Secrets from A Corporate Event Planner: Event Myths Debunked
When it comes to planning a corporate event or meeting that will be a smash hit, there are lots of factors that go in. However, not all “insider knowledge” about event planning is true. Some things that seem to be written in stone when it comes to corporate meetings or trade shows are simply not true.
Welcome to the first in our series of secrets from an event planner: where we pull back the curtain on common myths or beliefs that other event planning companies might not want you to know. Here we’re giving you the real, transparent truth.
Myth #1: Good Event Planner are Expensive
It’s not uncommon for us to meet with clients and for them to ask “Aren’t corporate event planning companies expensive?” or “Couldn’t we save more money if we just do this in house?”
The answer to that myth is a surprising, no, your event corporate event manager shouldn’t be adding hefty fees to your bottom line. Here’s why: great event planning companies will cost you fees, but if they’re a top event planning company they will be able to recoup their fees in savings on your behalf.
Bash Creative prides itself on being 100% transparent with your budget, which means that we don’t fold in our fees into other costs. You’ll see our fees on our own line item, clear as day. That also means that we negotiate on your behalf with every other service in the budget and pass along the savings, so you can track not only exactly how much you spend on what, but how much we saved you. Often times we bring in a savings of 15%+ to your budget, which more often than not, will offset our fees by over 40%. Sometimes we find that we recoup our fees completely. I wouldn’t call that expensive, would you?
Myth #2: Custom Items can be Free or Cost Little
When looking at visually setting the tone of an event, a general rule of thumb is “great quality is going to cost budget.” Often times clients will be inspired by beautiful experiential build out and want to pull of one of their own. For example, if you find yourself drooling over a beautiful interactive sculptural piece at Dreamforce, Google or Facebook, then we want to gently remind you that you’re not likely to pull that off that awe-inspiring look by DIY’ing it.
One of our biggest strengths is looking at your goals and helping you craft smart and stylish ways to get there. There definitely are places to bring in an IDEA-type solution to solve for tone and setting, but if you’re looking for high quality, impactful touches at your event the best way to get there is to simply allocate the budget.
Myth #3: One-Stop-Shop
We never want to cast a stone at someone in our own industry. It’s a tight-knit crew of creatives who are hustling their heart out at their biggest passion and we’re honored to offer event planning services beside them.
We do think it's a myth that one-stop-shops should exist in this industry. The reason is that most of the professionals we know are intimately talented in their craft — whether its food service, equipment rentals, or lighting— that they wouldn’t have the capacity to “do it all.” Your caterer should not be an expert in lighting and furniture rentals.
Your planner should not know everything. In fact, a great planner is they’re great at planning events precisely because they have good relationships with a team of other expert vendors who can help them pull off big creative ideas, no matter the type of corporate event. No one company can be good at everything, so we would advise you to be wary of a company who tells you that they can pull everything together. They’re likely sourcing out to third party vendors anyway, and simply not being transparent about it.
Have a belief about event planning you need debunked?
Bash Creative is an event planning company specialize on incredible gatherings that go beyond just great design. We’re known for teasing out smart goals for your event and serve up a stylish execution that will keep your guests buzzing. Located in San Francisco, but often found in New York, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and beyond.