Feature

Tricks of the Trade

Special event planners are leaping economic hurdles and producing successful gatherings by capitalizing on their creativity and experience.

By Rowland Stiteler

In an environment that has seen four consecutive years of austere budgets, special event planners have become quite accomplished at pleasing clients by pulling pizzazz out of their hats—or in some cases, out of their boots.

“I recently had an event held in tandem with (motorcycle manufacturer) Harley-Davidson’s centennial celebration in which the budget was completely bare bones—and of course the client wanted it to be more special than ever before,” said Gloria Nelson of Gloria Nelson Event Design LLC in Winneconne, Wis.

“So I called a thrift store I’ve dealt with before and told them to round up all the old boots they could find. They had to be cleaned and polished, and I told them I would pay $2 per boot.”

After acquiring a couple of armloads of motorcycle boots, Nelson headed for the florist for some daisies and tiger lilies. A few hours later, she had a carload of centerpieces so attractive that several of them “walked away from the banquet with the guests.”

That type of ingenuity is called for on a regular basis these days. Special event planners find themselves using creativity and experience from the past few years in order to keep moving forward.

“This year is the same as last year and the year before that,” said Nelson, a member of the MPI Wisconsin Chapter. “But the good news is that there may actually be some light at the end of the tunnel. None of my regular clients have cut back their budgets any further this year, and there are some hints that budgets may start to get bigger after this year’s (U.S. presidential) election.”

Creativity in Action
In the meantime, event planners need to polish their creative skills and keep the fundamentals firmly in mind, according to Kathy Miller, president of Total Event Resources in Palatine, Ill. (a suburb of Chicago).

“I’ve been in this industry for 27 years and have had my own company for nine, and no two years are ever exactly the same,” said Miller, a member of the MPI Chicago Area Chapter. “But the one thing I have learned is that the more things change, the more the big picture stays the same. You still have to be able to deliver the ever-sought-after ‘wow’ factor, but now you must always be aware of ROI. Deliver both of those to your clients and you will be doing well in this economic environment.”

Miller’s most recent triumph over financially strict times was a big annual event for a lighting company in which the budget was cut by 50 percent from the previous year.

“We worked beyond it,” she said. “The client was extremely willing to work with us and be flexible, and we actually ended up winning an award for the event.”

The high point of the evening was an acoustical guitar group that performed behind a mesh screen the planners jokingly called the “shower curtain.” Halfway through the evening, the screen was partially pulled back so the attendees could see the musical group—but the music was all instrumental and low-key enough that attendees could talk and network.

Miller and her associates worked the client’s product—light bulbs—into various decorations that incorporated the event’s color scheme (green and blue) and its theme: “Imagine.” Needless to say, John Lennon’s classic song “Imagine” was high on the band’s play list.

“We were able to pull off a real success by sharpening the focus of the event, listening closely to client’s needs and focusing on the client’s message as we put together our plan,” Miller said. “In other words, we focused on the fundamentals.

“Event planners are in a business that emphasizes service more than product. What they do goes well beyond picking decorations for parties, and the way to excel in these times is by providing excellent service to clients.”

Service and Savings
Kay Coats, president of Plan on It—a Wilmington, N.C., firm that specializes in pharmaceutical industry meetings and events—recently carried the extra-service concept to the extreme.

“We had somebody meeting every attendee at the airport with room registration materials and room keys so they could skip going to the front desk at their hotels,” said Coats, a member of the MPI Carolinas Chapter. “I worry that we may be setting such a high level of personal service as the new norm that they are going to expect that kind of service from now on. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

These days, Coats prefers meeting hotels as special event venues.

“That gives you no transportation cost, which is a great starting point,” she said.

Brian Acheson, CSEP, president of VIP Events in Dallas, Texas, likes to avoid transportation costs with what he calls “ICW” events.

“That stands for ‘in conjunction with,’” said Acheson, a member of the MPI Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter. “In other words, we do corporate events that are in conjunction with a trade show or convention that is already bringing your target audience to the destination.”

Acheson recently put together a big party and new product show for Rolls-Royce, which manufactures aviation components such as jet engines, during a session of Heli-Expo, a helicopter trade show in Las Vegas.

“We went to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and set up different areas within the speedway that were representations of other speedways, each with its own entertainment and food service and themes within a theme,” he said. “That way, you have groups within the group that can be relatively small and intimate, even though the total number of attendees at the party was about 500. It gives the people at your event a chance to mingle in small groups and then get out with the larger group.”

Michael Gasta, president and owner of America’s Guest, a Las Vegas firm that specializes in VIP events, agrees with the idea that special events should focus on a way to give participants the feeling that the experience is intimate even if the event is large.

“I put together a dine-around at the MGM Grand (in Las Vegas) in which 150 attendees split up and went to six different restaurants within the resort, and then got back together as a larger group after dining,” said Gasta, a member of the MPI San Diego Chapter. “That way, they can network with each other in a smaller setting and then a larger setting during the course of the same evening.”

An exception to a move toward intimate events was a recent dinner at the Las Vegas Convention Center hosted by ARAMARK, the catering vendor for the center. It was a record-breaking banquet—the largest ever sit-down meal, with 12,406 members of Delta Sigma Theta dining on prime rib and Dungeness crab cakes in conjunction with the sorority’s annual convention.

