As we get ready to head into the holiday season – with a brief break from fundraisers over the long Thanksgiving weekend – how about we take a moment to thank event planners?
Event planners, to borrow the famous words of Kevin Durant, are “the real MVP.” For those not immersed in sports, when Durant was named the most valuable player of the NBA in 2014, he tearfully thanked his mother, Wanda, as being the real MVP. (The link to the emotional speech is posted at the end.)
“You kept us off the street,” he told her as she cried in the audience. “Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”
If I may be permitted to paraphrase Durant’s passionate speech (and James Agee for that headline), planners are the unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes for every event. If attendees seamlessly enjoy everything from check-in to the closing entertainment, it’s because event planners anticipated every need and then some.
From the first planning meeting to the day of the event, planners have to stay level-headed and alert no matter what happens.
In a show of thanks, here are five of the best blog entries, plus a bonus one, from EventCheck Knox’s, “In Any Event,” to help planners as they brace for the end of 2019 and the start of 2020.
- You get to the venue, and there’s no electricity. Or the weather looks fine, so a tent is canceled and then a storm moves in. What do you do? Get advice: From electricity to lightning, planners are ready to strike. (Another entry on this topic: It’s all about that cake, no trouble.)
- RSVPs are not optional. Help a planner by responding. Read here: Make a planner’s day with répondez s’il vous plait.
- Will auctions be a part of your event? How to decide: Silent auction? Live? Both? Get answers!
- Food can make or break an event. Read this before you order: Five questions to cover with your caterer.
- For the final one, my personal favorite: How do you calculate how much alcohol is needed? The Pour Guys do the math: Don’t let your event overflow or run dry.
If you want to see the emotional Durant video, which has more than 100,000 views, click HERE and jump to the 49-second mark.
As you and your family get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, raise a toast to an event planner.
And the next time you see one, be sure to say: “You’re the real MVP.”
Maria Cornelius, a writer/editor for Moxley Carmichael, populates the EventCheck Knox calendar. Without event planners, it would be entropy.
Nice post, Maria. I am singing the praises of the talented meeting planners on our team, and I hope they know how much they are appreciated. Not all people who attend special events realize how much goes into planning and executing successful gatherings. There are hundreds of details and boxes to be checked. That’s why I like it when speakers at an event thank the people who put it together.