The Business of Event Planning
Book

The Business of Event Planning

Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Successful Special Events

Judy Allen
Wiley, 2002

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Planning a corporate party or special event? Don’t lift a finger until you’ve read The Business of Event Planning. In this highly practical book, author Judy Allen covers every aspect of the process in exhaustive detail. Allen, an author, writer and experienced event planner, contends that events are more than just feel-good activities. Events, she says, must be staged as strategic tools with return-on-investment potential. If you want to know how, she covers all the basics. Even though the book is geared toward large events, the principles can be applied to functions of any size. Allen includes details of proposal writing, itineraries, contract negotiations, fee setting, high tech applications and security concerns in a post-September-11 world. getAbstract.com recommends this logistical guide to corporate staffers or event planners who want to master the fine details.

Summary

More Than Just a Good Time

Special events are a fixture in a business world where clients must be persuaded, sales teams must be motivated and companies want to be associated with worthy causes. At first glance, the event planning function may appear trivial or inconsequential. But the reality is, event planning is all about business strategy. When viewed as part of the strategic planning process, event planning can help a company achieve specific results based on a client’s external and internal objectives. Clients come to rely upon effective event planners as expert advisors on everything from designing an overall function to handling the tiniest logistical details.

The Proposal

The big event starts with a client’s request for a proposal (RFP), which can be anything from a vague statement to a formal document. When a planner receives an RFP, the first order of business is a qualification meeting. Client representatives and event planners meet to discuss the strategic considerations behind the event. These include client background and preferences, event objectives, previous event history and budgetary parameters. Once planners have a clear understanding of...

About the Author

Judy Allen is founder and president of Judy Allen Productions, a full-service strategic event planning production company that has created special events in more than 30 countries for up to 2,000 guests at a time. She wrote Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Successful Meetings, Corporate Events, Fundraising Galas, Conferences, Conventions, Incentives and Other Special Events, authored weekly columns on event planning for the New York Post’s PageSix.com and contributes frequently to industry publications such as Meetings and Incentives Magazine.

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