For Amy Bernstein Stover, manager of marketing and special events at a top global law firm, bigger is better when it comes to event planning. In fact, she's currently planning an in-house event that practically harkens back to the hard-partying days of the late 90's: a four-day retreat for the firm's partners and guestsânearly 700 peopleâat the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida. Stover declines to share her budget for the event, but admits that this is by far the most lavish retreat the company has ever planned. "We've never done anything quite this large and expensive, to be honest," she says. "Previously, we'd go to a more middle-of-the-road venue."
When it comes to the state of current eventsâspecial events, that isâplanners and vendors are full of optimism. The reason? After several years of special events sobriety and shrinking financial resources, big budgets appear to be on their way back. "We're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel right now," says Linda Abbey, vice president of catering company Great Performances. Budgets and business "are definitely on the rebound."
Jes Gordon, creative director of Jes Gordon LLC/Proper Fun, agrees. "I feel like the pendulum is finally swinging the other way in our industry," she says. "It's been a horrible couple of years, but it seems that budgets and minds have opened up considerably." A prime example is the benefit Gordon recently planned at the Grand Hyatt for the nonprofit Common Ground. Gordon says her budget for the annual fund-raiser increased 10 percent this year over last. Among other things, the extra money allowed her to provide specialty linens for the event. "Every other year that's the first thing that gets cut from a budget," she says. Budgets aren't the only things Gordon is seeing grow: Her business' event bookings have increased a whopping 80 percent this year over last year. "It's been a complete 180 for me," she says.
With few exceptions, the event planners and vendors we spoke to said their budgets have increased this year over last, and that they are busier than they were last year. Frank Goldstin, C.E.O. of the Experiential Agency, an event firm with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, estimates that his business is up 20 percent from last year, and his events' budgets are up 20 percent as well. He credits that to an upswing in the economy, as well as recognition of the importance of special events. "Corporations today are spending a lot more money due to the fact that there's been a shift in their marketing budgets," he says. "Marketing budgets are pretty much the same, but companies are putting more in event budgets because the events are garnering a big return on investment."
Goldstin calls this time the "new event economy." Events aren't happening just for the heck of it?budgets may be rebounding, but they're still far from the levels of the late 1990's tech heyday, after all?but they have a clear purpose and meaning. "These events are taking place because companies are seeing that by designing creative vehicles in front of their target audience, they're garnering greater attention," he says.
Avi Adler partner David Stark says he's seeing more events this year "of all different scales," but especially smaller corporate events that are an added value or thank-you for clients. "A year ago, those were the kind of things that were cut," he says. "When the economy was soft, large, significant events weren't cut, but you'd cut many of the smaller events you had throughout the year."
This year has also seen the return of large-scale, big-budget events like the opening of the Time Warner Center and Louis Vuitton's 150th anniversary partyâboth of which garnered huge mounts of publicity. The Time Warner Center's opening had approximately 6,000 guests, two musical headliners, Jon Stewart and Cirque du Soleil performers. And Vuitton's multipronged event had guests shuttling between the new Fifth Avenue flagship store and Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, where LVMH projected images on an enormous white tent filled with a stage production and custom furniture shipped all the way from New Zealand.
Such milestone events "might be a little less stigmatized now," Abbey admits. "To do something like the opening of the Time Warner Center might have been seen as distasteful [a few years ago], whereas two years later it seems appropriate."
Still, corporations are hardly throwing money around, and that means everyone is looking for a deal, and planners must trim costs wherever possible. For Jennifer Cohen, event marketing director for YM magazine, budgets aren't much bigger, but she's expected to make dollars stretch further. At the magazine's party celebrating its MTV issue, Cohen accommodated a record crowd of 1,000 guests by hosting the party at a venue that had in-house catering capabilitiesâa move that allowed her to save money. Great Performances' Abbey recently saved a client 10 percent off the per-person rate of an event by trimming the cocktail hour from three hours to two.
Molly Hover, director of special events for House & Garden magazine, estimates she's planning 10 percent more events this year than last, and she's always looking for ways to cut costs, such as bringing in liquor sponsors and haggling with vendors. "Everything is negotiable," Hover says. "You just have to find a wayâand know where to ask for price reductions."
The Experiential Agency's Goldstin admits that his company is charging 10 to 15 percent less today than in previous years, and consequently paying some vendors 15 percent less. "No one is getting the prices they were back in the late 90's," he says. "I look back at the fees we used to charge, and we certainly can't charge those kinds of dollars now." To placate vendors, Goldstin makes up for the price cut in job volume. "Our strategy is to work with only a handful of suppliers and give them more than one job per year," he says. Beyond price, he points out an added bonus: There's no compromising on quality, because he's developed relationships with the companies he employs. "If it's all based on price you're going to miss something on quality and creativity."
