What characteristics must an external corporate event organization service meet?

ROBERTO ESCAYOLA, managing partner de IDEVENTS.

Before requesting a quote from an external service, it is necessary to think beforehand about what it can provide and in what way. In general, there are two main types of companies specialized in the organization of events: the large ones, usually travel agencies that have created their own events and incentive divisions; and the small ones, in principle with a higher degree of specialization and customization capacity.

Each supplier, be it an event agency, a marketing consultancy or a public relations specialist, has its own business culture and sometimes this diversity of proposals enriches the entire creative process, from the initial approach, through development, to follow-up and evaluation of results.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one? The values provided by the big ones can be comfort, security,  experience… But at the same time they tend to be inflexible, impersonal and with a  originality tending to low.

As for the small ones, they are usually characterized by a very personalized service. They offer proximity and attention to detail, as well as flexibility, less bureaucracy and, perhaps, a closer involvement in the client's final objectives. On the other hand, and precisely because of their size, they may have fewer resources to take on large-scale projects.

As far as costs are concerned, a large event agency should offer better prices, since it has service providers with prices negotiated downwards by volume. Be careful, however, because this is not always the case. In many occasions the high costs in personnel and business infrastructure make that margin ends up being diluted. 

On the other hand, if the objective is to organize an exclusive and different event, the cost should not be the only reference when comparing the proposals. What makes the difference is, on the one hand, the place chosen and, on the other hand, the way of working, the details and the involvement of the organizing agency.