The Simplified Life

As an event manager for LTeventions, Travis Dudley is accustomed to working with corporate planners. Based in Las Vegas, he has planned everything from grandiose corporate events with large budgets to more personalized, intimate events, and learned to respond quickly to last-minute changes and avert near disasters. So, when a tool manufacturing company from Iowa got in over its head, he knew exactly how to help.

“They didn’t know what to do. They were looking to step up their event when they brought it to Las Vegas, but they had never had an event with décor, entertainment or floral arrangements,” he said. “They had high expectations and plans for what was essentially a very small budget. They didn’t understand what things cost in Las Vegas.”

Dudley immediately helped the company manage its budget and rework it for a Vegas-level event, working with his new clients on almost every aspect of the event from the drapery to the entertainment, décor and centerpieces.

“They loved it and were impressed that we could take their budget and create a really elegant event on a small budget,” he says. His company even landed another gig — when the Iowa company comes back, LTeventions will do its opening and closing sessions, a fundraiser and an evening social.

Dudley’s save is just one of the many benefits of partnering with an independent producer or production company. While managing and planning events in-house can save money and allow you more control, many corporate planners are finding that hiring outside producers saves them time and just as important, headaches.

Outsource, Resource

For Margarita Heinzel, vice president of special events at special event production company Meetinghouse Companies Inc., a wealth of resources is a key benefit to hiring outside help.

“The producer has a whole staff that’s available to help the corporate planner produce their event,” she says. “A producer expands the planner’s resources by giving them access to more products and services for their event.”

Dudley echoes that sentiment.

“One of the great things about production companies is that we can offer turnkey event solutions so you don’t have to use multiple vendors. A production company is a group of talented individuals who can do everything from produce custom décor to manage audio-visuals and address catering needs,” he says. “Here at LTeventions, we have a 90,000-square-foot facility where we keep everything corporate planners would need for their event. We have in-house signs and graphics, an art department, and in-house linens and floral.”

Many production companies specialize in different areas of expertise, such as custom décor, set design and more. When you hire a producer, Heinzel adds, you receive focused expertise.

“Most corporate planners are generalists, but when someone hires me, I have specialists within my company that may specialize in the audio-visual portion, the creative portion, the design portion of your event. When you hire a producer, you can really get the specialty focus where you need it.”

When New England’s largest retail development of 2007, the Natick Collection, a vast luxury shopping complex, needed assistance with entertainment, SP Events, a corporate planning organization division of Siagel Productions Inc., was brought in to help orchestrate a memorable grand opening gala.

Event producer Sheralyn Caballero and SP Events Vice President Marc Gundersheim produced all of the live entertainment for the celebration. In all, they provided over 80 live performers varying from black-clad break dancers and cigar rollers to gem readers and a bubble-ologist, who all entertained guests while a martini lounge quartet and a harp and flute duo engaged visitors.

Keeping It Simple

According to Robert Sivek, an executive producer at Meetinghouse, independent producers and production companies can provide the corporate planner with a single point of contact.

“When you have one point of contact, everything is coordinated and everything looks like it belongs together. There is no vendor finger-pointing and the logistics are all coordinated,” he says. “We take care of all of those details. We provide a cohesive look. A cohesive seal. And the need to explain your objections only once.”

Eddie Diaz, CEO and creative producer of Encore Creations Inc., says independents can help event planners short of personnel and assist with the delegation and distribution of responsibilities.

“As an independent producer, we understand the lingo, problems and issues that arise. By hiring an independent producer, corporate planners can delegate certain aspects of the show to that person,” he explains. “For instance, the planner could put one producer in charge of a general session and another producer in charge of the closing session. This will help the planner ease their workload.”

More Time, More Money

Independent producers can also help you with the things you simply don’t have the time to do, adds Kathy Davis of An Extension of You.

“I’m a freelance producer they can bring in to be an extension of them. I can assist them with the production side of things, whether it’s planning and pulling all the pieces together or managing on-site,” she says. “I’m someone with experience who has contacts in the industry and all over the country.”

Independent producers are nothing but a benefit for corporate planners, says Davis.

“You are going to get someone with experience and knowledge and someone who has the time to dedicate to your project. You may be working on five different events at one time, and you can bring in an independent that can handle that one event for you and not have to concentrate on anything but that one event.”

Overall, independent producers and production companies are an asset to corporate planners, according to Diaz.

“We are here to help them. We are here to offer new ideas and to take some of the weight off their shoulders,” he says. “Corporate planners should view independent producers as another layer of themselves. We are here to make them look good.”