In this economy, when budget cuts are commonplace and events are being slashed or the planning being brought back in house, why should you consider hiring an Independent Event Planner? Well, there are many reasons.
Event Planners are the experts at doing events. With the economy challenges we are facing, attendance numbers are lower and those that attend are waiting till the last few weeks to register. Those attendees that were willing to pay to attend your event expect it to be a quality event that is well planned and executed. They want their money to be well spent. When you remove the expert and require staff that have not planned or executed events to do just that, the attendee experience suffers. Unhappy attendees do not tend to return to future events and negative feedback can spread fast through the use of social media.
Outsourcing to an Event Planner may seem to be a higher cost compared to having a staff person plan your events. In all actuality, the staff planner receives benefits, must have taxes withheld, and is on salary for the entire year whether you do one event or 20 events. The Independent Event Planner is only paid for the events you contract them to do. They do not receive benefits or have taxes withheld.
The staff planner may have the same vendor contacts as the Independent planner, but they cannot lump clients together to get better deals from the vendors. They have built relationships with vendors and can often get a better deal than if you cold-called the vendor.
Often staff event planners have other job responsibilities and events get added to that list when they come around. Most Independent Event Planners have a nitch market that they work in (i.e. medical meetings, educational conferences, corporate, weddings and parties, non-profit, religious, etc). Event Planners know the ins and outs of planning events in their nitch and their experience could save you money because they know the right questions to ask.
Event Planners are a tremendous asset to the success of events. If you have never considered hiring an Independent Event Planner or company to assist you with your events, it would be worth your time to check into it and find an event planner that specializes in your type of event. Please feel free to contact Winn Events. We customize our event packages to meet your specific event planning needs. We specialize in non-profit, religious, and corporate events.
Winn Events is a full-service event planning & management company that offers flat-rate pricing and customized packages. Check out http://www.winnevents.com/ for more information.
