SITE VISITS & QUOTES
The first time you call EOP to inquire about a potential experience, we do understand that you will want to know fairly early on in the conversation approximately how much our services will cost. Having organized numerous fundraisers ourselves, we do understand this need.
However, if you were to ask a wedding planner, "How much is a wedding?" or ask a real estate agent, "How much to buy a house?," both professionals would need to get much more information from you before giving an accurate quote. In fact, if either one answered you without asking any questions, you'd probably run away fast!!! We all understand that weddings and houses are customized to fit a customer's goals and budget.
Likewise, EOP Experiences are also customized to fit your goals, your venue, and your budget. It takes us time to prepare your first quote. They are dependent on a variety of factors. The good news is that most of the questions are first-time questions and will not need to be revisited on every future event.
Here are some questions we will ask either on a phone call or site visit to help determine an accurate quote:
1) Where is your event?
The distance we need to travel to reach your venue will impact your quote. Ideally, we can do an in-person site visit of your venue to give you the most accurate quote. If the distance is too far for an in-person visit, we will ask to do a site visit with you via FaceTime and we will also utilize Google Earth.
2) What are the goals of your event? What is your approximate budget? We need to know what you value and about what you can spend so we can customize packages to fit.
Is your event designed to be free for participants, are you trying to recover costs, or are you trying make a profit as part of a fundraiser? Are you trying to create a significant "wow factor" after a successful year or are you on a tight budget?
This information will help us determine what packages to present to you. If we know you have a certain budget to present a free event for participants, we may present something different than if we know you need the event to be profitable for your organization.
Many of our experiences can be scaled up or scaled down to a point to meet a variety of budgets. We do not want to just give you the least expensive option if you are trying to create a significant "wow factor." We also do not want to "scare you away" by giving unrealistic quotes that are too expensive either. Knowing your goals and objectives helps us make sure we are all on the same page.
Here is a quick example: We might determine that 4 lasers are necessary for a laser show to look good. However, if a client has the budget for 8 lasers, it would look absolutely spectacular.
3) Is your date flexible? Can you consider multiple night events?
If your date is flexible, we may be able to offer better rates on days with less demand. If you are trying to recover costs or have a fundraiser, we often find that multiple night events are typically much more profitable than one night events. That is because much of our overhead is fixed and costs the same regardless how many nights your show runs. Multiple nights allows you to divide those costs over several nights, while filling your venue several times.
If your date is not flexible, we may try to see if we can find another client in close proximity to give us 2 events on one trip. This will save you both money. Once we start splitting up our overhead costs amongst two or more clients, we can pass those savings onto you!
4) What is the approximate size of your venue? Is it indoor or outdoors? How much of the venue needs laser/light and audio coverage?
This will help us determine how many lasers and other equipment will be necessary to ensure everyone in attendance has a good view. This is particularly important with a drive-in laser show because participants do not have a way to move if they do not like their view. If you are doing a laser show, keep in mind that the wider the venue, the more lasers that are necessary. The longer your venue, the lasers must be brighter (or higher wattage) for maximum visibility.
5) How much power does your venue have? How many circuits are available? If there is power, where is it located?
We need to know if generators or distribution boxes will be required to run your event. It may take asking a venue supervisor for the power grid. Just because we see three outlets does not mean they are all on different circuits.
We will also want to know if the available power at the venue will need to be shared with anything not EOP related, such as food trucks. We ask where the power is located because if all the power at a venue is in one location, we may need to bring smaller generators to run fog/haze machines. The location of these fog/haze machines will vary based on the wind direction and speed that particular night, so their positioning needs to be flexible.
6) Can we do an in-person site visit or Video Chat from the site location to determine FAA specifications?
Site visits are important for a multitude of reasons. If outdoors, laser beams cannot hit elevated highways or roads, homes, occupied buildings, or interfere with flight patterns. The beams also cannot go where any people will be sitting or passing through. An effective site visit allows us to create a laser projection plan that we will file with the FAA in advance. The FAA must approve most outdoor laser shows. They do this with a "Letter of Non-Objection." The site visit will also help us determine if this FAA approval is necessary. This must be filed at least 30 days before your show.
