A clear planning range starts with the experience you are creating.
These figures are designed for planning, not package shopping. They show where different program shapes often begin and which decisions carry the most financial weight. The proposal connects the number to the experience, scope, responsibilities, assumptions, and change process.
Five useful contexts for early budgeting.
Each band describes a common program shape for a direct engagement, not a fixed package.
| TIER | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | Retainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price range | $40K–$85K | $85K–$175K | $175K–$400K | $400K–$1M | $1M+ | $60K–$200K / mo |
| Format | Single-day AV | Single-day flagship | Multi-day corporate summit | Flagship user conferences | Global flagship, multi-site broadcast | Production retainer |
| Typical for | Boardroom, 1-day, AV-only | Town hall, activation, reception | Summit, gala, launch | User conference, SKO, multi-track | Global, broadcast, custom scenic | Retainer, studio, priority |
| Next step | Scope a single-day AV → | Scope a single-day flagship → | Scope a multi-day summit → | Scope a user conference → | Scope a global flagship → | Talk through a retainer → |
Directional planning context. A program-specific proposal follows review of the actual brief.
Five useful contexts for early budgeting.
Each band describes a common program shape for a direct engagement, not a fixed package.
$40K–$85K
A focused, single-room engagement such as a board meeting, leadership session, or studio day. The production centers on clear sound, appropriate lighting, in-room video, presentation support, and an experience matched to the room.
- Boardroom
- 1-day
- AV-only
$85K–$175K
A single-day program with a more developed audience environment: town hall, regional summit, activation, reception, or launch. Staging, LED, lighting, show direction, and content support are shaped around the format.
- Town hall
- Activation
- Reception
$175K–$400K
A multi-day program that may combine general session, breakouts, scenic, content, speaker support, and post-event deliverables. The room plan, program density, creative requirements, and operating schedule determine where it falls in the band.
- Summit
- Gala
- Launch
$400K–$1M
A flagship, multi-day program with a keynote environment, parallel breakouts, sponsor or customer experiences, and content designed for the room and approved channels. Planning integrates creative, technical, venue, speaker, and operating workstreams from the outset.
- User conf
- SKO
- Multi-track
$1M+
A global flagship may connect a primary venue with offices, regional sites, or remote audiences through custom scenic, multi-language delivery, and a continuity design appropriate to the program. The scope reflects the scale of both the room and the distribution model.
- Global
- Broadcast
- Custom scenic
$60K–$200K / mo
An ongoing production relationship for a recurring event portfolio, executive communications, studio work, or a continuing program calendar. The agreement defines planning cadence, retained program knowledge, leadership, capacity, rates, and scheduling terms.
- Retainer
- Studio
- Priority
What shapes the investment.
The strongest budgets reveal the logic behind the number. These are the inputs that most often change the creative opportunity, production architecture, labor plan, and cost.
Scenic, stage, and LED
The physical environment can range from a restrained presentation setting to custom fabrication and a large, camera-ready LED canvas. Size, finish, geometry, pixel pitch, engineering, and installation all shape the investment.
Content build
A program that needs a complete visual system, motion package, keynote support, and versioned playback carries a different creative workload than one arriving with finished files. The scope distinguishes original creation, adaptation, quality control, and playback.
Broadcast scope
An in-room program, a single remote stream, a multi-site broadcast, and multilingual delivery require different platform, connectivity, monitoring, accessibility, interpretation, and recovery designs.
Schedule and program density
Load-in, programming, rehearsal, show days, room turnovers, simultaneous tracks, and strike determine how long each discipline is required and where coverage must overlap.
Venue constraints
Rigging, power, internet, freight, labor, access, exclusivities, and house services can materially affect the production plan. An early venue review helps expose those requirements while the program still has room to adapt.
A useful proposal makes ownership visible.
| Line item | Who holds it |
|---|---|
| Venue and F&B | Typically contracted directly by the client or agency. We coordinate the production requirements with the property and identify the venue inputs the program depends on. |
| Travel and accommodations | Flights, accommodations, local transport, and per diem for out-of-market delivery are shown according to the sourcing and commercial model agreed for the engagement. |
| Speaker fees and talent | Honoraria, keynote bookings, and entertainment are typically held by the client or agency. We coordinate technical riders, rehearsal, stage access, and show integration. |
| Registration platform | The client or agency typically holds the platform license. When integration is part of the engagement, data access, field mapping, badge production, testing, and handoff are defined with the appropriate owners. |
| Marketing and promotion | Campaign strategy, media, and channel ownership usually remain with the client or agency. Event-content deliverables and handoff requirements are defined in the production scope. |
Published ranges help event, marketing, procurement, and finance teams establish fit before investing time in a full scope. The figures are directional. A program-specific number follows review of the actual brief.
Five ranges plus a retainer, for direct engagements: $40K–$85K for a single-day AV engagement, $85K–$175K for a single-day flagship, $175K–$400K for a multi-day corporate summit, $400K–$1M for flagship user conferences, and $1M+ for a global flagship with multi-site broadcast.
A production retainer runs $60K–$200K / mo for a recurring event portfolio, executive communications, studio work, or a continuing program calendar. Planning cadence, capacity, rates, and scheduling terms are defined in the agreement.
The principal drivers are scenic, stage, and LED requirements; original content and presentation support; broadcast reach; schedule and program density; and venue conditions. Their effect depends on how they combine within the actual program.
Venue and F&B, travel and accommodations, speaker fees and talent, registration platforms, and marketing or paid media are often held directly by the client or agency. The proposal identifies what Space City Pro owns, coordinates, or depends on so the commercial model is clear.
The proposal and agreement define the deposit, milestone billing, payment timing, and any engagement-specific commercial requirements before approval.
Postponement, cancellation, date-transfer, and contingency terms are defined in the applicable agreement. Committed third-party costs and work already performed are documented and handled according to those terms.
When a requested or necessary change affects scope, schedule, staffing, sourcing, or cost, the team documents the variance and follows the approval path defined for the engagement before the affected work proceeds.
These public ranges are written for direct engagements. Agency pricing, contract structure, invoicing, communication, and client-facing roles are developed within the applicable partner relationship.
The agency partnership model is described on the partners page.
Share the program objective, audience, date, venue or market, format, and anything already decided. We will review the brief, identify the questions that matter most, and confirm the appropriate next step.
Bring the number into the same conversation as the experience.
Share the brief and we will review the audience, room, creative and technical ambition, schedule, broadcast reach, and operating constraints that turn a published band into a program-specific scope.