Encore vs Harris Production Services
Same gear. Same crew. Half the price.
Encore pays the hotel a 30 to 50% commission on every AV invoice — and that commission is baked into your quote. We do not. That's the entire difference. See the line-by-line math below.
Encore's own 2026 SEC filing, on the record with the federal government:
"These exclusive contracts do not preclude outside providers, and event planners retain the option to use outside providers. The exclusivity prevents another company from being permanently installed in the building. It does not require you to use the house vendor for your event."
Side by side
Line by line, where the money goes.
| Feature | Encore | HPS |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel commission (paid to venue) | 30–50% of every invoice | $0 |
| Hotel revenue share | 0% (Encore keeps it) | 10–15% to the venue |
| Self-service ordering portal | Phone + email only | Branded portal, Stripe checkout |
| Automated event outreach (27–29 days out) | No | Yes (TripleSeat integration) |
| Line-itemed invoices | No (bundled, service charge added) | Yes (every line item visible) |
| Outside-vendor liaison fee | $500–$1,000/day to the planner | N/A (we ARE the outside vendor) |
| Power drop fees | $500–$1,200 per drop | Included in the package |
| Patch fees | $75–$150/day per room | N/A |
| Service charge on top of invoice | 24–25% | 0% |
| Quote turnaround | 2–5 business days | Same business day |
| Custom-branded for the venue | No (Encore-branded) | Yes (your logo, your colors, your domain) |
| Per-day equipment rates posted online | No (proprietary rate card) | Yes (public rate card) |
| Event internet / WiFi | Limited / bundled | Native Meraki integration, self-service |
| Hotel exclusivity required | Yes (most properties) | No (we work alongside any in-house) |
| In-house tech transition plan | N/A | We hire the in-house team |
| On-site lead tech guarantee | Varies by property | Named lead tech, every event |
Real numbers
Real quote, real numbers.
Same event. Same 3-day, 300-attendee corporate conference with an awards gala. Numbers pulled from Encore's published rate card and ours.
In-house (Encore-style)
- Projector and 9x16 screen$3,690
- Stage light wash$3,305
- Wireless microphones (8)$558
- House audio system$567
- 20-amp power (3 drops × 3 days)$844
- Tech labor (3 days × 4 techs)$12,587
- Outside-vendor liaison fee (3 days)$3,000
- Subtotal$24,551
- 24% service charge$5,892
- Total planner pays$30,443
- Plus 6.625% NJ sales tax. Hotel commission ~$12K baked in.
HPS Production package
- Full JBL SRX line array × 3 days$2,490
- Midas M32 console × 3 days$600
- Shure ULX-D wireless (8) × 3 days$1,320
- Epson 4K projector + 9x16 screen × 3 days$1,350
- LED wall (8 panels + processor) × 3 days$4,275
- Lighting wash + console × 3 daysincluded
- 3 techs × 3 days × 8 hrs$4,680
- Delivery + strike (50 mi radius)$390
- Subtotal$15,105
- Sales tax (NJ 6.625%)$1,000
- Total planner pays$16,105
- Hotel rev-share (10%) = $1,510. Less than the $12K Encore commission, but the planner books the room block.
Planner saves $14,338 on a $30,443 event. Hotel takes $1,510 in rev-share instead of the $12K commission, but the planner books the room block.
For hotels
Why replace Encore with HPS.
Planners are shopping for alternatives
The in-house AV markup is the #1 complaint from planners on Cvent, planner LinkedIn groups, and the Encore-related threads on r/CommercialAV. Every planner who books 3+ events a year has done the comparison math. The hotels that win those bookings are the ones that name the alternative.
You get the same commission as a clean rev-share
A 40% Encore commission on a $30K invoice is $12,000 going back to the hotel. With HPS, the planner pays $16K, the hotel takes a 10% rev-share ($1,500), and the planner books the room. Net to the hotel: $1,500 in cash plus 1–2 additional room blocks per year because the planner saved $14K and remembers it.
We hire your current in-house techs
The best in-house techs are undervalued by the Encore commission model. We bring them on at a higher base plus an event bonus. The hotel keeps continuity; we keep the institutional knowledge of your venue.
The technology gap is the killer
Self-service ordering. Automated event outreach 27 to 29 days out. White-label portals. Stripe checkout. Real-time dashboards. None of this exists in the Encore stack. All of it ships in 60 days with HPS.
FAQ
The questions planners ask.
Is Encore really the largest in-house AV provider in the US?
Yes. Per Encore's own 2026 SEC filing, they are the in-house partner of choice for more than 2,200 hotel and venue partners worldwide. They also admit in the same filing that "event planners retain the option to use outside providers."
Why is Encore so much more expensive than an outside AV company?
Two things stack: the 30 to 50% commission Encore pays back to the hotel (recorded as cost of revenue in their SEC filing), and Encore's own margin on top. An outside provider has neither of those costs and can pass the savings to the planner.
Can a hotel replace Encore entirely?
Yes. Most in-house contracts have a termination clause with cause (90 days) or a 30-day cure period for service failures. We help you build the case. Alternatively, we can run as a parallel option for planners who explicitly ask for an outside quote — the SEC filing confirms planners retain that right.
Can a planner bring you as the outside AV into a hotel that has Encore?
Yes. Encore's own SEC filing says planners "retain the option to use outside providers." You may face a small outside-vendor liaison fee; we help you negotiate that down or eliminate it as part of the room block.
What about hotels that have an exclusive contract with Encore?
Exclusivity is for being permanently installed in the venue, not for your specific event. Encore's own filing says so. The most common workaround: the planner brings HPS as the preferred outside vendor with a waived or capped liaison fee. We model the savings and bring the proposal to the hotel sales team.
Get a quote
See the savings on your event.
Email your event date, venue, and headcount. We come back within the same business day with a quote you can put side-by-side with the in-house number.