An Event Manager is No Middle Man

Nobody likes the middle-man, as the old adage goes. Unfortunately, it is a common perception of the event management business that it relies on being in the proverbial “middle man” position between clients and people that actually make the event happen. Well, let me tell you why an event manager is not a simple middle-man and why you should take pains to make that clear should the subject ever come up. (And let me apologize in advance if this post comes off as a bit of a rant, but I’ve heard this misconception thrown around one too many times, by both clients and people in other branches of the marketing industry, so I take the liberty to proclaim that the time has come for us to finally and mercifully stomp it into oblivion). What does “middle man” mean, anyway? The negative connotation most likely comes from the idea that the middle man charges a fee or markups the price simply for being in the position of knowing the right people for the job. But let me ask you: how do you think one gets into such a position? It could be argued that some stumble into it by good fortune, sometimes even by birth. I could imagine that the progeny of Hollywood producers begins networking right around its first baby yoga class.

Building knowledge through hard work and relationships

Knowing right people for the job takes a lot of hard work.

But most of us in the event management industry got to where we are by virtue of hard work and hopefully a dash of passion for making things happen. What I’m saying is that knowing right people for the job takes a lot of hard work. It isn’t enough to simply have memorized the phone number of the guys with a state-of-the-art lighting rig or to have the email contact of Aziz Asnari’s manager. You have to know exactly what the potential outside vendor is capable off, preferably by having seen them in action or worked with them.

Know your vendors inside and out

Continuing with Aziz Asnari as our example (mostly because I’m a diehard fan of Parks & Rec) – anybody could check out Aziz’s standup on YouTube and see how his comedic manner resonates with them. But does everybody know how much he charges for an appearance? Or how much in advance he must be booked? Or what is his favorite food? (It’s tacos. Okay, you can just google that). The point I’m trying to make is that knowing all these things takes some effort, even if it’s only to google them. It’s an investment, of time and sometimes money. And any event manager worth his salt will have made a substantial investment into knowing not only what sort of equipment, decoration and entertainment are needed for a given event, but also where and from whom they can get a reliable service – at a good price. Ah, the price. As I’ve mentioned already, the middle-man’s bad rep comes almost exclusively because he is seen as a skimmer, a profiteer. The middleman is perceived as a barrier to efficient pricing. A chokepoint in the free flowing marketplace. The guy that tips the scale of supply and demand in his favor, making a quick buck in the process.

Price your services appropriately

It always comes down to the money, in the end, doesn’t it? But money is simply a signifier of value. So, the actual question is: what value does an event manager provide that makes him or her much more than a simple middle man and thus worth paying for? The merchants that dared take the majestic Silk Road during the middle-ages did not add much value to the goods they traded, but they made a huge investment and took a great risk when setting out to obtain them. Travelling from, say, Persia to China and back required a substantial amount of money and took several months at best, not to mention the uncomfortably likely possibility of succumbing to many perils along the road, ranging from bandits to disease. That is why nobody questioned their prices, even though they were the quintessential middle men: it was universally accepted that the value they have added was expressed in the simple fact that you did not have to go all the way to China to obtain your silk sleeping gown. The investment that you as an event manager make is one of travelling down many roads together with various vendors and professionals, touring around numerous venues and selecting the best ones – so you can deliver the goods when a client asks you to. After all, those resourceful guys in the middle ages had to know the road, or know someone who knows the road – and of course, they had to know exactly who they will get to once they travel its length. But actually, your “goods” are not where your value lies. Because the client can always try and book your vendors directly. And what are you going to do then?

Your role is to manage, not just connect

It is your job to show the client why it’s better value for their money if they go through you. You are more than a walking, talking vendor contact list. You are an event manager. Remember that. That means you manage everybody associated with the event, beginning from vendor proposals and ending with the guys that dismantle the props. You get three, hell you get five proposals for every single aspect of the event from lighting to the speaker, and you select the one that is best. You know what vendor is best suited for the task at hand. You have done business with that lighting crew and you know that they have great technicians but can’t get their proposals over to you in time – so you will give an initial cost estimate yourself. You have ideas for a venue that the client could never think of, something original that will make the event into a memorable experience. You know just the right tacos to get for the buffet.

Deliver superior service and keep everything on track

You will plan the whole thing out to the tiniest detail because you know a whole bunch of stuff that can and probably will go wrong. You will be there to manage the hell out of it and make it so that nothing goes wrong – and if it does, you will make sure that it does not stop the event from proceeding smoothly forward. You save the client’s time and streamline the decision-making process. Because you are a god damn event manager. You can manage.