“It was definitely contrary to the current trend, in that it was going large instead of small,” said Eric Kornbluth, who heads the ARAMARK operation at the convention center. “But it was really exciting breaking a record. We had servers and chefs and even china settings coming in from hotels all around the area, putting together the components for this huge banquet. And things went extremely well.”

Catering to the Audience
Cathy Clifton, CMP, CMM, president and owner of C2 & Company Meetings and Events in Scottsdale, Ariz., says the predominant trend she sees in special events is not economically driven, but demographically driven.

“We are seeing the generation Xers and the generation Yers in growing numbers in meeting and conference groups these days, and our events need to evolve to accommodate them,” said Clifton, a member of the MPI Arizona Sunbelt Chapter.

Her current favorite for party activities: live enactments of reality TV shows such as Survivor.

“We have great outdoor venues in the Phoenix (Ariz.) area for Survivor -style games,” she said. “And during the hotter part of the year, we put them together indoors at the various hotels. The games create interaction among the group members, and they are really popular right now.”

Ann Dorman, CMP, president of Meetings and Events of Distinction LLC in Alexandria, Va., says planners must also be conscious of securing special event venues.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any events in the recent past in which the attendees stayed away because of security concerns, and I don’t think event planners need to be skilled security consultants,” said Dorman, a member of the MPI Potomac Chapter. “But what I am seeing is that event planners need to be security conscious and be able to discuss security issues with clients.”

Planner Lee Weatherill of Calgary, Alberta-based Meeting Solutions Inc. says strategic partnerships—including sponsorships—are of growing importance, especially for non-profit events.

Last year, Weatherill’s firm took a short-notice offer to work with the annual Calgary Winter Festival—a 10-day, communitywide celebration—and reversed a trend of declining attendance.

“I think one of the keys was sponsorships,” said Weatherill, a member of the MPI Calgary Chapter. “We had cold medicine manufacturers signed up to sponsor outdoor events. It worked out well.”

Many planners, such as Miller and Nelson, see strategic partnerships and sponsorships as useful tools with both non-profit and corporate event applications.

“The name of the game these days is to find the right tools to make your special events special,” Nelson said. “And the more creative you are about that process, the better.”  TMP
 

ROWLAND STITELER is a freelance writer based in Crystal Beach, Fla.

The VIP Treatment

A group of VIPs lavished themselves in the leather seats of new Mercedes-Benz automobiles as they sipped champagne during a recent party at an Atlanta, Ga., area car dealership. Meanwhile, a small army of workers labored away in another part of the facility on what would be a surprise gift to cap the evening:

These guests’ own cars were being washed and laboriously detailed.

According to Tony Conway, CMP, owner of Atlanta-based A Legendary Event, there’s almost no overstating how important the little details—and in this case, detailing—can be for a special event.

“People love things like that,” said Conway, a member of the MPI Georgia Chapter. “That little touch drew a great response from the guests and essentially reinforced the VIP feeling they got from the event.”

Conway—a former director of catering for several major hotel companies who now employs a staff of 50 as an event planner—believes attention to detail can make a good special event a great one.

“Today, when there is more need to maximize what you can give your clients for their dollars, the role of creativity and attention to detail becomes more important for a planner,” he said. “And sometimes the best touches don’t cost a lot of money.”

At a party for a small group of potential buyers for Tiffany & Co. jewelry, members of the group got to try on ultra-expensive jewelry while snacking on fried chicken.

“The contrast between the fine jewelry and the fried chicken added to the special feeling of the event,” said Conway, who dubbed the event a “Tupperware party” for people with ultra-affluent tastes.

“The key is always to leave no stone unturned in looking for a way to make the event a little different from anything the guests have experienced before,” he said. “That’s where the planner’s creative skills are paramount.”

Short Cut

Planners of special events who aren’t allowing stagnant budgets to inhibit their work are relying on creative ideas, fundamental skills, high service levels and innovative cost-saving measures.

The Producer

Visitors to New York, N.Y., often learn that tickets to Broadway shows can be difficult to acquire. But song-and-dance purveyor Jeffrey Finn has developed a service that is in high demand by meeting groups desiring a taste of Broadway—in their own backyards.

New York-based Jeffrey Finn Productions brings full-scale Broadway performances specifically customized for group events—called Hot On Broadway packages—to locations all around the world.

“We do more performances outside of New York City than within, because the key is that we are bringing a customized Broadway experience to you,” said Finn, a member of the MPI Greater New York Chapter. “We’ve given performances for everyone from groups of a couple of thousand down to a VIP board meeting, and the performances range from a couple of hours to just a couple of minutes.”

Hot On Broadway was part of MPI’s recent World Education Congress (July 25-27 in Denver, Colo.)—when Rob Evan performed his acclaimed rendition of “This is the Moment,” from Jekyll & Hyde —and has wowed such Fortune 500 companies as General Motors and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

“The key is customization to your specific group,” Finn said. “When a planner requests our services, we meet and ask detailed questions about the group and the event, and then come back with a performance package that is an exact fit for their needs.”

Finn says another key to Hot on Broadway is that it delivers current stars.

“These are not performers who may be stars on Broadway some day, but performers who are hot right now,” he said.

For more information, visit HotOnBroadway.com.