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| Q. Why hire an event planner? |
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| If this is the first time you’re planning an event, it is easy to make mistakes that will cost you time or money, or get sidetracked by elements that don’t contribute to meeting your goals. It’s smart to have a professional and experienced partner / representative / advocate / assistant / negotiator there when you don’t know where to go or which vendors to use, if they’re giving you a good deal, or how to make your event “special” or different. We also do so many events each year that by hiring us, you can leverage the relationships we’ve built with local venues and vendors. |
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If you’re planning the event with a team from your company, you will be bombarded with opinions and judgments from all sides, telling you what you can or can’t, should or shouldn’t do. It is smart to have a professional there as an objective, third party to turn to for expert advice. Otherwise you may eventually run out of energy, ideas or time, and lose those little, but oh-so-important details that make events different and memorable, and generate the most return on investment.
If you’re planning a repeat-event, sometimes your event feels stale and you’re just out of new ideas. You may be competing with other companies holding events at the same time, and need a WOW factor to draw a crowd. We attend several international conferences a year to stay on the cutting edge of event design—so we’re not just copying what someone saw at an event in Houston or Dallas. It also helps to have a fresh set of eyes to look at how to improve the event and take it to the next level, instead of just doing everything “the way it’s always been done.” In the end, it’s about meeting your goals, and making sure the event was memorable to the attendees.
If you’ve been tasked with planning this event in addition to your full-time job, we can do the legwork that you don’t have time to do. We provide recommendations, suggestions and guidelines when you’re lacking answers. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, [clink] will help you stay on budget, meet your deadlines, and relieve stress—helping you shine as a company STAR!
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| Q. The venue/caterer has an “event planner/coordinator.” Don’t you do the same thing? |
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| Not really. While there are some tasks—helping to detail the event timeline, for example—that both of us can help you with, an independent event planner is different in four important ways. |
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First—we work for YOU, not the venue or a caterer, so you can rest assured that we are always acting in your best interest, and don’t have split loyalties when it comes to advice we’re giving you.
Second—we have an overall view of the entire event, from invitations and website to marketing, to VIP amenities. The venue or catering event planner knows the details of the food and the layout, but that’s about it. We know ALL the details, so we can make sure they come together seamlessly. And if there is an issue with catering and the venue or catering coordinator is busy fixing it, we’re still there to cue the band.
Third—when it comes to vendor recommendations, venue/catering event planners have a “canned” list of vendors that they give to all their clients. We’ve spent time with you to get a clear understanding of your goals & objectives, budget, preferences and priorities, so we won’t recommend anyone or anything that isn’t a perfect fit for you.
Fourth—Each of our planners works on only 10-15 events a year. Most venue or catering planners are juggling 30-50 (or more) events a year, meaning they have less time for YOU.
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| Q. I have a list of very specific tasks I would like for an event planner to perform—do I have to buy a whole package? |
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| We are at your service. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, every event is different. |
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| And as such, our work varies with every event we service. If you have a list of specific things you need us to do, run it by us and we’ll create a package that’s all yours! |
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| Q. Ok, I’m interested. What is the next step? |
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| E-mail or call us to set up an initial interview, during which we’ll find out more about your event and which services you might want. |
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We’ll also get a feel for each other, to see if we’re a good fit. If possible, we like for you to meet with the planner who would actually be the lead on your event, so if you already have your date we need to know that. If you are planning from out-of-state and need to make a decision long-distance, we’re happy to set up a phone interview. Within 24 hours of that interview you will receive a proposal from us with a custom event planning package.
While you’re waiting for that initial interview, you may want to look at photos of events we’ve done events we’ve done either in our gallery (www.clinkevents.com/corporate_events/gallery.html) or on our Corporate / DMC blog.
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