Awards banquets
Awards banquet sound
in Fargo.
A podium microphone, a second microphone for presenters and winners, and music between awards so your program keeps moving. We stay for the whole night.
What you get, and what it costs
An operator on the board for your whole program, so every speaker is heard at the same level.
Your base rate
- Weekday, Monday to Thursday $400
- Friday, Sunday, Saturday daytime $550
- Travel in Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, and Dilworth Included
Add only what you need
- Each hour past four +$125
- Announcing on the microphone +$200
- Power, if your site has none +$250
Both rates buy four hours of event time. Setup and teardown are free on top of that, never counted inside it.
Saturday evenings are usually reserved for weddings. Ask and we will tell you honestly what is open.
Anywhere farther is quoted plainly up front, never added to your invoice afterward.
Banquets often land on weeknights, and weeknights are our lowest rate.
Not for: Full bands with drums or separate monitor mixes.
What the job actually is
Two microphones and a program that keeps moving.
An awards banquet is mostly one thing: people talking into microphones, for a long time, in a room where everyone is also eating. What makes it work is a podium microphone that does not feed back, a second microphone that can go to a presenter or a winner without anyone crossing the room to hand it over, and someone riding the levels so the quiet speaker and the loud speaker both land.
For most banquet rooms that is a pair of speakers on stands. Not a wall of gear, and not a concert rig with a drum sub.
The things that go wrong
All of them are preventable.
A dead wireless battery
The most common failure at a long program, and the easiest one to prevent. Spares come to every event.
A podium that feeds back
Set before your guests arrive, in the room as it will actually be.
A fifteen second gap
We cue music to play winners up and off, so the program moves instead of stalling after every name.
A speaker nobody can hear
Somebody stays on the board all night, so the quiet one lands as well as the loud one.
The program
Music between awards.
Send us your award list ahead of time and we will cue music to play people up and off. It sounds like a small thing. In practice it is the difference between a program that moves and one that stalls for fifteen seconds after every name while somebody walks to the front.
Long programs
Three hours is not a problem.
We stay for the whole event and we bring backup gear, including spare batteries for the wireless microphones. A wireless microphone dying partway through a long awards program is the most common failure at these events, and it is completely preventable by someone who is watching for it.
Announcing
We can run the microphone too.
If you want it, announcing is the flat add-on listed above. Tyler has been on a microphone since 2009. If you would rather use your own emcee, we hand them the microphone and keep the levels right all night at no extra charge. See our MC services for what that looks like.
What you are really booking
Every name heard, by everyone.
People came to watch someone they know get recognised. The whole job is making sure the room hears that moment, and that nothing about the sound is memorable afterward.
FAQ
Awards banquet sound questions
How much does sound for an awards banquet cost in Fargo?
Weekday events start at $400 and Friday and Sunday start at $550, which buys up to 4 hours of event time. Setup and teardown are free on top of that, not counted inside it. Most banquet programs fit comfortably in 4 hours. Longer nights are $125 per additional hour, quoted before you book. Saturday evenings are usually booked for weddings, so ask and we will tell you honestly what is open.
Does setup and teardown count against my 4 hours?
No. Your 4 hours is event time only, measured from when we start running sound to when we stop. We are usually on site 60 to 90 minutes ahead so everything is set and tested before your guests sit down, and we stay afterward to pack out. None of that is billed to you, and none of it eats into your hours.
What do you bring for an awards banquet?
A system sized to your room, a podium microphone, a second wireless microphone for presenters and winners, and music to play people up and off. For most banquet rooms that is a pair of speakers on stands, not a wall of gear.
Can you play walk-up music for each award?
Yes. Send your list ahead of time and we will cue music between awards so the program keeps moving instead of stalling between names.
Can you announce the awards too?
Yes, for a flat $200 on top of the sound. If you would rather use your own emcee, we hand them the microphone and keep the levels right all night at no extra charge.
Our program runs three hours. Is that a problem?
No. We stay for the whole event, and we bring backup gear including spare batteries for the wireless microphones. A dead battery partway through a long awards program is the most common failure at these events, and it is entirely preventable.
Check your banquet date.
Tell us the room, the date, and how many microphones your program needs. We will send an honest quote.