Event management glossaryEvent terms, in plain words.
The words producers, hotels and crews use in meetings and on quotes — each explained in a sentence or two, so nothing in your estimate is a mystery.
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The short answer
Event management terminology, A to Z
This glossary defines 60 event-management and production terms used in corporate events, conferences and concerts in India — from advance and backline to vision mixer — in one to three sentences each. Terms tied to Indian rules, such as the CL-5 liquor licence, PPL music licence and the 10 pm noise rule, link to full answers.
Jump to: A–D · E–L · M–R · S–Z. For full answers to buyer questions, see all questions.
18 terms
Event terms A–D
- Advance
- The calls and documents that confirm every detail with an artist, speaker or venue before the show day — timings, rider, travel, load-in. A well-advanced show has no surprises on the day.
- AGM
- Annual general meeting: the yearly meeting where a company presents results to shareholders and puts resolutions to a vote. See AGM and investor day events.
- Annual day
- A company’s yearly celebration for employees, often with families: leadership address, awards, performances and dinner. See annual day management.
- Attrition clause
- The part of a hotel contract that says how far you may reduce your room block or headcount without paying for the shortfall. Read it before signing a group booking.
- AV
- Audio-visual: the sound, projection, LED screens, microphones and playback that carry the programme to the audience.
- Backline
- Musical equipment on stage that the act does not bring — amplifiers, drum kit, keyboards. It is listed in the technical rider.
- Banquet event order (BEO)
- The hotel’s internal sheet for your function: room, layout, timings, menu, headcount and charges. Check it line by line against your run-of-show.
- Breakout
- A smaller parallel session away from the main hall, used for workshops, product tracks or group work.
- Cabaret seating
- Round tables with chairs only on the side facing the stage, so everyone sees the stage without turning. See seating styles.
- Call sheet
- The crew timetable for a show day: who arrives when, where, and who they report to.
- CL-5 licence
- Karnataka’s occasional liquor licence for serving alcohol at a function on a specific day. Since May 2026 it has commercial, non-commercial and tatkal categories (Karnataka Excise 2026 Rules).
- Cluster seating
- Small groups at separate tables across the room, so people can work together and still see the stage.
- Confidence monitor
- A screen facing the presenter, usually at the stage edge, showing the current and next slide, a timer or notes.
- Cue-to-cue
- A rehearsal that jumps from one technical cue to the next — lights, sound, video, walk-ons — without playing every speech in full.
- Day delegate rate (DDR)
- A per-person, per-day hotel package for a meeting, typically bundling the room, refreshments, lunch and basic AV. Confirm exactly what is included.
- Dealer meet
- An event where a manufacturer briefs, trains and rewards the dealers and distributors who sell its products. See dealer meet management.
- DG set
- Diesel generator set. Event sets in India must meet CPCB noise limits and are sized in kVA from the show’s total load.
- DI box
- Direct input box: converts an instrument or laptop signal into one the mixing desk can take cleanly.
15 terms
Event terms E–L
- Emcee
- The host who links the programme on stage, introduces speakers and keeps time. See emcees and anchors.
- Force majeure
- The contract clause that excuses a party when events beyond its control stop performance. It decides who pays if your event cannot go ahead.
- Front of house (FOH)
- The audience side of the venue, and the mixing position in the hall from where the engineer mixes what the audience hears.
- Gala
- A formal evening event — usually dinner, awards and entertainment — with a dress code.
- Green room
- A private room backstage where speakers and performers wait, prepare and get miked before going on.
- Hold (first option)
- A provisional venue booking for your date that lapses unless you confirm by an agreed deadline. A second option moves up if the first lapses.
- Hospitality rider
- The part of an artist’s rider covering comfort — dressing room, food, drink, transport, hotel. See technical riders.
- Hybrid event
- One event with an in-person audience and an online audience taking part at the same time. See what is a hybrid event.
- Incentive trip
- Travel given as a reward to top performers — a key part of MICE. See MICE incentive trips.
- Input list
- A numbered list of every sound source that goes into the mixing desk, with the mic or DI for each.
- IPRS
- The Indian Performing Right Society: the copyright society that licenses musical and literary works — compositions and lyrics — for its member authors and composers.
- kVA
- The unit generators are rated in. Real power in kW equals kVA × power factor; generators are commonly rated at 0.8 (Depco).
- Leadership offsite
- A working session for a senior team away from the office, built around decisions rather than leisure. See leadership offsites.
- LED wall
- A video screen built from LED panels, brighter than projection. Its sharpness is set by pixel pitch. See LED wall rental.
- Load-in / load-out
- The time crews bring equipment into the venue and build, and the time they strike and remove it. Venues set these slots in the contract.
14 terms
Event terms M–R
- MICE
- Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions — the business-events industry. See what is MICE.
- Minimum guarantee
- The lowest headcount or spend you commit to pay a venue for food and beverage, whatever the final turnout.
