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Planning corporate meetings or events often requires a planner to be a “Jack or Jill of all trades.” Managing projects, choreographing event schedules, strategizing the best venues, and handling all of the digital components of the events is not a job that can be done alone. Planners need to select a team of vendors whom they can trust to help carry out their vision.

When it comes to choosing and overseeing the vendors involved with a corporate meeting — being streamlined and efficient in the managerial process can result in a seamless corporate event.

Depending on the scope of a planner’s event, their roster of vendors might look something like this:

Performers

• Caterer | Bartender
• Decorator
• AV firm
• Florist
• Graphic Designer for event signage and invitations
• Photographer | Videographer
• Transportation | Parking services

As a corporate meeting planner, CEO and founder of Evoke, an experience agency based in Houston, TX, Oana Borcoman understands what it takes to properly manage vendors. Boasting nearly 15 years of experience working in corporate meeting planning, sales, business strategy and events, Borcoman has strong expertise in the hospitality industry and uses it as a foundation for clients in all industries. Her clients have included Wahlburgers, Red Bull, ForeFlight by Boeing, Landry’s and many other national companies.

In Borcoman’s opinion, vendors can make or break a planner’s event, but they can also significantly affect the event execution experience. Certainly, things happen that don’t align with the “plan” all the time, but if a planner has a strong solid relationship with their vendors, it not only gives them peace of mind because they trust what they do, but it also provides for a good foundation to be tough and/or ask for favors.

“People do business with people they like. They can also make life harder on people they don’t like versus people they like,” Borcoman said. It is important to Borcoman that she has wonderful relationships and empathetic conversations with her vendors at all times, because let’s face it, she needs them. Without their trust and diligence, things can go very differently than planned, and as a planner, Borcoman cannot just pull their service or offer out of a hat to fix it without them.

“Above all else, relationships matter,” said Craig Dooley, president of SDI Meetings & Incentives in Chicago, IL. “Relationships are the greatest determining factor in the success of an event, because people are doing the work and have to work together — at every stage of planning and execution, and especially in the execution.”

Dooley’s corporate clients come from a range of industries — from financial services and insurance to manufacturing to medical services — supporting the executives and teams who lead their organizations’ off-site meetings and incentive travel programs.

“The health and strength of these relationships make the difference between a transaction and a partnership, and it’s what makes a good event great,” said Dooley, who strives to establish partnerships, mutual success and a little bit of fun along the way — not only when things go well, but especially when things don’t.

Proper Management Equals Success

Properly managing event vendors is very similar to properly managing employees. It requires a solid combination of leadership skills, effective communication and a true understanding of interpersonal relationships. But one of the most vital components of a solid vendor/planner relationship is clear communication.

As Borcoman explained, communication is key. It is paramount to clearly communicate expectations, goals and tasks to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

“Communicating our needs, wants and ‘nice to haves’ with them is super important as is communicating all the details of the event, client and venue,” Borcoman said. “Being available anytime they need to chat is crucial. At the end of the day, I view it as I am working for them and not the other way around. I am grateful for their availability, and I am at their service. My events would not be successful without them, so I need to set them up for success.”

As part of the vendor managerial process, corporate meeting planners should also define expectations and goals for the vendor and make sure they understand that their work and efforts contribute to the overall success of the event.

In addition, meeting planners should provide constructive feedback throughout the entire event planning and execution process, and be sure to be specific and focus on behavior and outcomes.

After the event is concluded, planners need to be sure to recognize and appreciate vendors for their hard work and efforts put forth during the corporate event. They should share this recognition with others on their planning team, in the company, and via social media if warranted. By recognizing vendors in deliberate ways, it reassures that they will perform well on future corporate events they plan.

As everyone in the corporate meeting and event industry can attest to, issues and problems arise among vendors. When that happens, planners should address conflicts proactively and try to be flexible when possible. Showing that they understand issues that arise and that they can accommodate for those situations can help establish a respectful event planning culture.

Avoiding Inherent Problems

As with any professional relationship, there are undoubtedly inherent problems that can emerge when event vendors are not properly managed by corporate meeting planners.

“Tactically within an event, some of the inherent problems that can emerge when event vendors are not properly managed are waste, inefficiency, frustration and results that are harder to achieve than they should be,” Dooley said.

“Strategically, there is either no relationship or a short-lived one when vendors are not managed properly — and things simply cost more than they should, quantitatively and qualitatively. There may be a transaction, a specific project that is executed out of necessity, but so much opportunity is lost and value left on the table for everyone involved when not managed well.”

