Free tools for freelance event crew

A different venue every week

Freelancers carry their experience from job to job, but not their knowledge of the building. Every new venue means finding the loading dock, working out the route to the stage, discovering where power is, and asking someone which screens are in-house and how they're driven. Often the call sheet has a postcode and a contact name, and not much more.

The crew who arrive informed are the ones who get rebooked. The trouble is that the information rarely reaches freelancers before the call time.

Venue details worth having before the call

For participating venues, BES gathers practical detail with the venue team: floor plans, access and load-in routes, power, rigging points, and screen locations with resolutions and specs, including branding screens and how they're controlled.

Venues share packs through a secure link created for a specific request, with an expiry date, so your production manager or crew chief can pass it on with the call sheet. See the example venue pack; the venue is fictional, and real coverage is growing as founding venues join.

A tools directory, free and without signup

Our directory lists tools crews use or get asked to use: timing and show control, communication, streaming and production software. Each tool has a short write-up so you can get familiar with it before the job. It's free, with no account needed, and new tools are added regularly. If there's a tool every crew should know about, suggest it via the homepage form.

Make the next crew's job easier

If you find something out of date on site, such as a changed load-in route or a new screen, tell the venue or tell us. Venue packs are kept accurate with the venue, and crew corrections help the next team. If a venue you work at often isn't listed, point them to us: founding venues join free.

Before the call time

A short pre-job routine helps: check the venue's access and load-in route, note where power and the in-house tech team are, look up any unfamiliar tools named on the call sheet, and save the venue contact in your phone. If a venue pack link was shared, read the floor plan before you arrive rather than on the dock.