Why Hire a Planning Partner?
Why hire a planning partner? And when?
We believe a good event exists because the right partners came together to make it a success. No one person can pull off an event on their own - and the same is true for a corporate gathering.
“But - we have an employee in-house who is paid to produce this event.”
Great! A planning partner is just that, a partner to your in-house team member who can help cross-check, delegate tasks, and help ensure no box is left unchecked. It’s not possible for one person working 40~ hours a week to take care of all attendee questions, registration, food & beverage planning and deadlines, vendor procurement, contract negotiation, site selection, event marketing and communications, entertainment planning, housing and travel planning and management, logistics planning, timelines, site maps, and more. Whether you have an event of 50 people, or 500+, it’s always important to be mindful of workload and ensure that not only your attendees feel taken care of, but also your vendors and most importantly - your in-house team member. And if this isn’t the only event or function your team member is working on, the above is even more true!
Don’t have an in-house employee dedicated to producing this event? No problem, but even more of a reason to hire a partner to help produce. When team members are given the responsibility of planning an event on top of their normal work load, it can become a daunting task and result in resentment.
In our humble opinion, it’s best to bring a planning partner into the fold early in the process. Why? Because we can help realize your vision and event needs early - before contracts are locked in and money is spent. It could be that unknowingly, you sign a contract that limits your ability to meet your event goals, or has a budget requirement that drains most of your funds, or a number of other things.
Coming up with a game plan is crucial before signing any contracts - even for courtesy hotel blocks - and here’s why:
Your event requires a large number of breakouts. You’ll want to ensure that you map out exactly how many, and how large they need to be before signing a contract with a venue.
You want to get your receptions sponsored to help cover costs and bring in partners. You’ll want to ensure that your chosen venue has adequate space, with the look and feel you want, and a menu to match. It’s harder to sell a sexy reception with the same “hotel chicken” guests have had at every other event.
Your event is tech-heavy and includes a lot of attendee interface with the technology. You’ll want to ensure you book a venue that has adequate power and internet connections, but also the square footage to allow guests to move around freely through the event floor.
You are traveling to a smaller city and your guests accommodations are spread out. You’ll want to ensure your hotels have adequate space for large busses and shuttles, as well as your chosen venue, to help with traffic flow.
Your conference venue might have hotel rooms attached, which can go towards a negotiated minimum on the venue rental - if you’ve already booked a hotel block elsewhere, this limits the number of rooms booked and reduces your changes of a waived room rental.
Any number of challenges could come up, which could inhibit your format or jam up your budget.
Things to consider when hiring a planning partner:
industry knowledge - how much experience do they have with your type of event, and how long have they been in the industry. Experience matters, you don’t want to be the test case for a new company or planner.
investment - of course the budget matters. What are the anticipated fees and what do you get in return? When you consider how many in-house employees you’d need (along with benefits, taxes, equipment, etc.), what is the value for the investment?
interconnection - is this a one-off event, or is there potential for a long-term partnership. This is important to consider when looking for a planning partner (and the investment), along with how you connect to the people you’d be working closely with. And, are there other ways the planning partner can help streamline your event? For example, do they have experience and connections that might help with sponsorship for your event?
We hope this is helpful when gearing up for your next occasion. If you’re still on the fence, we’d love to schedule a call and chat through your needs and brainstorm with you the best approach.