Borcoman pointed to some problems that arise from not properly managing and communicating with vendors. These include:

• Crossover during setup that gets in the way of each other
• Lack of understanding of the scope, timing or vision of the event
• Vendors making things more difficult than they have to be if they don’t respect the planner
• Wrong items or service being delivered due to lack of checks and balances beforehand
• No prior event run-through leading to poor execution on the event day

Many other issues can occur, but something that Borcoman has seen happen is vendors making life more difficult for planners they do not like or respect for one reason or another.

“I was second to another event lead that rode her vendors very hard. She accounted for every single penny and held them accountable for every single word they said. She was constantly trying to hold them accountable by proving she doesn’t miss a beat,” Borcoman said. “She also over communicated with them which made them feel distrusted and that she believed they weren’t competent enough to do their jobs. All along the way, mistakes happened or vendors made life more difficult.”

As a result, the vendors avoided conversations with her and certainly didn’t go above and beyond to try to impress her. They wanted the event to be done and over with. That kind of attitude led to other issues, stifled creativity and undue stress on all parties.

“Communicating to vendors is key, but so is trusting that they are professionals in their field and not insulting their intelligence,” added Borcoman.

Dooley recommended corporate planners go into planning with a long view of relationships and get to know the vendor, their team and the individuals with whom they are working. Understand how the vendor defines success, how the mechanics of their business works and how they create value. See how that fits into the bigger picture of your business and your client’s needs — and then engage them how and when it makes sense.

“Define and share the needs and objectives of each event as clearly as possible before engaging, and then be ready for it all to change,” Dooley advised planners. “Establish the channels and expectations for direct, open and timely communication, so the planner can manage through the changes with partners in lockstep.”

It’s also a good idea for planners to bring vendors in behind the scenes with them, and expect them to do the same, as you cannot effectively manage people who are kept at arms’ length.

Regardless of the size of the event being planned, technological tools such as Microsoft Lists can help meeting and event planners keep track of vendors and their information plus all communications with them.

As Borcoman explained, Microsoft Lists is basically an elevated Excel list that can be accessed easily through an app and by everyone on the team. She primarily uses this tech tool for her firm’s own internal tracking, so that she shares her personal cell to ensure that the vendors can get a hold of her whenever needed.

The team at SDI Meetings & Incentives rely heavily on their event database and registration tools to capture, analyze and report on event details, in support of providing accurate and timely information to their vendors. Specs, attendee data, changes and movements are all captured within the shared system, so the meeting planning team always has the most current information to share with partners.

“Whether one uses Cvent, STOVA or another system, we are better able to manage resources and work with partners — from arrival and departure manifests, to flight booking and tracking, to food and beverage commitments and hotel room block pick-up and more,” Dooley said.

Future Partnerships

Especially over the last few years, the relationship between event vendors and corporate planners were tested and proven in the most demanding environments. Those now thriving on the other side leaned into what has always been critical — the strategic value of partnerships, the importance of mutual success and the imperative of creativity and tenacity.

As Dooley noted, meetings are now more prolific than ever. For that reason, planners and vendors are tasked to do more, more efficiently and more nimbly. These relationships are evolving — building on what has always been true.

“We find the partners who share our passion, we ally with them to create the best solutions, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts,” Dooley said. “We are expecting more from each other, because our clients are — in results, transparency, communication and give and take across projects.” To deliver more, both meeting planners and vendors are challenging norms and “the way things have always worked” mentality. Instead, they are choosing solutions with the clearest value, and sometimes there are new ones.

“Planners keep a portfolio of trusted partners to match with the best fit for the goals and needs of each client and each event,” Dooley said. “The net are meetings and events that more effectively support the goals of the organization and create more engaging and memorable experiences for attendees.”

Of course, managing event vendors has been a core component of event planning for decades and will continue to be a vital component of future corporate meetings and events. Borcoman expects that technology will evolve the way event professionals plan and communicate with vendors, but she hopes the personal relationships and personal touch don’t disappear.

“As much as I love tech and efficiency tools, nothing changes the dynamic of a vendor/event planner relationship as much as personal touch. Clarity can be found in contracts, diagrams and run of shows, but never disregard the power of personal relationships,” Borcoman concluded. “At the end of the day, events are a production, and the team putting it together is one big family. We have to work together for the common goal, no matter what it takes to get there.” C&IT