How to Choose the Right Event Management Company for Corporate Events

Choosing an event management company becomes easier when you know what you're actually comparing.

Two companies may both offer event management, but the work included can be very different. One proposal might cover the venue, production, registration, suppliers and onsite management. Another may leave several of those responsibilities with your internal team.

Before comparing portfolios and prices, get clear on what you need the event company to manage.

Start With Your Event Brief

You don't need every detail decided before speaking to an event management company, but you should be able to explain what you're trying to organise.

Start with:

• What the event is
• Why you're holding it
• Who will attend
• Approximate guest numbers
• Preferred date or date range
• Location
• Budget, if established
• Anything already booked
• Where you need support

Also identify what is fixed.

If the venue is already booked, say so. If a senior speaker is only available on a particular date, that matters. If everyone needs to be accommodated in one room, that will affect the venue and production options available.

A good initial conversation should help establish what has already been decided and what needs to happen next.

Look for Relevant Event Experience

Years in business tell you how long a company has been operating. They don't tell you whether it has managed an event like yours.

Look for evidence of comparable work.

If you're organising a conference for 400 delegates, a company party for 400 people isn't necessarily the closest comparison. The conference might involve registration, speakers, presentations, staging, AV, breakout sessions and a detailed running order.

An awards night, launch event and multi-day company kick-off each bring different requirements too.

Ask:

• Have you managed this type of event before?
• What size were those events?
• What were you responsible for?
• Were the production and logistical requirements similar?
• Can you show me a relevant example?

Don't focus only on whether the company has worked in your industry. The format, scale and complexity of the event may be more useful indicators of relevant experience.

Ask Exactly What Is Included

Terms such as "full event management" aren't particularly useful until you know what sits underneath them.

Depending on the brief, an event could involve:

• Venue sourcing and site visits
• Budget management
• AV and production
• Staging and branding
• Registration
• Guest communications
• Catering coordination
• Accommodation and transport
• Speakers
• Entertainment
• Activities
• Photography and video
• Supplier coordination
• Running-order development
• Rehearsals
• Onsite management
• Event breakdown

You may only need some of these.

The important part is establishing which responsibilities belong to the event management company, which remain with your internal team and which sit with the venue or another supplier.

Get that clear before comparing proposals.

Find Out Who Will Actually Manage Your Event

The people you meet during the initial pitch may not necessarily be the people managing the project day to day.

Ask who your main contact will be during planning and who will be onsite.

For a more complex event, find out who has overall responsibility. If different people are looking after production, registration, entertainment or suppliers, you should understand how those parts come back into one event plan.

Useful questions include:

• Who is our day-to-day contact?
• Who records decisions and changes?
• Who owns the running order?
• Who coordinates external suppliers?
• Who will be onsite?
• Who makes the call if timings need to change?

You don't need a large event team for the sake of it. You need to know where responsibility sits.

Read Case Studies Properly

Client logos tell you who a company has worked with. They don't tell you what the company actually did.

When reading case studies, look for specifics:

• What was the brief?
• How many people attended?
• Where did the event take place?
• What was the event company responsible for?
• Which suppliers or production elements were involved?
• Were there particular logistical challenges?
• How did the event operate on the day?
• Is there direct feedback from the client?

Pay particular attention to the company's role.

An event company may have managed the entire project, provided one part of the production or delivered a single activity within a larger event. All three can be valid pieces of work, but they demonstrate different capabilities.

For Microsoft's AI Learning Conference at the Museum of Literature Ireland, for example, Dynamic Events' responsibilities included venue sourcing, site visits, project meetings, catering, security, photography, AV and staging, registration, speaker logistics and onsite coordination.

Ask How Venues and Suppliers Are Managed

Corporate events often involve several suppliers working on the same programme.

The venue might handle catering and accommodation. An AV company may be responsible for sound, screens and lighting. Other suppliers could be providing entertainment, photography, staging, transport or activities.

Ask who coordinates those suppliers and how their timings and requirements are brought into the wider event plan.

If you've already booked a venue or appointed suppliers, explain that early and ask how the event company would work with them.

Don't assume a venue partnership automatically means preferential rates or special access. What's more useful is understanding how the company works with the venue and coordinates its requirements with the rest of the event.

Compare Proposals on Scope, Not Just Price

Before comparing the totals on two proposals, check whether they include the same work.

One company might include onsite management, registration staff, supplier coordination and AV production. Another might provide the venue and event concept while expecting your team to manage several of those areas.

