Why Event Managers are Important

Have you ever had an event that you managed yourself? I mean for instance it is your birthday and you want to celebrate it in a big way and you became the DIY event manager for that occasion. Did you enjoy that event? Or did you end up totally stressed and fagged out at the end of the day? This is always the case if event planning and management is not left in the hands of the professionals. In this week’s discussion, I will try to elucidate the reasons why event managers are important.

 

1.    Service Vendors: The Event manager has a huge database of service vendors. This affords the customer the opportunity to choose the best out of the pack. In some cases the event manager may even advise on the best service vendor to use based on quality, quantity, budget and other discerning features.

 

2.    Cost Savings: See also economies of scale. Event managers because of repeated usage of the services of vendors may easily obtain discounts which can be transferred to customers. This enables you to save cost. A certain event manager was always renting at least 4000 chairs from a particular rental agency. Over a period the manger came and ordered 500 chairs and the rental agency get it the planner for free. The planner transferred this discount to the event owner and as result presented a lower quote for the job. It became a win-win situation for the business because both planner and the customer were satisfied.

3.    Reduced Stress: Engaging the services of an event manager reduces stress for the event owner. The burden of event setup and dismantling, venue design and decoration, vendor negotiation and monitoring, adherence to time line, quality and quantity checks, pilfering and many other challenges which usually introduce stress will be handled by the event manager.

4.    Enjoyment: Most people who manage their event themselves hardly enjoy the event. This defeats the whole purpose of the event since the owner is supposed to enjoy by having a good time with guests. So in other to derive maximum satisfaction from your event, it is good to take the back seat and let the professionals handle it.

5.    Celebrity: Be a celebrity and celebrate during your event. Don’t be caught running helter-skelter trying to make sure that things are going smoothly. Rather relax in the company of your guest and watch with satisfaction as everybody is served. If there are issues that need attendance, signal the event manager and action will be taken immediately. Of course this will afford you the opportunity to rate the services of the event planner.

6.    Mistakes: There are basic mistakes which a Do-it-yourself (DIY) planner may commonly overlook. It is the duty of the professional planner to ensure that these mistakes are avoided. There was an event which I attended some time ago, it was a house opening occasion which required the cutting of tape to usher people into the new home. Unfortunately at the time of cutting the tape, there was no scissor to cut the tape. This was an embarrassing moment because it took a while before the DIY brought a razor blade which was used for the tape cutting. Issues like this can be simple but may cause bottlenecks.

7.    Trends: Things change every day and these changes in trends are noted by the event planner. The owner benefits from this knowledge and this contributes towards the hosting of a pleasant event for guests and the environment.

8.    Coordination: The event planner is a seasoned coordinator. Based on experience in the field, they are able to organise things better to ensure that all the timelines are met. Sometimes there are troublesome issues such as meeting with government agencies to get permits, these type of activities are quickly handle by professionals who already have a working relationship in these government agencies.

9.    Concepts:  You will benefit from the experience of the event planner in implementing tested and trusted concepts. These concepts might be in event program design, invitations, marketing, publicity or social media.

10. Event Marketing: Planners can play a key role in event marketing. They can help to source sponsors, speakers, media professionals and many other people that will help to make your event a success.

11. Standards: You can trust the managers to bring their wealth of experience to bear on your event by ensuring that the highest possible standards are kept in terms of catering hygiene, environmental cleanliness, health facilities, Security, safety and ambience.

12. Quality: Many people compromise on quality and in the process offend their guests. The planner understands the need for quality and ensures that maximum possible quality is obtained at the available budget.

13. Quantity: This is also a big issue where a DIY is not familiar with the measures that are obtainable. This will lead to the DIY being short changed and spending more in the process. The planner will use experience to obtain the right quantity at the best cost thereby saving money.

14. Economies of Scale: According to Wikipedia “In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to size, output, or scale of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output”. This is of very huge importance because by using the services of an event manager you will be tapping into their economies of scales thereby saving cost on all fronts.