As you’ll know, planning a big event isn’t simply a matter of going from A to B. It’s not like deciding what you want from the grocery store.
It’s a nuanced process made up of so many moving parts that need to be considered from your very first meeting with your production partner.
Our article lists the 9 things you need to look for in a partner to make sure your event hits the right note with the right audience.
1. An industry legacy
When you’re investing significant time and money into organizing your event, you need to feel reassured, from the start, that you’re investing this in the right place.
You need to know you’re working with a trusted partner that’s been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.
A partner that’s:
- Made the odd mistake along the way but used these mistakes to enhance its service offering.
- Experienced all manner of high-pressure situations and come out of them with flying colors.
- Worked with an array of clients across different industries.
That’s The Trade Group.
We’re a full-service event marketing company that’s been in business since 1986. When we were established, The Berlin Wall was still standing, Top Gun was selling out movie theaters, and JD Vance was two years old.
This counts for something. If you’d done something nearly every day for nearly 40 years, chances are you’d be pretty good at it by now, right? (Unless that something is trying to run a marathon in under two hours).
Having helped many happy customers in that time, we like to think we’re pretty good at what we do.
We’ve witnessed significant changes in our industry over the past 40 years. This experience makes us well-equipped to anticipate what could come next and which developments our clients need to take advantage of.
2. Proof of expertise
Of course, it’s all well and good a potential event production partner telling you they’re good at what they do and their clients are happy.
This doesn’t count for anything unless they can back up such claims.
You need to see proof—by which we mean proof of concept, proof of service, and proof of results. When you visit that partner’s website, you should come away feeling confident that they have the credentials to fulfill your expectations.
When you visit our events production page on our website, you’ll be able to see some of the events we’ve worked on, including the Pokemon World Championships and the internal corporate event for DR Horton, America’s largest home builder. We acted as the general contractor for this event, advising on multiple aspects of planning.
You’ll also see that we have a 95% customer retention rate.
This way, you know that we can walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
3. A holistic approach to events
As you’re no doubt aware, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to event production.
Creating eye-catching designs is only one small part of the jigsaw.
If you’re working with a business that can only advise you on certain elements of event production (but not all) with any real authority, this could cause serious administrative headaches further down the road.
You need to work with an event production partner that can guide you through the ins and outs of:
- Venue selection
- The logistical nuances of specific venues
- Labor costs
- Equipment rental
- Transportation
- Storage
… and more.
Considering these different factors is so important during the first evaluation with a client, at which point you’re still mapping out your vision.
Your event production partner also needs to facilitate effective communication between the various stakeholders, including the designers, venue, and technical crews—all to ultimately create an engaging experience for your target clients.
At The Trade Group, we have a holistic understanding of how our clients will work in their event venue and how that venue will work for them.
We specialize in providing an entire end-to-end experience, from early discussions to postmortem reports and everything in between, including handling your inventory from show to show, storage, and asset management.
We’re always multiple steps ahead, taking a bird’s-eye view of your project and seeing the bigger picture with every decision we make. Put simply, we do everything in our power to make your event a frictionless experience.
This allows you to spend more time focusing on what you’re good at and less time stressing over things you’re not familiar with.
4. Humility
The last thing you want when you’re planning an important event is someone talking down to you, acting like they know best, and shutting down your opinion at every turn. Even worse, they may refuse to compromise on their strategy, stating, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’
When a company takes this approach to working with its clients, all that happens is:
- There are constant delays in your project due to conflict and differences in opinion.
- Your business name is attached to an event in which you had very little say.
- You eventually terminate your relationship with your partner, having failed to achieve your business objectives and been left with a bitter taste in your mouth.
If you work with us, we’ll do the opposite of everything we listed above.
Not only have we specialized in event production for years, but we take just as much pride in our work as when we started.
Complacency and big egos have no place in our business.
We’re not content with simply rinsing and repeating, and nobody in our organization enters a situation feeling like they have to make their mark.
Our sole aim is to make you happy and present your business in the best light possible. We’re not trying to put our fingerprints all over your event—we’re trying to put yours on it.
5. Honesty and transparency
This point ties in with the one above, in that it comes down to respect. That is, the respect of a service provider for its client.
An event production partner should see its client not simply as a name on an invoice, but as a human being. And no human being wants to be lied to when the stakes are high and the margin for error is minimal.
That’s why we communicate openly with our clients about every aspect of event planning from the outset.
We’ll tell our clients at the earliest opportunity if we feel a creative decision they’ve made isn’t viable for whatever reason or isn’t going to get them the best result, or if their budget doesn’t align with their expectations of what we can do for them.
This level of honesty creates a transparent working relationship between people, not companies.