Those aren't equivalent proposals.

When reviewing a proposal, ask:

• What exactly is included?
• What isn't included?
• Which costs are confirmed and which are estimates?
• Are third-party supplier costs included?
• What would our internal team still need to manage?
• What could change the final cost?
• How are additional requirements approved?

This also makes it easier to identify differences between proposals that aren't obvious from the headline price.

Ask What Happens When the Plan Changes

This is where hypothetical questions can be more revealing than asking whether a company is "flexible".

Try situations that could realistically affect your event:

• What happens if a keynote speaker is delayed by 30 minutes?
• How would you deal with a conference session running over when dinner has a fixed service time?
• What happens if an outdoor part of the event can't go ahead?
• Who decides whether the running order changes onsite?

You're looking for an understanding of the knock-on effects.

A delayed speaker may affect AV, catering and the sessions that follow. A weather change could involve the venue, activities, equipment and guest communications. The answer should give you some insight into how the company thinks through those dependencies.

Understand How the Planning Process Works

Most of your interaction with an event management company happens before event day, so ask how the planning process will work.

How often will you meet? Who records decisions? How are budget changes handled? When is the running order developed? How are presentation files, guest information and supplier requirements managed? How will you know which decisions are still outstanding?

The planning structure should suit the event.

A small company celebration doesn't need the same process as a two-day conference involving hundreds of delegates, speakers and multiple suppliers.

Go-Ahead Ireland's inaugural Gold Awards provides a practical example. Dynamic Events' work started months before the event and included venue visits, planning meetings, development of the timeline and running order, supplier coordination, work with the AV team and presentation proofing. On the day, our event managers handled registration, suppliers, room setup and the running order.

Find Out What Happens on Event Day

Don't assume that planning support automatically includes onsite management.

Ask what the event company will be responsible for once suppliers begin arriving and the venue setup starts.

Depending on the brief, onsite responsibilities could include supplier setup, AV checks, registration, speaker briefings, rehearsals, entertainment, room changes and management of the running order.

For the Unilever Food Solutions Kick-Off at Kilkea Castle, our team was onsite for AV setup and a full run-through before attendees arrived. The wider programme then involved registration, conference sessions, activities, entertainment, accommodation, flights and supplier coordination.

The relevant question when comparing companies is simple: what will their team actually be responsible for on the day?

Questions to Ask Before Appointing an Event Management Company

You don't need a huge procurement questionnaire to get useful answers. These questions cover the areas most likely to expose differences between companies:

1. Have you managed an event with similar requirements before?
2. What parts of our event would you take responsibility for?
3. What would remain with our internal team?
4. Who would be our main contact during planning?
5. Who would manage the event onsite?
6. How would you coordinate the venue and external suppliers?
7. Can you work with suppliers we've already appointed?
8. Who develops and manages the running order?
9. How are budgets and additional costs handled?
10. How are decisions and changes recorded during planning?
11. What happens if the programme changes on event day?
12. Can you show us a case study involving a comparable event?

The answers should give you a much better basis for comparison than a client list or portfolio alone.

Where Dynamic Events Fits

Dynamic Events has been operating in Ireland since 1996, with our Event Management work covering conferences, company kick-offs, awards nights, launches, celebrations and other corporate events.

The scope changes from one brief to another. Recent projects show our team managing areas including venue sourcing, registration, speakers, AV and staging, suppliers, running orders and onsite delivery.

If you're currently comparing event management companies, you don't need a finished event plan before contacting us. Send us the date or date range, location, approximate guest numbers, what you're organising and where you think you need support. We can take it from there.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for in an event management company?

Start with relevant experience and a clear scope of work. You should understand who will manage the project, what they will be responsible for, how suppliers and changes are handled and what support will be provided onsite.

Should I choose an event management company based on price?

Compare the work included as well as the total cost. A lower proposal may exclude services, staffing or supplier management included elsewhere, so establish the scope before comparing prices.

Does an event management company need experience in my industry?

Not necessarily. Experience with a similar event format, audience size and level of complexity may be more relevant than having worked in the same industry.

Can an event management company work with suppliers we've already chosen?

This depends on the company and the brief, so ask before appointing them. Explain which venue or suppliers are already confirmed and what responsibilities remain.

What should I include when requesting an event management proposal?

Provide the event purpose, preferred date, location, approximate guest numbers, budget if established, anything already booked and the areas where you need support. This gives each company a clearer basis for defining its proposed scope.