Confessions of an Event Planner: Case Studies From the Real World of Events--How to Handle the Unexpected and How to Be a Master of Discretion
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PREFACE
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER 1 - MEETINGS, MAYHEM AND MARGARITAVILLE
DECEMBER 13
DECEMBER 14
DECEMBER 15
DECEMBER 16
DECEMBER 17
MEETINGS, MAYHEM AND MARGARITAVILLE: Q&A
CHAPTER 2 - SUN JAMMIN’
DECEMBER 19
DECEMBER 20
DECEMBER 21
DECEMBER 22
DECEMBER 23
SUN JAMMIN’: Q&A
CHAPTER 3 - YOU WANT ME TO TRY ALLIGATOR, RATTLESNAKE AND WHAT???
DECEMBER 24
DECEMBER 25
JANUARY 1
YOU WANT ME TO TRY ALLIGATOR, RATTLESNAKE AND WHAT???: Q&A
CHAPTER 4 - WEDDING DAZE
JANUARY 15
WEDDING DAZE: Q&A
CHAPTER 5 - FROM CITY LIGHTS TO DESERT NIGHTS
JANUARY 20
JANUARY 21
JANUARY 22
JANUARY 23
FROM CITY LIGHTS TO DESERT NIGHTS: Q&A
CHAPTER 6 - INVENTIVE INCENTIVES
FEBRUARY 14
INVENTIVE INCENTIVES: Q&A
CHAPTER 7 - ALL HAIL (OR OH, HELL) TO THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING
SEPTEMBER 5
IMAGINE . . .
INVITATION
DECOR
TABLE TREATMENTS
PLACE CARDS
SEPTEMBER 14
ALL HAIL (OR OH, HELL) TO THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING: Q&A
CHAPTER 8 - LONG COMMUTE TO WORK
SEPTEMBER 16
SEPTEMBER 23
SEPTEMBER 24
SEPTEMBER 30
LONG COMMUTE TO WORK: Q&A
CHAPTER 9 - GUESTS GONE WILD
OCTOBER 16
OCTOBER 17
OCTOBER 20
OCTOBER 22
GUESTS GONE WILD: Q&A
CHAPTER 10 - TAKING AN ETHICAL STAND
NOVEMBER 4
TAKING AN ETHICAL STAND: Q&A
CHAPTER 11 - SOCIAL AGENDA
NOVEMBER 16
SOCIAL AGENDAS: Q&A
CHAPTER 12 - ROCKING THE CASBAH
DECEMBER 13
CONCLUSION
Copyright © 2009 by Judy Allen
Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this book. The publisher will gladly receive any information that will enable them to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Allen, Judy, 1952-
Confessions of an event planner : case studies from the real world of events : how to handle the unexpected and how to be a master of discretion / Judy Allen.
eISBN : 978-0-470-73689-0
1. Special events—Planning. 2. Special events industry. I. Title.
GT3405.A452 2009
394.2’068
C2008-907817-9
Production Credits
Typesetter: Thomson Digital
Printer: Friesens
Editorial Credits
Executive Editor: Karen Milner
Project Coordinator: Pauline Ricablanca
John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.
6045 Freemont Blvd.
Mississauga, Ontario
L5R 4J3
FP
This book is dedicated with love to Joe Thomas Shane, whom I am honored to call my 2jproductions business partner and so much more. You mean the world to me. Thank you for all the knowledge you have brought into my life personally and professionally. There is no one I could imagine sharing the exciting, new life journey in front of us other than you. Coming together with you has opened up a whole world of possibilities that fills me and fuels me with a new sense of purpose, passion and play and has brought clarity, direction, consciousness and inner knowing as to what is meant to come next. You challenge my mind, my creativity and my way of being in a way no one else ever has and I thank you for the incredible life-changing gifts that knowing you has given me. I believe that everything in life happens for a divine reason and I am looking forward to discovering all that we are meant to create and do together and through our company, 2jproductions, and bring to each other and the world.
PREFACE
Confessions of an Event Planner: Case Studies from the Real World of Events—How to Handle the Unexpected and How to Be a Master of Discretion is a collection of fictionalized case studies that follows one corporate event planning company around the world. It showcases real-life scenarios both novice and experienced event planners can encounter on the job during actual event execution. Woven throughout the book are learning lessons and business ethical and etiquette situations based on actual occurrences in the industry that are played out time and time again around the world. They are meant to open the door for discussion and problem-solving exercises both in university and college classrooms around the world and in event planning and corporate business offices, with staff working together with their company’s lawyers and financial controllers to determine what should be done in specific situations and to establish and define company policies, procedures and protocol in the office and on-site. This in turn helps to protect the individual, the event planning company, their event suppliers and event venues, the corporate client and their guests from legal ramifications. Not knowing what to do when an event planning crisis occurs or what steps to take to prevent one from happening can be costly both personally and professionally to those involved and to the corporations hosting and orchestrating the event.
