How to Create Efficiencies in Event Production with Jason Eberhardt
Monday January 13, 2025
5 Min Read
What you need to know
- Professional event production management ensures alignment between the creative vision, budget and business goals.
- Consistency in processes and relationships streamlines trade show event production.
- Customizing trade shows helps suppliers showcase their capabilities.
As a second-generation trade show expert, Jason Eberhardt found his footing in the events industry early. He excels at creating efficiencies that streamline complex event execution, save money and deliver on the creative vision cast by clients and our production team.
Jason’s commitment to collaboration and creativity helps him cultivate crews that are motivated to raise the bar on signature events—year after year. We talked with him about how clear goals, established processes and positive vendor-partner relationships contribute to the overall success of a show.
Q: What event responsibilities does a director of production management oversee?
Jason: Production management covers a lot of different bases. We work to make the best event possible with the design and budget given to us. We listen to producers’ ideas, then collaborate with the creative team and production designers to develop, share, edit and bid the design out to vendors.
My team is in charge of executing custom builds and displays for massive trade shows. We might be doing operations management and logistics at an event for a major tech brand. Or we might take on security for a show. We’ve done graphics management for a corporate event with LinkedIn or America’s Cup sailing events. We’re also hands-on all the way through execution. The goal for us at the end of the day is to be as efficient with our time and the client’s investment as we possibly can.
Q: Your team produces trade shows in unique spaces. What’s an event you’re especially proud of executing?
Jason: Oracle OpenWorld was the largest tech event in San Francisco when we took on production management for the event in Union Square Plaza. It was an outdoor event in a really congested area in the middle of the city. It was a challenging site. No docks. No side streets. It was built over top of a parking garage, which meant we couldn’t use certain heavy equipment. The event changed every four hours, which meant we had to flip the space over and over for five days straight. We had some pretty high-level talent there as well.
It was pretty stressful, but I’m proud that we executed it well despite all the moving parts and site challenges. I’ve never seen another show of that scope held there because people think it’s impossible. That’s the kind of thing we do.
Q: How do you create efficiencies that help raise the bar in event production?
Jason: We don’t want any show to be stagnant. We keep team members on the same project for a longer run-up, which builds great team chemistry. Familiarity helps us find ways to do the same things as last year, faster and for less. With consistency and efficiency, you have room to expand, even with a similar budget. That’s how we give a better show to the client, year after year.
Q: Do strong vendor and supplier relationships play a role?
Jason: We have a strong group of vendors we regularly work with. Because we treat them as partners, they’re invested in the show’s success. These trusted relationships are built on an expectation for overall quality and execution.
Creating repetitive processes and working with consistent vendors help us produce results more quickly, because we’re not reinventing the wheel every time. Our vendors understand our processes, so we’re able to turn pricing around a lot faster, too.
Overall, though, my biggest tips for efficient event production management are having clear event goals ahead of time and understanding the budget.
Q: Hartmann Studios’ event production VP, Jeff Bogan, also emphasizes the importance of clear event goals. You two go way back, right?
Jason: I’ve known Jeff Bogan since I was 12. Jeff and I both got our first jobs in the industry working with my dad. We’ve worked at various companies in the events and exhibits industry over the decades. Jeff and I often talk about the difference between Hartmann Studios and other show management companies that deliver the same show, over and over, with different graphics. They take orders based on an online catalog of options, so there’s nothing customized about it. We call that the “combo meal” approach.
Hartmann Studios is the only company that we’ve worked with where each project looks and feels different and reflects the client. That’s because of the planning process. Clients have a dedicated team working to solve for specific goals. There’s a difference in production quality that comes out of that. It elevates the attendee experience.
One of the events that demonstrates this is the large-scale product demo expo we produce for a leading retailer. It’s the most unique trade show I’ve ever supported, and the only turnkey enterprise show of its size that I know of in the entire world.
Q: Can you define the difference between a traditional trade show and a turnkey event?
Jason: For most traditional trade shows, every exhibitor brings their own booth. It can look like a flea market, the way different displays are set up. A turnkey enterprise show is 100 percent controlled by the client. Exhibitors pay to register, and there are often sponsorship packages that dictate different booth sizes and location options.
In a fully customized turnkey trade show like the one I mentioned, we don’t rely on standard booths. We’re building a show every year that’s specifically tailored to the needs of that year’s show. Each exhibit is designed with that supplier in mind and what that demo requires, so all needs are met. When attendees walk into the kitchen department, it looks completely different than the appliance department.
Discover how Jason’s team makes the impossible happen when executing corporate events, worldwide.
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