We talked about the importance of human-to-human relationships in one of our YouTube videos. Although we were referring to this in the context of our clients, this is also a philosophy we live by internally.
6. Proactivity
Let’s be real—nobody can predict the future. A whole number of things could go wrong when you’re planning an event.
But staying ahead of the curve and understanding ‘What’s next’ at each stage of the project gives you the best chance of mitigating any potential twists and turns, making the planning process as streamlined as possible, and putting on a successful event.
The consumer experience starts well before the show begins. From receiving the initial information about your event (be it registration, signage, or ads) to crafting the user experience and creating personalized invitations and creator packs, your event production partner needs to understand the wider significance of each moving part and where it fits into the overall strategy.
As we alluded to in point 3, we manage every aspect of your project to ensure it runs seamlessly for you. We don’t wait for things to go wrong and react to them—we put frameworks in place to make sure everything runs smoothly.
This means executing a solid plan that’s reviewed by the important stakeholders and giving people adequate time to provide feedback. Nothing is rushed, haphazard, or last-minute. Everything is prepared ahead of time.
As a result, when you get on site, it’s truly just a rehearsal of the things you already know how to execute.
Another way in which we’re proactive is by sharing top tips on our YouTube channel to help people prepare for their next event.
This is another example of how we go above and beyond for our clients. We are not merely a service provider; we are also a valuable source of information (or so we like to believe!).
7. Adaptability
No two events, clients, or briefs are the same.
What you require for your event in terms of messaging, signage, visuals, equipment, lighting, and financial outlay will be completely different from what a client in another niche requires.
This is why it’s important to work with an agile, flexible partner that doesn’t take a ‘One size fits all’ approach and can work to your exact specifications.
Our track record of serving clients across multiple industries and continents means we can put together an event that hits the exact note you want it to for the exact people you’re looking to target.
We’ve worked across more industries than you can shake a stick at, including:
- Gaming
- Esports
- Real estate
- Aromatherapy
- Aviation
- Medical
- Healthcare
- Education
- Food-tech
This multifaceted experience has allowed us to push the boundaries of our creativity and keeps us on our toes as we continuously come up with creative solutions to industry-specific problems.
It also enables us to respond effectively to unforeseen challenges, ensuring that events proceed smoothly regardless of mitigating circumstances.
This flexibility is vital for accommodating last-minute changes, whether they pertain to venue constraints, technological glitches, or complex client needs.
8. A forward-thinking mindset
We touched on the importance of a forward-thinking mindset in point 4 when we wrote about the perils of the phrase, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’
It’s shortsighted, to say the least, to assume that just because an event went to plan with a specific strategy last year, last month, or even last week, it will today.
That’s like throwing your life savings into Bitcoin because it had a strong previous quarter. (Disclaimer: The advice provided in this article does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Please don’t sue us. Thank you.)
Your event production partner needs to be pragmatic, which is what we are.
Although some of our in-house designers have been with the company for almost 30 years at the time of writing, they’re every bit as forward-thinking as our Gen Z cohort.
It doesn’t matter who you deal with from The Trade Group when planning your event—everybody thinks the same way.
They are always keeping an eye on industry trends and assessing what you need right now rather than what someone else liked yesterday.
9. A desire to create memorable experiences
This is by far the most fundamental quality to look for in an event production partner.
Have you ever been to an event and come away thinking, ‘It was pretty good,’ but not had any real inclination to buy from the company you interacted with? Did they do little to grab your attention? Were they just a passing thought?
Now imagine that’s your company.
You’ve invested all that money, time, and energy into your event only for your ideal audience to say, ‘It was pretty good.’
Clearly, this is the last outcome you want.
That’s why you need top-tier craftsmanship.
That’s why you need cutting-edge designs.
That’s why you need a partner that:
- Wants to deliver something your customers will actually remember.
- Will ensure you have a consistent message and a cohesive event from end to end.
- Cultivates collaboration across teams.
- Will help you hone in on your North Stars so you can clearly present them to your audience.
- Can create a live-action experience that feels straight out of the gate.
- Is capable of pushing boundaries and taking your event(s) to the next level.
In case it wasn’t clear by now, The Trade Group can do all of the above and more for you.
Create a truly memorable event with The Trade Group
Whatever you’re looking for help with ahead of your next event—whether it’s logistics, audiovisual and lighting design, equipment rentals, venue selection, fabrication, or all of these things—we can fulfill your requirements.
Planning and organizing events has been our bread and butter for decades, and we have the expertise to ensure every detail aligns with your goals and objectives.
If you’re interested in partnering with us for your next event, send us a note here or give us a call at 800-343-2005.