Confessions of an Event Planner is a case study workbook/ office training manual that offers students and new and established industry employees a behind-the-scenes look into the perceived glamorous world of business entertaining—from boardrooms to resort guest bedrooms—by a fictional event planning company owner as she travels the globe creating one-of-a-kind corporate, social and celebrity events for her clients. The intention of this book is to make sure that event planners, their clients and suppliers are well prepared going on-site, where being ready to handle the sorts of real-life scenarios described here is essential. Event planners must know the appropriate course of action that they need to take to protect themselves, their company, their client, their guests and their suppliers if guests (or staff or suppliers) go wild during their event. Also, clients and suppliers need to know the course of action their individual company lawyers and advisors want them to take as well.
These special events are fuelled by corporate budgets that range from modest to those that exceed millions of dollars to entertain, educate or enlighten their attendees. Events can range from one-day local meetings to events that include first-class air travel, private jets, stays in six- and seven-star resorts in luxury suites and major pampering—no matter the budget, the venue or the event style—with participants being wooed, wined and dined to show client appreciation, introduce guests to new products at company product launches, bring employees together for an out-of-town conference, or reward top sales staff at an over-the-top incentive program at an exotic locale. The special events industry is a world where guests ride elephants through the jungle to their evening’s meal (perhaps at the local zoo closed to host the event, or at a themed “jungle” dinner at a hotel or in Bali); dine in the de
sert, on a mountaintop, on the beach or even in the ocean under a canopy of stars listening a symphony orchestra; enjoy the magic of a private indoor firework display while being served a sumptuous supper; have Cirque perform a show designed exclusively for them; enjoy private performances by top-name entertainment on a tented rooftop; take pleasure from a custom dancing water display set to music in a private mansion; dine and dance on an acrylic-covered pool that has been set up just for them; savor a candlelit gourmet dinner surrounded by thousands of oak wine casks; watch juggling and dancing fire performers and fabulous custom fire sculptures; have their breath taken away by incredible technology special effects; or take part in an exclusive yacht regatta or road rally crafted just for them. Guests come to the party prepared to expect the unexpected, knowing they will be captivated and enchanted wherever the venue and whatever the theme, no matter the budget or if it is taking place down the street or around the world. Being dazzled and delighted, under the guise of doing business, is a big part of the game being played from Miami to the beaches of Mexico all the way to Mauritius and back.
Confessions of an Event Planner takes readers on an event planning journey around the world and brings the missing event planning element—on-site event execution—to life in a very new way. It is an informative and fun read on its own and allows readers to interact with the book and determine what their course of action would have been should they be party to a similar set of circumstances unfolding before their (sometimes greatly alarmed but never showing it) eyes once you add into the mix the unknown component—the actual invited guests and their personalities. You can plan, you can prepare, you can anticipate and have a backup plan, but crisis mode management is something event planners, corporate and social clients, event suppliers, and venues have to be aware of. They need to be fully apprised of how they should personally and professionally handle the expected and the unexpected.
The game of business travel and special events is one most recently seen acted out in world headlines with rising white-collar arrests. At Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski’s trial for corporate looting, Kozlowski was accused of charging to Tyco a portion of the $2 million birthday bash—on a Greek island with company executives wearing togas—held for Kozlowski’s second wife in 2001. This example is still relevant today, as are further real-life examples laid out in the book, because it shows that corporate clients, as well as their guests, can go out of control and create ethical and legal issues for event planning companies that event planners must be trained to handle and bring to the attention of event planning company heads and their lawyers before a corporate event allowed to run unrestrained by unscrupulous business heads ends up with them in court. There are many examples for event planning companies to study and set company policies from, such as the alleged corporate misspending of company funds by Conrad Black. This time the setting was Bali and a birthday celebration for his wife where board members were in attendance. Were these business affairs attended by corporate execs and paid for in part by the company, or personal parties being paid for out of company funds by the company president? Event planning companies need to know their position and how to protect themselves when asked to do events that bend or break ethical and legal lines.
Being a master of discretion is a major requirement of a corporate and social event planner’s job, which can include being privy to sexual romps, financial shenanigans, ethical breaches and eyebrow-raising behavior by corporate execs—such as the recent example that was showcased in newspapers, shown on television and flashed around the Internet of company executives hiring strippers to perform lap dances and topless cart duties at a private corporate golfing tournament. Knowing what to do and how to handle unexpected happenings on location (during site inspections, event advance and when the program is running) to adhere to company policy and procedure and protecting themselves, their company, their clients and their guests from legal ramifications is of paramount importance. Note that in the age of YouTube, etc., corporate shenanigans can backfire more easily than ever.
