Don't let the amateurs cheapen your affair...
By Adrian Cavlan
Hello there!
Another quick one today to hopefully offer some guidance on why your investment in professional service providers for your event is important.
Let’s look at a few things:
Knowledge of their process and how it can affect your presentation:
For example, a person decides to save $300 on a photo booth for their party. Why is it less expensive? Because the provider says they can do a 3 hour package. Sounds good, right? Well, maybe… but then all of the attached undesirables start appearing.
First, the person throwing the party thought that the best time to have the photo booth would be during the dancing portion, after people had had a couple of drinks and the pics would be more fun. Great! BUT -
The photo booth provider takes about 45 minutes to set up. So, he/she arrives 45 minutes before their start time to start setting up… which is right when your dinner service is starting!
And, because this person is not what you would call a real pro, they show up in flip flops, t-shirt and ripped jeans to start the setup! Cute. And it takes them maybe two or three hand truck trips right through the middle of the dining room to get all the equipment in there (you know, the booth, the prop table, the printer, etc). Then, you and all of your guests get to watch the floor show of this person doing their setup and moving their stuff all around…
Sounds NOT good, right?
Moral of the story: if the provider was a professional, they would have known to ask very important questions during the sales process regarding the load-in, setup logistics, other things occuring in the same space, and requested event attire. Maybe the extra $300 would have been well-spent on a proper advance setup and an appropriate for the event total service time.
And, don’t forget, the exact same scenario could have happened in reverse if the booking would have been for just the cocktail and dinner hours, and the breakdown and load out would have happened right as the dance portion of the evening started.
Being prepared with all their own gear that they’ll need:
Hey there! Your friend is coming over, and, well, they’re raiding your garage!
“Do you, um, have a ladder I can borrow? Oh - you do? Gee thanks! Oh - and - gosh, I’m sorry to ask, but I was also hoping to borrow a table, like 3 extension cords and some tape. Is that ok? Sorry to ask… thanks though!”
As I sit here writing this I chuckle and shake my head…
But maybe I can combine those ideas and just say why would anyone hire that chucklehead?
While we’re at it, let’s get two things straight: event professionals never use bright orange (or yellow or green or whatever) extension cords (UNLESS it is purposefully done at informal outdoor events for safety purposes!). The cords should always be BLACK… and TAPED DOWN in traffic areas.
Did I just reference tape? Why yes, I did. And, so, here’s the deal with tape: it should also be black, or alternately, any professionally-available color that is made to specifically blend with the carpet or flooring color at the event venue (yes, we do this sometimes depending on the setting); AND - it needs to be “Gaffer’s Tape”, which is specifically made to not leave any adhesive residue whatsoever on the surfaces it comes into contact with. Just a warning: may G*d help you if you use duct tape on the hardwood floors or painted surfaces of a historic venue.
Well, heck, that was a longer post than I intended it to be, but I just hope it will make you think twice as you make choices in your service providers.
Always remember: you get what you pay for, and you’ll always be better off in the hands of a true professional. Do your research, and may all of your events live up to your rightfully-high expectations!
