What's new in the new year? Not all that much, as event professionals predict the same, slight improvement in business they did for 2012. The findings come from a survey conducted annually by Penton Media, parent company of Special Events.
Just under half of respondents — 49 percent — expect to stage more special events in 2013 than they did in 2012. This figure is a 2 percent improvement over last year's survey. One in three — 33 percent — expect to stage the same number of events this year, compared with 32 percent last year, and a scant 7 percent say they will likely stage fewer events this year than last, down from 8 percent last year.
Special Events asked our Advisory Board for their take on the limping recovery and what it means for the event industry.
WHAT ARE WE WORTH? The astonishing power that the Internet and social media have given clients to price-shop has some event pros taking a long, hard look at who they are and what they do.
A big contributor to the problem, according to Frank Andonoplas, MBC, head of Chicago-based Frank Event Design, is the wave of reality TV shows that make event planning look both glamorous and easy. As a result, the market is flooded with event pro wannabes who charge “next to nothing,” he says. “It is getting more and more difficult to compete with so many using price as the deciding factor. How do the old dogs with years of experience and who charge more — because they are worth it — compete?”
Nancy Shaffer, founder and president of Washington-based Bravo! Events By Design, suggests that event pros themselves must get in the driver's seat on the cost versus value debate.
“Clients continue to undervalue what many of us do and the impact we can make, thus diminishing our worth,” she says. “Much of this comes from within our industry, as we have no standards set regarding deliverables, quality or pricing. We are seen more often than not as service providers, and not professional service firms.”
But Shaffer maintains the industry can move forward by standing together.
“I believe we need to come together stronger and more connected as an industry,” she says. “Our overall economic impact is huge, but we don't seem to maximize this fact for our benefit. The hotel and travel industry does a great job, and I think we could learn from them.”
FINDING THE RIGHT MIX Several Advisory Board members interviewed for this article are carefully calibrating what mix of services to offer in order to stay productive and profitable.
“We did serious soul-searching and tightened the image of our brand,” explains Yvette Audrain, CPCE, CSEP, president of Dallas-based Mox Event Boutique. “In a luxury market, clients do not want a company that is all things to all people. We focus on being the expert in a niche. Image is everything, and ours needed a face-lift.”
To that end, Audrain launched two new divisions to provide clients with certain services that up till now she had outsourced. “We still depend on an army of talented support vendors, but we chose to have more control in just a few areas where we felt like we could provide something that other companies could not in that segment,” she says. “We identified an opportunity and took it.”
As many companies work lean and mean, Mark Baltazar, CEO of New York-based Broadstreet, points to the time crunch they face.
“As clients become more pressed for time, they want a one-stop shop, from logistics management to event production to year-long partnerships,” he explains. “We're uncovering ways to be smarter across projects: mixing up teams, and shifting seating arrangements to foster new ideas and best practices.” (See an interview with Baltazar on page 54 of this issue.)
Rick Jobe, president of Dublin, Ohio-based Jobe and Associates, agrees that client companies face a time crunch, but also sees them developing their own in-house capabilities.
“Clients seem to be cutting projects apart and taking some aspects in-house,” Jobe explains. “For instance, ‘We'll come up with the main design, and we'll have you guys create the details.’” But with challenges come opportunities, he adds. “The out-sourced projects usually start out small and continue to ‘creep’ in scope,” he says. “The challenge is managing budget and expectations.”
With the drop in worldwide conference and incentive business over the past few years, Culinary Capers Catering is looking for new worlds to conquer — literally. With operations in both Vancouver, British Columbia, and Beijing, the company is ready to change, according to president and CEO Debra Lykkemark.
“In Vancouver, we are looking for opportunities in other cities and are considering opening a division in Surrey, a city 1.5 hours from Vancouver that is growing very rapidly,” she explains. “In Beijing, we have expanded into catering for international schools; we are planning on adding one more large school of 1,500 to 2,000 children in the fall of 2013.”
SOCIAL ANIMALS After years in decline, the challenge of “coping with new technology” has taken a jump in the Special Events survey over the last two years, and that's due in part to the explosive growth of social media.
To Cara Kleinhaut, owner of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Caravents, social media is powerful tool for event pros.
“Whether it is ordering specially created thematic drinks via a custom created app featuring sponsored products, or a ‘who wore it best’ virtual closet, offering unique interactions with brands curated with the right music, look, feel and location for guests to tweet/Instagam/post/share/pin about live from the event is what it is all about,” Kleinhaut says.
THE BIG PICTURE A common theme this year: Event pros must see themselves as more than masters of skills such as logistics and design. They must also understand how events serve as strategic tools.
“We need to better understand how the events we are responsible for fit into the larger, integrated strategy or message,” Baltazar says. “Most of the time, our clients know the answer. As true partners, we must as well.”
THE NEXT BIG THING …
“With more and more states legalizing gay marriage, I am going after this market.”
— Frank Andonoplas
“We are presenting prospects and clients with new services and approaches, as one solution does not fit all. We are seeking and implementing new technology that not only improves our internal efficiency and saves money but in addition allows clients to work better with us.”
— Nancy Shaffer
“Any way to incorporate technology. Even social events and weddings want technological elements incorporated into their events. Faster is better, and instant gratification is king.”
— Yvette Audrain
“I think there is a new opportunity to incorporate video into our clients' weddings and events. Video is so powerful now, and our clients are used to having video at their fingertips. This feels like an increased area with video messages, video save-the-dates, video being shown at events, and also videos being produced on site, edited and shown later in the evening.”
— Ali Phillips, Engaging Events by Ali, Chicago
“Creating events that cater to the interests of younger audiences — from social media to volunteerism to emerging business sectors for crossover messaging.”
— Mark Baltazar
The entire study is available for a nominal fee; just click here.
RESOURCES
BRAVO! EVENTS BY DESIGN
www.aboutbravo.com
BROADSTREET
www.broadstreet.com
CARAVENTS
www.caravents.com
CULINARY CAPERS CATERING
www.culinarycapers.com
ENGAGING EVENTS BY ALI
www.engagingeventsbyali.com
FRANK EVENT DESIGN
www.frankeventdesign.com
JOBE AND ASSOCIATES
www.jobeideas.com
MOX EVENT BOUTIQUE
www.moxeventboutique.com