Confessions of an Event Planner will help individuals as well as companies—event planning and corporations (both for profit and nonprofit)—establish their company’s event planning personal and professional A B Cs (A=Anticipation, B=Backup Plan, C=Crisis Mode Management/Code of Conduct) and help them to set company policy, procedure and protocol. Masters of Discretion will have relevance to readers of the entire Event Planning suite of books and The Executive Guide and move them from creative, strategic and tactical thinking into “real life” practical thinking. Each chapter of the book covers areas of event design (program layout), strategic thinking, guest safety and security, business etiquette, business ethics, time management and more—all topics discussed in the Event Planning series and The Executive Guide, as well as in my two wedding planners for the professional and consumer market: Your Stress-Free Wedding Planner: Experts’ Best Secrets to Creating the Wedding of Your Dreams (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004) and Plan a Great Wedding in 3 Months or Less (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2007). These other books will serve as additional training and educational reference guides and as ongoing valuable companion resources to this book, as will the staging and creative life experience design examples that can be found on my website—www.sensualhomeliving.com—and will encompass Sensual Home Living™, Sensual Living for Two™, Sensual Suite(s)™, Welationship(s)™ Building Timeouts for Two™ Activities, Wecation(s)™ Timeouts for Two™. On my website, I will teach event planners how to transform and change the energy of a room using my trademark design principles and how to create an environment and a life experience for participants that will evoke specific emotions and target all of their senses.
Following is an overview of my other books on event planning and related issues which you may find helpful. Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Successful Meetings, Corporate Events, Fund-Raising Galas, Conferences, Conventions, Incentives and Other Special Events, Second Edition (Wiley 2009). Any event you plan and stage is a reflection of your organization’s image—from the initial invitation to on-site operations. Whether you’re planning a product launch, conference, sales meeting, incentive event, or gala fund-raiser, remember that the magic of a truly memorable event is in the details, but so is the devil. Whether your event is for 50 or 2,000 people, whether it has a budget of a few thousand dollars or hundreds of thousands, it has to be perfect. Fully revised and updated, Event Planning gives you a blueprint for planning and executing special events with flair and without any unexpected surprises and expenses. This unique book is loaded with practical advice on:
• Choosing the best venue
• Preparing and managing the budget, with sample costing forms included
• Scheduling, staffing and collaborating with other related professionals
• Coordinating food and beverage, decor, entertainment and themes
The second edition of this book is still the comprehensive guide that it always has been, but with much changing in the industry in recent years, this new edition of Event Planning includes:
• Changes in security planning since 9/11
• Innovations in technology and how they can improve—or ruin—an event
• How to stage an environmentally friendly event
• Event risk assessment—what you need to consider before contracting
• How to keep your budget on target and where to find hidden surcharges
• Ways to ease airport stress and make air travel a pleasurable part of the participant’s event experience
• When and where event planners and their suppliers will need work visas
• What you need to include in your client’s event history in order to design your next event so that it maximizes your client’s return on their event investment
• New and updated examples and case studies of where things went right—and wrong
• A companion website with downloadable versions of the checklists, additional forms and tools, author Q&A and more at ww
w.wiley.ca/go/event_planning
What you don’t know or know to ask can have a major effect on the success of your event and on your budget. Event Planning takes you behind the scenes and through every aspect of organizing and executing a successful event: the planning stages, timing and logistics, budget preparation, operations and on-site management, providing practical tools for anyone who has to plan and execute a truly special event:
• Corporate in-house event planners
• Public relations and communications companies and their clients
• Marketing and corporate communications professionals
• Fund-raisers and not-for-profit organizations
• Professionals in the hospitality and entertainment industries
• Business professionals in charge of planning and handling their company’s events
This book will give readers of Confessions of an Event Planner a solid foundation of event design principles and clear direction of what to include in each event element to enhance the guest experience.
The Business of Event Planning: Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Successful Special Events (Wiley, 2002) takes event planning to the next level. Its comprehensive coverage includes strategic event design; how to prepare winning proposals and how to understand them if you’re the client; how to determine management fees and negotiate contracts; guest safety and security issues that need to be taken into consideration; how to design events in multicultural settings; new technology that makes event operations more efficient; practical tools such as sample letters of agreement, sample layouts for client proposals, forms, tips and checklists; and a detailed case study that runs throughout the book—one company that is organizing two very different events. The Business of Event Planning will show you the behind-the-scenes tasks you need to take care of in your own event planning business before you even plan an event, and how to take your event design and execution skills to the next level. This book will show readers of Confessions of an Event Planner how to strategically design and stage both an event element and a room for targeted results.