A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events

A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events Chapter Nine Outside Suppliers

Providing Other Client Services • Audiovisual • Entertainment • Lighting • Ground Transportation • Government Agencies • Cooperating with Other Caterers • Rental Companies

Some catered events require much more than food and beverage service. • In addition to food and drink, some meeting planners will need audiovisual and/or lighting services. • Some will require specialized dining and buffet-table presentations.

Caterers cannot be all things to all people. • They must draw the line somewhere. • Cost considerations render it virtually impossible to store and/or provide all of the special types of services meeting planners might potentially need.

When dealing with services other than food and beverage, caterers usually are faced with five options: • Provide as many of them as possible themselves. • Steer meeting planners to outside service contractors. • Expect meeting planners to find their own outside service contractors. • Authorize concessions. • Use some combination of these four possibilities.

Decorator Designer Audiovisual Lighting Photographer Transportation Media coverage Specialized security Printer Host/hostess Talent bookers Florist Specialized food ( e.g., subcontracting a sushi bar from a local Japanese restaurant) Furniture Exhibit equipment (e.g., pipe and drape, pop-up booths, etc.) Outside Service Contractors

Some caterers have a list of approved outside service contractors they recommend. • The list includes only those contractors they feel are capable of doing the job properly. • To be placed on the approved list, contractors normally must have adequate references, proper licensing, and adequate insurance. • .

A caterer does not want to risk recommending someone whose ineptitude will cause dissatisfaction and ruin the chances of repeat patronage.

In-house Concessionaires • Large hotels, convention centers, and conference centers that do not want to provide their own special services, yet do not want to inconvenience potential clients, may grant a few outside service contractors concession status. • These contractors automatically receive a client's business unless he or she wants to make other arrangements with another service contractor.

In-house Concessionaires • Large properties usually allocate the concessionaire storage space so equipment and materials can be kept on-site. • The concessionaire also will need space to house employee work areas. • Usually the concessionaire has its own backup warehouse facilities off-site.

By having on-site space groups can be serviced quickly and efficiently. • Employees and equipment are readily available at a moment's notice; emergencies or last-minute requests can be handled immediately.

In-house Concessionaires • Caterers usually charge a commission to in-house vendors. • Understand that these costs must be passed on to the end user. • With high commissions, a meeting planner may end up paying a higher fee for a simple slide projector.

In-house Concessionaires • Some caterers charge outside vendors who are not part of their in-house group a surcharge for the right to work in the venue. • This is done to discourage the meeting planner from using a favorite vendor. • This ensures that the caterer will not lose its commission and satisfies the caterer that the service will be provided correctly.

Entertainment • Many catered events offer some type of entertainment. • Responsibility for booking, scheduling, and coordinating is up to the planner. • The caterer's major involvement in the entertainment decision is to take it into account when planning the catered event. • If a dance band is scheduled, everything from banquet setup to work scheduling will be impacted.

Entertainment • The banquet setup crew may have to work around the band’s road crew, affecting the banquet setup crew’s normal work schedule. • Considering the major impact that entertainment will have, caterers cannot work effectively unless they are privy to this information.

Entertainment • Be sure the caterer sees the entertainment contract before you sign it. • There may be conditions that the caterer cannot meet or will require you to pay extra for.

Entertainment • Lighting requirements • Dressing room requirements • Sound systems • Rehearsal time and facilities needed • Setup time • Security • Staging Requirements

Entertainment • Dance floor • Buffer area • Liability • Complimentary F&B, Lodging • Operational logistics

Lighting • Overcome a plain, pedestrian environment. • Highlight persons, products, and specific function room décors. • Illuminate speakers and other entertainers. • Focus attention on a particular spot. • Create an exciting and dramatic dance floor. • Frame an area. • Follow awardees from their seats to the stage. • Provide other decorative touches.

Lighting • Lighting can also be used to tell a story. • Laser equipment can project company logos, pictures of awards recipients, and names of VIPs on a wall so that attendees can view them when they enter the facility.

Ground Transportation • Some ground transportation firms specialize in providing limousine service. • They can pick up and drop off attendees as well as be on call for personal needs during conventions. • Shuttle or motor coach service often is employed by the meeting planner because it is more efficient and, in most cases, a lower-cost alternative to using taxicabs.

Ground Transportation • A few ground transportation companies specialize primarily in entertainment. • Some trips, such as charter boat rides and trail rides, are planned strictly for their entertainment value. • The Napa Wine Train is an example.

Motorcoaches • Busses are usually booked per coach on a four- to five-hour minimum rate. • Busses can be booked on a daily rate if you need them all day. • A daily rate is usually less expensive than booking them for only a few hours. • Busses charge from the time they arrive at the pickup site to the time they drop off passengers; however, some calculate their time from garage to garage. • In this case, the meter is running from the time the coach leaves the coach company until it returns to the coach company.

Motorcoaches • Most companies do not charge garage to garage, but if it is a busy time, a regional coach company may not have the inventory; in that case, it would subcontract the job to a coach company that is outside the city. • When this happens, you usually would be charged garage to garage. • Find out what you’re paying for.

Motorcoaches • Are driver tips included in the charges? • What about staffing? • Will staff be on-site to load luggage, coordinate the transfers, and communicate with dispatch? • If so, what are the charges for staffing? • How many staff should you have? • Typically, staff is paid on a four-hour minimum; the cost also includes a positioning fee (i.e., parking/cab fees, etc., for the staff person).

Motorcoaches • Will there be signage on the coaches? • Will staff have communications with all other staff, dispatch, and drivers? • Where will motor coaches stage? • How much time before your event will they stage?

Government Agencies • Inform the fire department if you are putting on outdoor pyrotechnics. • Make sure that the pyrotechnics company has the appropriate liability insurance, typically $1 million. • The fire department may also need to oversee and inspect any portable electrical power setup to ensure it is grounded properly and safe to use in a public area. • In some jurisdictions, a fire marshal must approve banquet room setups to ensure guests will be able to evacuate safely in the event of a fire.

Government Agencies • The local health district would need to approve portable, temporary tents, cooking lines, and serving lines to ensure you are not violating health guidelines. • You may need special parking permits for motor coaches, parade permits, or a temporary off-site liquor license. • If an event will include a public official, such as a city mayor or state governor, speaking at a meeting, you may be dealing with bodyguards or, in the case of the President of the United States, the Secret Service.

Rental Companies • Audiovisual • Refrigerated storage • Freezer storage • Generators • Transportation • Tables and chairs • Tableware (flatware, china, etc.) • Service utensils • Napery (at times meeting planners want colors or patterns the facility does not own) • Centerpieces (meeting planners often rent or bring in their own centerpieces) • Lighting • Tents

A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events