever changing whims and demands of not just AVMS, but their hotel partners. 

Work consists of : writing quotes for clients, meeting with them, conversing with the hotel’s sales team, setting/striking of equipment, etc etc 

My biggest pro of this job was learning how to be a good and efficient leader. I am very proud of the trust I was able to build with my team and their amazing skill sets. That ultimately was the reason why we were able to put on amazing shows every time. 

Cons: Management is very stuck in their ways and any problem solving ideas that don’t necessarily fit into the culture promoted is dismissed. 

This place needs and should require a competent manager who knows how to balance a partnership between hotels and AVMS employees, without sacrificing the integrity of the employees. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
A lot of great people here, and the company definitely started off strong. Unfortunately, they're trying to grow too fast for their own good, which leads to a lot of confusion and restructuring.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Way too much focus on future venue acquisitions, hypothetical growth, and making more money in the future, rather than focusing on nurturing and improving existing venue relationships. The autonomy to run your own location at the venue level is great, until you need an ounce of support from regional management or their national production teams. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture started out great, but they keep leaning more and more into this "big corporate" type of environment. Most of us came to this company to escape Encore, but if you ask around the company today, I keep hearing employees refer to Pinnacle Live as "Encore 2.0". It's sadly ironic, considering why this company started in the first place.

The best thing I can say about AVMS is that while working for them, there was no shortage of opportunities for growth.  My role was as a leader in multiple roles.  I felt like my staff as well as staff from other locations always had the opportunity to grow and promotions were focused on that internal growth.  

Like any venue situated AV Company, work/life balance can be largely dependent on the team you have, training, responsibilities, and support.  If you have a strong team, you will have balance, if your team is not strong, then more rests on your shoulders.  

If you show that you will take care of the company and push things forward, AVMS will, in turn, take care of you.  If you just treat it as a "job" and don't want to push forward, then it can likewise feel stagnant.  Make your career what you want it to be.  AVMS can give you an opportunity to do that.  

If you are at a remote location, however, sometimes it can be a challenge to feel included and part of the overall "whole".  

All organizations have the normal issues especially when you add a pandemic into the mix. The leadership cares about the team nationwide and is always willing to help people when they need it. 
       Forums like this tend to be a place to bash organizations when you did not get what you wanted from them. 
       AVMS is a growing expanding company and it's looking for people to help the growth. If you're a hard worker and are willing to sacrifice your time to help, you will benefit from your hard work. It's the event industry and hard work is part of the program. Fun and rewarding job, if you're not a stressed out person already or a complainer. 
       If you're looking for an easy, behind the desk job without complications and you don't want to participate to come up with solutions, you most likely won't like working here. Independent thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit is definitely needed. 



AVMS is a competing audio visual technology company in the Pacific Northwest. This company tries it's best to set itself apart from the competition by advertising it's diverse set of technology based needs for their clients, as well as openly advertising where/when they can set-up equipment for the client(s) meeting/event. 

The company is lacking in educational materials to help train their staff, including those that have done similar work for years/decades and has a degree in that said field. 

Management does not give proper support for their staff, and often gives clients the runaround in terms of proper communication, sales quotes, finalized quotes, and any applied discounts. 

Company is too strict when it comes to location guidelines, as to how things are set/performed at different venues. Knowing when a client is finished with their presentation/meeting is very difficult from time to time, but AVMS doesn't see this as a problem.

Working at AVMS was fine, except for all of the ways in which it wasn't.

Scheduling, for one thing, was an absolute nightmare. Never knowing when a shift was supposed to end -- even as a ballpark estimate -- led to a lot of frustration. Shifts were only scheduled with start times; whether you were expected to be on-site for two hours or twelve, you couldn't possibly know until you came into work.

On top of that, the regional manager didn't hold up their assurances that, as a part-time employee, my priorities outside of working for AVMS would be respected. They weren't, and the only amicable solution presented was my leaving the company.

The work itself wasn't particularly difficult, and it was well compensated. Coworkers were knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. Management was condescending, different managers often offered conflicting information, and they were impossible to work for on any terms but total servitude to them.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Audio visual technician 107 salaries reported	$24.76 per hour
Service technician 66 salaries reported	$36.94 per hour
Audio visual engineer 30 salaries reported	$74,404 per year
Senior audio visual technician 26 salaries reported	$25.36 per hour
Director of events 47 salaries reported	$84,350 per year

Working at Pinnacle Live: Company Overview and Reviews

Pinnacle Live

Pinnacle Live Ratings

Popular jobs at Pinnacle Live

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected