Some of the requests that corporate event planners receive can make us feel as if we’re entering The Twilight Zone. What is disturbing is the lack of a practical focus. Some client organizations appear to be particularly resistant to following the advice of professional event planners that are familiar with specific destinations. Instead, they seem to be interested in engaging firms that will work as order takers to implement their plans no matter how flawed. Even if they are considering an event in the wrong location, during the wrong season, with the wrong geography, and the wrong timeframe, some client organizations are not open to modifying their plans.

As the recession deepens, this seems to be increasing. It will become easier for prospective clients to find your competitors that are hungry enough for business to deliver exactly what they request. As an event planner who is interested in growing their business, it can be a challenge to walk that fine line between pleasing your client and giving them your best professional advice.

Here are 5 wrong moves to avoid no matter how much pressure you are facing from clients or prospective clients.

1. Wrong Location
   When planning an event, transition times and traffic patterns have to be taken into account. No group will thank you if they end up stuck in gridlock or stuck on a highway because predictable inclement weather has caused a 30 or, heaven forbid, 200 car pileups. It’s much better to encourage clients to plan their arrival and movements for low traffic periods. It’s also a good idea, to split the itinerary between hotels in different areas to give the group more comfortable access to certain attractions and activities.
2. Wrong Season
   Do some initial checking to determine if the requested activities are appropriate for the season in which your client will be having their event. Make sure that you give them a realistic picture of what is and isn’t doable in certain locations at specific times of the year. Never compromise group safety just to please a client. You could be held liable if someone suffers illness or injury.
3. Wrong Geography
   Make sure that you give your clients solid advice and point out things they may have missed. It is important for you to have the integrity to advise clients that their preferred activity is a poor fit for the season or location and encourage them to either change the activity or change the date of their event.
4. Wrong Timeframe
   This is such a regular occurrence that examples are probably not needed. Suffice it to say that many organizations insist on subjecting employees to wall-to-wall speakers well into the afternoon. Then, they try to cram team activities into a short timeframe when everyone is exhausted. No amount of input from the event planner or facilitator will get them to modify their plans.
   When groups feel rushed and pressured and they are too tired to enjoy the event, this will reflect poorly on you as the event planner. To avoid making a wrong move, encourage your clients to either cut content or increase the length of their conference or program to realistically incorporate all desired activities. They may end up spending a little bit more money but you’ll end up with attendees who are pleased instead of frustrated and resentful.
5. Wrong Budget
   A regular occurrence in the event planning industry is awarding business to firms that low ball their quotes. This usually happens because their budget is just too low.
   It’s time for a reality check. As a general rule of thumb to give your clients, let them know that the smaller their group, the higher the price per person they should expect to pay. If a group is small, they should not be expecting to pay any where near under $100 per person.
   Let your prospective clients know that, when their budget is unrealistic, they are setting themselves up for something similar to the bait and switch technique used in retail. It gets played out in 1 of 2 ways:
   • corners are cut and the event is watered down significantly (e.g. a scavenger hunt is provided when an Amazing Race was booked).
   • once planning is well underway “unforeseen items” that jack up the budget are identified and it’s too late to switch event planners.

   At the end of the day, when the event doesn’t work well and they’ll be the ones who will be embarrassed every time they have to face their co-workers

Event Planning: Let’s Get Real
Especially in this economy, there will always be competitors that will take a company’s money and give them exactly what they ask for…. even if it isn’t realistic or practical. It’s great for a client to have ideas and a vision for their event but a reality check from you, an event planning professional that knows your destination, is vital.

How can you avoid the embarrassment of a poorly executed event?

How can you greatly reduce the likelihood that you will be “ripped off”?

You’ll greatly increase the likelihood of planning a successful event if you don’t automatically cave into pressure and tell clients and prospects exactly you want they want to hear. With your next event, keep these 5 wrong moves in mind. Take the time to identify pitfalls and raise a flag of caution when they are considering options that are not advisable. Then, really encourage them to consider taking the advice for which they are

Event planners get to work with some really amazing event clients, and some really crazy clients! At the end of the day, it’s what makes event planning fun and keeps you on your toes. Here are 7 clients every eventprof will be able to identify.

As an event planner, you have probably started to notice the various types of event clients you run into and have to work with. Some may be super nice and helpful, and others may very well be a nightmare to work with. It’s important to understand all types of clients, and know when to push back or step away from a bad relationship before it happens. Event planners should keep in mind the types of event clients you may end up working with, and how to deal with them whether things are going great, or seem to be narrowing in on a fuzzy line.

There are several types of clients event planners work with. Below are only a few that seem to pop up more than often.

4. The Promise Breaker

   Clients love to promise they will show up on time; bring checks to meetings, help look for items needed at an event, etc. Event planners all know the importance of making every client sign an agreement that binds them to get items done in a timely manner, provide payment on time, and be respectful to the event planner’s time. Even with a signed contract, a lot of clients fail to adhere to the papers they put their signatures on. These types of clients can manipulate event planners, and sometimes hold things over their head for no reason.
   For example, if you have a client who is hosting an intimate meeting for their company and they show up with more people than expected the day of the event, it makes the event planner look bad and unprofessional for not having the room set up correctly, or not having enough food and beverage for everyone in attendance. Be sure you stay on top of this type of client – if something goes wrong they will point fingers at the planner as their first target.

5. The Clueless One
   Although some clients may be super on it like the ideal client, you may find yourself meeting a couple of aloof clients. These types of clients can seem confused, closed-minded and indecisive, which is never a good quality to have working on an event. For example, they may agree with your ideas and plans, but halfway through the project want to take a new direction. Or, worse case they forget the plans that were agreed upon and you have to scramble to get the job done.
   These types of clueless clients usually have lots of ideas, and get lost in the smaller, not so important details, which takes up a lot of the planner’s time to sift through.
6. The Picky One
   You can’t plan an event without having worked with a super picky client. This type of client can be picky and a mix of one of the above types. They love to nitpick every single detail, which doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but can end up being a time sucker when events need to stay on track to meet deadlines.
   Be careful to set boundaries right up front with clients so they know your role as the planner, and their role as the client. You don’t want a picky person complaining about your ideas and details all the way through the event process. It’s not only a buzz kill, but also a creative kill!
7. The Grumpy One
   Finally, somewhere in the mix of event planner’s clients is always a grump. These are the clients you dread working with – they always have something to complain about, whether it’s the colors of table cloths, or food being served or even the online registration processes. They can never see the good in anything being planned.
   For example, you may work with companies who want to sponsor a trade show, but will only do so at a super low discounted rate. Even after discounts are offered, it’s still never enough to make them sign on the dotted line. It’s all about “free” for these clients – anything they can manage to get a hold of for free is like gold. Of course, these clients usually do not get a lot out of events. Trying to attend or sponsor an event for free is basically not attending at all. We all know it costs a good chunk of change to stand out at an event and show off your brand. You don’t have to always spend a lot, but when you do it the correct way (marketing, booth set-up, product displays, speaking) it’s worth it!

In Conclusion

Every event planner has worked with several different types of event clients. Some may be the best clients you have ever worked with and come back time and time again, and others are instantly marked as a one-time client you will not want to work with ever again. It’s all part of the fun of event planning!

Are your dreams of the perfect venue being dashed by the venue staff? Are you questioning your ability to pull off a successful event because of them? Worry no longer. I have some tips to help you smooth over any problems with a difficult venue.

If event planners could always handpick our teams, life would be a giant meadow full of frolicking unicorns. But sometimes we get stuck. We get stuck with a crew we don’t get along with or a vendor who doesn’t share our vision. Sometimes, we even have a client who is less than cooperative.

But one of the hardest to deal with is a difficult venue. The venue affects every area of our event so it’s hard to ignore differences. Plus, because it has such a huge effect on your event, having a bad relationship with the venue personnel will make it very difficult to have a successful outcome. Here are a few tips to help you improve your relationship with the venue and increase your event’s chances for success.

6. Fix It Quickly
   Often we want to give people the benefit of the doubt. But there’s rarely time for this in events. Instead, if a problem occurs be specific about:
   • What the problem is
   • How you would like it remedied
   • The timeframe with which you expect the remedy

   If any of this is not possible, you need to know so you can adjust expectations. If they agree to your wishes and then don’t get it done to spec or in the timeframe agreed upon, you need to escalate the problem right away, rather than days before the event.

7. Keep Your Mind and Words on the Solution
   Name calling never works. Nor do threats of slamming someone on social media as the person you’re dealing with is often not the one who would be concerned about such things. Instead, keep your mind on the solution instead of the person. Be explicit with what is not working. Limit your comments to what isn’t meeting your expectations and why instead of peppering your email with adjectives to describe the staff or venue manager.
8. Ask to Work with Someone Else
   If you intend to bring future business to this venue, it may be worth voicing your difficulties with management. Ensure they know your interest in their property and how you’d like to be a loyal customer but something is lacking for you.
   If a new person isn’t available, give them a list of things that are not being taken care of to your standards. Be as specific as possible. They can’t fix what they don’t know is broken.
9. Know When to Walk Away
   Sometimes the best thing you can do is walk away from the problem. When it seems personal and you’ve tried everything else, there may just be something about you that the venue manager doesn’t like (it doesn’t have to be something you did. Sometimes people remind us of others and we have difficulties warming up to them.) If that’s the situation, place someone else such as a staff member between you and the venue person. Sometimes it’s just a difference of personalities and introducing a new one can solve the problem.

In Conclusion

You don’t have to be best buds with the venue staff but communicating effectively with the venue coordinator is essential for your event success. Every new relationship involves communicating expectations. Hopefully, by doing so and investing a little time in cultivating the relationship, you can begin to improve the existing strain.