It’s Not Just the Product; It’s the Process

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Your client wants a live event. Perhaps it’s a romantic, culturally inclusive wedding, a corporate national sales meeting or an American literature-themed surprise birthday party. Of course, what the client really wants is something less tangible: an experience. They want that milestone moment that occurs during an event when the music and lights are just right and everyone in the room feels connected. The moment where guests are so wowed by what they’ve experienced that they’ll go home and tell their friends what they missed.

You can’t go to a store and pull that moment from a shelf, but that’s often how we charge clients. The client wants an event, so we charge for the delivery of that event. But the delivery isn’t where the majority of our magic lies. You can’t just buy a white tablecloth and flowers, set it up and automatically create an impactful experience. Creating a transformational moment involves intentional strategy and behavioral science-informed design — concepts our clients don’t understand because they aren’t live event professionals.

The 2019 Global Event Forum report, “Demonstrating Value Through Process Transparency,” lays out the 10 principles of the strategy, design and execution phases of the event creation journey. The goal is to get clients to value the principals we value as part of our intentional process. Whether you’re a caterer or creative director, your process involves these three phases in one way or another. This isn’t a checklist; it’s a lens through which to view the process and a way to talk about it.

Read the full report.

At 11 a.m. CT on 20 November, you can continue the conversation about the importance of communicating our value as a profession through the strategy and design phases, and not just the final product. This webinar focuses on how we can articulate our professionalism and differentiate ourselves with our clients, and provides additional commentary around the Global Events Forum’s 2019 white paper on this topic.

Moderator: Jodi Collen, Senior Event Manager, Corporate Marketing, Be the Match
Panelists: Jane Hague, Head of Business Development, ExCel London; Mark Wells, Senior Vice President, Creative Services, Hello! Destination Management; Leah Wong, VP External Relations, minneapolis downtown council

Register for the webinar.

Tags: live events , influence , live event professionals , Global Event Forum