If you venue is indoors, you will not need FAA approval, however, we will still want to look for any potential tripping hazards and measure approximate power availability.
Lastly, we will help you determine if your venue can be expanded based on ticket sales and demand. For example, you might decide to sell tickets to one centralized area at your venue to cut down on costs. If those tickets sell out, and you have room to increase your venue space, you can sell more tickets. The costs of additional equipment will be justified by the ticket demand.
However, if space is limited and you cannot expand your venue, that may impact what you need to charge because once you are sold out, you cannot expand.
Example: One client for a drive-in laser show has a building on one side of the viewing area and a main street on the other side. Their lot cannot be expanded regardless of demand.
7) Where will the audience be positioned?
Laser shows are extremely directional. If the viewer is too far wide or behind the lasers, the view is not good and should be not considered or sold as a spot. We need to know where you plan to put people so we can determine if those areas can be covered with lasers, light, sound, etc.
8) How accessible is the venue?
Will we be able to park our vehicles close to where the equipment needs to go? Is it relatively flat or will equipment need to be moved up or down hills, stairs, etc? This will help us determine how much labor is needed for your setup and strike (take-down).
9) How much ambient light can be eliminated at your venue?
If there are lights in the area that cannot be extinguished, we may need to add lasers to prevent your show from being "washed out." Keep in mind any street lights, parking lights, large lights on buildings, etc. will have a negative impact on all laser shows or experiences involving lights. We will want to figure out in advance if light can be extinguished.
10) Where are the water connections at the venue? How much water pressure is available at each outlet
(for foam parties, water wars, and slime time)?
If hiring us for a water based activity, we will need to know where your water sources are located and how much will be available. The activities not only require running water to operate, but participants will typically want a clean-up station as well.
Water pressure is also important.
This will help us determine if you have sufficient water, or if we need to come up with a solution in advance.
We will inquire what parts of your venue can incur some mud or biodegradable slime afterwards. Foam creates mud just because people are moving around on wet ground. Slime is inherently messy as the point of the experience! So you would not have them in a part of the venue that needs to look "good as new" or "great" the next day.
However, if you were to ask a wedding planner, "How much is a wedding?" or ask a real estate agent, "How much to buy a house?," both professionals would need to get much more information from you before giving an accurate quote. In fact, if either one answered you without asking any questions, you'd probably run away fast!!! We all understand that weddings and houses are customized to fit a customer's goals and budget.
Likewise, EOP Experiences are also customized to fit your goals, your venue, and your budget. It takes us time to prepare your first quote. They are dependent on a variety of factors. The good news is that most of the questions are first-time questions and will not need to be revisited on every future event.
Here are some questions we will ask either on a phone call or site visit to help determine an accurate quote:
1) Where is your event?
The distance we need to travel to reach your venue will impact your quote. Ideally, we can do an in-person site visit of your venue to give you the most accurate quote. If the distance is too far for an in-person visit, we will ask to do a site visit with you via FaceTime and we will also utilize Google Earth.
2) What are the goals of your event? What is your approximate budget? We need to know what you value and about what you can spend so we can customize packages to fit.
Is your event designed to be free for participants, are you trying to recover costs, or are you trying make a profit as part of a fundraiser? Are you trying to create a significant "wow factor" after a successful year or are you on a tight budget?
This information will help us determine what packages to present to you. If we know you have a certain budget to present a free event for participants, we may present something different than if we know you need the event to be profitable for your organization.
Many of our experiences can be scaled up or scaled down to a point to meet a variety of budgets. We do not want to just give you the least expensive option if you are trying to create a significant "wow factor." We also do not want to "scare you away" by giving unrealistic quotes that are too expensive either. Knowing your goals and objectives helps us make sure we are all on the same page.
Here is a quick example: We might determine that 4 lasers are necessary for a laser show to look good. However, if a client has the budget for 8 lasers, it would look absolutely spectacular.
3) Is your date flexible? Can you consider multiple night events?