âErika Rasmusson Janes
When it comes to the state of current eventsâspecial events, that isâplanners and vendors are full of optimism. The reason? After several years of special events sobriety and shrinking financial resources, big budgets appear to be on their way back. "We're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel right now," says Linda Abbey, vice president of catering company Great Performances. Budgets and business "are definitely on the rebound."
Jes Gordon, creative director of Jes Gordon LLC/Proper Fun, agrees. "I feel like the pendulum is finally swinging the other way in our industry," she says. "It's been a horrible couple of years, but it seems that budgets and minds have opened up considerably." A prime example is the benefit Gordon recently planned at the Grand Hyatt for the nonprofit Common Ground. Gordon says her budget for the annual fund-raiser increased 10 percent this year over last. Among other things, the extra money allowed her to provide specialty linens for the event. "Every other year that's the first thing that gets cut from a budget," she says. Budgets aren't the only things Gordon is seeing grow: Her business' event bookings have increased a whopping 80 percent this year over last year. "It's been a complete 180 for me," she says.
With few exceptions, the event planners and vendors we spoke to said their budgets have increased this year over last, and that they are busier than they were last year. Frank Goldstin, C.E.O. of the Experiential Agency, an event firm with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, estimates that his business is up 20 percent from last year, and his events' budgets are up 20 percent as well. He credits that to an upswing in the economy, as well as recognition of the importance of special events. "Corporations today are spending a lot more money due to the fact that there's been a shift in their marketing budgets," he says. "Marketing budgets are pretty much the same, but companies are putting more in event budgets because the events are garnering a big return on investment."
Goldstin calls this time the "new event economy." Events aren't happening just for the heck of it?budgets may be rebounding, but they're still far from the levels of the late 1990's tech heyday, after all?but they have a clear purpose and meaning. "These events are taking place because companies are seeing that by designing creative vehicles in front of their target audience, they're garnering greater attention," he says.
Avi Adler partner David Stark says he's seeing more events this year "of all different scales," but especially smaller corporate events that are an added value or thank-you for clients. "A year ago, those were the kind of things that were cut," he says. "When the economy was soft, large, significant events weren't cut, but you'd cut many of the smaller events you had throughout the year."
This year has also seen the return of large-scale, big-budget events like the opening of the Time Warner Center and Louis Vuitton's 150th anniversary partyâboth of which garnered huge mounts of publicity. The Time Warner Center's opening had approximately 6,000 guests, two musical headliners, Jon Stewart and Cirque du Soleil performers. And Vuitton's multipronged event had guests shuttling between the new Fifth Avenue flagship store and Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, where LVMH projected images on an enormous white tent filled with a stage production and custom furniture shipped all the way from New Zealand.
Such milestone events "might be a little less stigmatized now," Abbey admits. "To do something like the opening of the Time Warner Center might have been seen as distasteful [a few years ago], whereas two years later it seems appropriate."
Still, corporations are hardly throwing money around, and that means everyone is looking for a deal, and planners must trim costs wherever possible. For Jennifer Cohen, event marketing director for YM magazine, budgets aren't much bigger, but she's expected to make dollars stretch further. At the magazine's party celebrating its MTV issue, Cohen accommodated a record crowd of 1,000 guests by hosting the party at a venue that had in-house catering capabilitiesâa move that allowed her to save money. Great Performances' Abbey recently saved a client 10 percent off the per-person rate of an event by trimming the cocktail hour from three hours to two.
Molly Hover, director of special events for House & Garden magazine, estimates she's planning 10 percent more events this year than last, and she's always looking for ways to cut costs, such as bringing in liquor sponsors and haggling with vendors. "Everything is negotiable," Hover says. "You just have to find a wayâand know where to ask for price reductions."
The Experiential Agency's Goldstin admits that his company is charging 10 to 15 percent less today than in previous years, and consequently paying some vendors 15 percent less. "No one is getting the prices they were back in the late 90's," he says. "I look back at the fees we used to charge, and we certainly can't charge those kinds of dollars now." To placate vendors, Goldstin makes up for the price cut in job volume. "Our strategy is to work with only a handful of suppliers and give them more than one job per year," he says. Beyond price, he points out an added bonus: There's no compromising on quality, because he's developed relationships with the companies he employs. "If it's all based on price you're going to miss something on quality and creativity."
âErika Rasmusson Janes
