One of the hottest topics in special events over the last few years has been procurement. The trend has been a fixture in the world of special events in Europe for some time, and has been gaining ground in the United States.
The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation requires tighter control and documentation of how corporations working in the U.S. spend their money. Couple this with a push to pinpoint the return on investment of many expenditures, including "soft" expenses such as events and meetings, and event planners-both in-house and independent-feel the pressure to become far more methodical and more detailed in the process of selecting their vendors.
The pressure is on to become a wise buyer of goods and services, and Special Events Magazine wants to help by providing an array of tools to make you a pro at procurement.
The issue you are reading now-our Buyers Guide-remains an important tool for your event sourcing needs. As so much of our lives goes online, we still hear from our readers that they like to keep this resource close at hand so they can look up specific suppliers with ease. No matter how sophisticated our wireless devices seem to become, there is simply no substitute for a magazine that you can grab and mark up with pen or Post-Its!
A few years ago, we boosted the value of our print Buyers Guide by putting this information online on our Web site, www.specialevents.com. Now you can just hop onto the Internet to find suppliers located where you need them and offering what you need to make your event a success.
As the special event industry continues to grow, we've seen not only more suppliers interested in moving into the industry, but established vendors broadening their line of products and services to offer a full range of capabilities that make the most imaginative dreams an event planner comes up with come true. To make it easier and faster for you to find the precise event resources you want, this year we debuted our new "Services Sourcebook." This online resource, which is free to users, showcases not products but expert service providers-from advertising agencies to wedding planners, calligraphers to photographers-who can provide essential skills for your next event. The listings are updated every three months; to access the Services Sourcebook, go to our Web site and click on the "Sourcebook" tab.
We will continue to be your resource for resources.