If your date is flexible, we may be able to offer better rates on days with less demand. If you are trying to recover costs or have a fundraiser, we often find that multiple night events are typically much more profitable than one night events. That is because much of our overhead is fixed and costs the same regardless how many nights your show runs. Multiple nights allows you to divide those costs over several nights, while filling your venue several times.
If your date is not flexible, we may try to see if we can find another client in close proximity to give us 2 events on one trip. This will save you both money. Once we start splitting up our overhead costs amongst two or more clients, we can pass those savings onto you!
4) What is the approximate size of your venue? Is it indoor or outdoors? How much of the venue needs laser/light and audio coverage?
This will help us determine how many lasers and other equipment will be necessary to ensure everyone in attendance has a good view. This is particularly important with a drive-in laser show because participants do not have a way to move if they do not like their view. If you are doing a laser show, keep in mind that the wider the venue, the more lasers that are necessary. The longer your venue, the lasers must be brighter (or higher wattage) for maximum visibility.
5) How much power does your venue have? How many circuits are available? If there is power, where is it located?
We need to know if generators or distribution boxes will be required to run your event. It may take asking a venue supervisor for the power grid. Just because we see three outlets does not mean they are all on different circuits.
We will also want to know if the available power at the venue will need to be shared with anything not EOP related, such as food trucks. We ask where the power is located because if all the power at a venue is in one location, we may need to bring smaller generators to run fog/haze machines. The location of these fog/haze machines will vary based on the wind direction and speed that particular night, so their positioning needs to be flexible.
6) Can we do an in-person site visit or Video Chat from the site location to determine FAA specifications?
Site visits are important for a multitude of reasons. If outdoors, laser beams cannot hit elevated highways or roads, homes, occupied buildings, or interfere with flight patterns. The beams also cannot go where any people will be sitting or passing through. An effective site visit allows us to create a laser projection plan that we will file with the FAA in advance. The FAA must approve most outdoor laser shows. They do this with a "Letter of Non-Objection." The site visit will also help us determine if this FAA approval is necessary. This must be filed at least 30 days before your show.
If you venue is indoors, you will not need FAA approval, however, we will still want to look for any potential tripping hazards and measure approximate power availability.
Lastly, we will help you determine if your venue can be expanded based on ticket sales and demand. For example, you might decide to sell tickets to one centralized area at your venue to cut down on costs. If those tickets sell out, and you have room to increase your venue space, you can sell more tickets. The costs of additional equipment will be justified by the ticket demand.
However, if space is limited and you cannot expand your venue, that may impact what you need to charge because once you are sold out, you cannot expand.
Example: One client for a drive-in laser show has a building on one side of the viewing area and a main street on the other side. Their lot cannot be expanded regardless of demand.
7) Where will the audience be positioned?
Laser shows are extremely directional. If the viewer is too far wide or behind the lasers, the view is not good and should be not considered or sold as a spot. We need to know where you plan to put people so we can determine if those areas can be covered with lasers, light, sound, etc.
8) How accessible is the venue?
Will we be able to park our vehicles close to where the equipment needs to go? Is it relatively flat or will equipment need to be moved up or down hills, stairs, etc? This will help us determine how much labor is needed for your setup and strike (take-down).
9) How much ambient light can be eliminated at your venue?
If there are lights in the area that cannot be extinguished, we may need to add lasers to prevent your show from being "washed out." Keep in mind any street lights, parking lights, large lights on buildings, etc. will have a negative impact on all laser shows or experiences involving lights. We will want to figure out in advance if light can be extinguished.
10) Where are the water connections at the venue? How much water pressure is available at each outlet
(for foam parties, water wars, and slime time)?
If hiring us for a water based activity, we will need to know where your water sources are located and how much will be available. The activities not only require running water to operate, but participants will typically want a clean-up station as well.
Water pressure is also important.
This will help us determine if you have sufficient water, or if we need to come up with a solution in advance.
We will inquire what parts of your venue can incur some mud or biodegradable slime afterwards. Foam creates mud just because people are moving around on wet ground. Slime is inherently messy as the point of the experience! So you would not have them in a part of the venue that needs to look "good as new" or "great" the next day.