Taking it Outside

That’s a good way for companies that are unsure about hiring an outsider to gauge whether it’s worthwhile, Dobson points out. “I’ve had some clients where I could tell from the very beginning that they were a little bit leery about using an outside source, especially if they hadn’t used somebody before,” she says. “They should know it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing. In some of those cases, the company might keep some of [the project] inside and just give someone like me a portion of it to do. That’s fine, as far as I’m concerned. I’m willing to do that.”

Certain parts of meeting planning can be managed by specialty firms. There are companies, for example, that specialize in site selection. If you’re planning a sales meeting in Arizona but don’t know the turf, a site-selection company can help you locate an appropriate hotel, conference center, or getaway. Usually the company is paid a percentage by the venue.

In small and midsize companies, meeting planning duties often fall to employees whose expertise lie elsewhere—the marketing manager, for example, or an executive assistant—and who can only handle small events. “But obviously some events are going to take a lot more time and experience and resources than others,” Dobson says. “If someone is just planning a small breakfast meeting for ten or fifteen people, they might not have to go to an outside source. But anything bigger than that—a holiday party, company picnic, trade show, convention, whatever—they’d have no idea where to begin.”

“One of the first things to consider is whether the person who was doing the planning has the experience they need to plan this particular event,” Pearson says. “Logistics—how big is it? Is it a meeting in your office, or is it outside? Do you need to use other resources?”

Second, she says, is the question of whether there’s time to do it in-house. “Most of the people working in a small business have [other] job responsibilities,” Dobson says. “Meeting planning or event planning might be something they do once in a blue moon. And because of that, it’s going to take them two, three, or four times longer than an experienced event planner to do the same job. It ends up costing that small business a lot more than it would have if they had just gone from the very beginning and hired an outside source.”

Small businesses have a tendency to forget how long it takes to plan an event, Dobson suggests. The people unlucky enough to be saddled with the job end up stressed out, overworked, and not getting their regular jobs done. And they’re constantly being distracted by other matters.

“When I am working on the task, that’s all I do,” Pearson says. “I’m not in your office, and I don’t have the office politics. So it’s easy for me to focus on that one project. It helps you keep the rhythm of your business, and you are getting a professional job.”

To find the right meeting planner for your needs, Dobson suggests interviewing a few companies. Find out how long they’ve been doing the job, she says, and whether the scope of their services includes what you’d like them to do.

“I would certainly get references and call those people,” she says. “Ask them what they did and how they felt about the service provided. And then I always think it’s good to meet face to face with the meeting planner, because it gives you the opportunity to ask so many more questions and to get a true understanding of what can be done.”

Talking to colleagues is a smart move, Dobson adds. “Talk to other people who have events and find out who did it for them, and whether they were pleased. It’s the best way. If you just went online and started searching for a meeting planner, you’d have a huge list and it would be hard to narrow it down to the one you want. But getting a referral from somebody else gives that event planner some credibility and trust right from the very beginning.”