- Monitor (wedge)
- A speaker on stage pointing at performers or presenters so they can hear themselves.
- Moving head
- A stage light that pans, tilts and changes colour and shape under control from the lighting desk.
- Noise Pollution Rules
- India’s 2000 rules that bar loudspeakers outdoors from 10 pm to 6 am, except in closed premises such as banquet halls (Noise Rules 2000). See noise rules.
- Pax
- Trade shorthand for persons or guests: “quote for 250 pax”.
- Pixel pitch
- The distance between LED centres on a screen, in millimetres — P3.9 means 3.9 mm. Smaller pitch is sharper up close and costs more.
- Plenary
- A session for all delegates together in the main hall, as opposed to breakouts.
- PPL licence
- The event licence from Phonographic Performance Ltd for playing its members’ sound recordings. A venue’s background-music licence does not cover events (PPL tariff).
- Production manager
- The person responsible for the technical side of the event — stage, AV, power, crew and safety — from drawing to load-out.
- Recce
- A site visit to check a venue in person: rooms, access, power, sightlines, load-in route.
- Rigging
- Hanging truss, lights, speakers or screens from a venue’s ceiling points or ground supports, done by certified riggers to load limits.
- Rooming list
- The list of guests, room types, sharing and dates sent to the hotel for a group stay.
- Run-of-show
- The minute-by-minute script of the event, with every cue, speaker, video and transition. See what is a run of show.
13 terms
Event terms S–Z
- Sales kickoff (SKO)
- The start-of-year event that aligns a sales team on targets, product and incentives. See sales kickoff events.
- Show caller
- The person on headset who calls every cue — lights, sound, video, walk-ons — during the show.
- Sound check
- The session before doors when engineers set levels for every microphone and instrument on stage.
- Space per person
- The floor area each guest needs in a given layout — about 6–8 sq ft for theatre, 11–12 for banquet rounds (Social Tables). See space per person.
- Stage manager
- The person who runs the stage itself during the show: presenters on and off, props, awards, set changes.
- Stage plot
- A top-down drawing of where each performer, instrument, monitor and microphone goes on stage.
- Technical rider
- The artist’s list of equipment, staging and crew needed to perform. See what is a technical rider.
- Teleprompter
- A glass or screen that shows a speaker’s script while they look at the audience or camera.
- Tech rehearsal
- The full technical run-through with all cues before presenters rehearse, so problems are found without an audience.
- Theatre seating
- Rows of chairs facing the stage with no tables — the layout that fits the most seated people.
- Town hall
- A meeting where leadership addresses the whole company, often with Q&A and a livestream. See town halls.
- Truss
- Aluminium framework used to build stages, hang lights and screens, and frame sets.
- Vision mixer
- The desk and operator who cut between cameras, slides and videos for the screens and the stream.
FAQ
Questions people ask before they book
What is a run-of-show in event management?
The minute-by-minute script of an event: every speaker, video, light and sound cue, and transition, with who triggers it. The show caller runs the event from it. Everyone on the crew works from the same version, so changes are made in one place and re-issued.
What does FOH mean at an event?
Front of house — the audience side of the venue, and specifically the mixing position in the hall from which the engineer controls what the audience hears. The FOH desk is usually placed in the middle of the audience, with a clear view of the stage.
What is backline?
Musical equipment provided on stage for an act — amplifiers, drum kits, keyboards — as listed in its technical rider, so the band does not have to fly its own. Exact models or agreed equivalents are confirmed with the act before the show.
What is a BEO?
A banquet event order: the hotel’s internal sheet for your function, listing room, layout, timings, menu, headcount and charges. Check it against your run-of-show before the event. Changes after it is signed are made in writing, and the final BEO should match the final headcount and timings.
What does pax mean in event quotes?
Persons or guests. A quote “for 300 pax” is priced for 300 people; per-pax rates multiply by the guaranteed headcount. Confirm whether the number is a minimum guarantee, because you may pay for that headcount even if fewer people attend. Crew and vendors may also need meals, which are usually counted separately.
What is a day delegate rate?
A per-person, per-day hotel meeting package, usually covering the meeting room, refreshments, lunch and basic AV. What is included varies by hotel, so ask for the inclusions in writing. It is a simple way to compare hotels for a day conference.
The brief
Tell us about the event
Rough is fine. Headcount, a city, a month. We come back with venue options, a format and a cost range you can take to your leadership — before you commit to anything.
- Itemised estimate: venue, food, production, logistics and our fee as separate lines
- Venue options checked for your date, headcount and layout
- GST invoicing for your finance team
Rather talk? +91 77669 40021 · WhatsApp · info@paniproductions.com
Keep planning
- All event questions, answered
- What is a run of show?
- What is a technical rider?
- Event production company in Bangalore
- Every event format we produce
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- Corporate offsites near Bangalore
- Corporate events and MICE in Goa
- Corporate events in Kerala
- What a corporate event costs in India
- Concert and festival production