KEVIN COHEE:
TRUE CONFESSIONS OF AN EVENT PLANNER
Beyond being organized and creative, it takes many skills to be a professional Event Planner. I knew I was creative and organized, many people had pointed this out to me - but I had no clue I would tap into so many other unrealized skills once I went pro.
When I was hired to help produce a custom home show, I quickly got my feet wet with BIG challenges. This 5 week show required bulldozers to prepare parking lots, sewer connections to our temporary office, 9 phone lines for credit card sales, 7 motor-coaches running consecutively for 12 hours a day. Other challenges were field fires, encroaching wildlife, electric transformers exploding, life flight being called, calculating food sales and scheduling hundreds of volunteers. I know, many of you are thinking “that’s nothing, I had an elephant die during a performance” but this event became the foundation of my newborn event planning career.
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| Kevin Cohee |
Here are five secret skills all professional event planners possess:
1. Grammar
The most challenging skill I honed was creative writing. I write emails, proposals, website entries, scopes of work, contracts, billing, inquiries, request for proposals, marketing pieces and even articles. Early on, I asked a journalist friend to critique almost every piece of correspondence I created. Those red-marked revisions really stay with you and I learned to turn to the dictionary and thesaurus and look at synonyms in a whole new light.
2. Mathematics
Jack of all trades perfectly describes most event planners, so don’t wait until you are on-site and the generator provider is about to leave to learn how many watts of power your event actually requires. Avoid the dreaded “where’s the breaker-box?” when Lights, Camera, Action is called out. Mastering math now becomes a subtle tool; calculating amps, watts, ounces, pounds, inches, yards and of course dollars. Who knew ordering a linen table cloth would second-guess my ability to multiply? These vital elements that help make us and our event look incredible are like little children with their own needs. To learn how these independent providers join in unison, I volunteered at large public events.
3. Liability
Choosing themes or florals may come naturally to many but contracts are intimidating. Protecting ourselves, our clients and their guests require a bit of investigating. Adding insurance riders, fabric fire retardant certificates, abundant lighting or health certificates are not fun jobs. Relying on other professionals like lawyers, professors, accountants and insurance agents are essential. Even the smallest of mishaps can tarnish an otherwise stellar event so addressing safety falls to the shoulders of the planner. It’s often an under appreciated skill professional planners must obtain and promote.
4. Legality
Keeping it legal is one more secret talent we are rarely recognized for. Addressing street closures, alcohol sales license, gaming permits, fire safety permits, overflow parking or capacity regulations continue to be daunting tasks. The problem is to know which questions to ask. I plan an annual beauty industry event for legislators and decided to have a Show Poodle be the living centerpiece. Cool idea huh? My intuition led me to ask around and like restaurants, salons are regulated and pets are not allowed. How embarrassing it would have been to have broken the law with legislators as guests. This is a perfect example of the value professional planners bring.
5. Food and Beverage
Food enriches every event and is a key element in the memory-making guests leave with. Curiosity is my favorite skill, one that takes me to farmers markets, fine grocery stores, ethnic markets and ahhh, the Food Network®. You need to quench their thirst as well and though I don’t consume alcohol, event planners must be as knowledgeable or more about wine and spirits than their client. Ask questions when you are around wine, search winery websites and go to a wine tasting with someone who knows more than you.
Reading industry publications both print and electronic are a must for this ever-changing, trend-setting industry. My philosophy is don’t serve something someone can have anytime, somewhere else. If we don’t make it “special” then why hire a special event planner?
And, as if our plates aren’t full enough…someone mentioned they sent me a tweet???
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