The Business of Big Tops
by David Clark, President, BCEM

BC EVENT MANAGEMENT (BCEM) HAS RECEIVED TWO Star awards and two nominations for Best use of Tenting from the CEIA, including one at the 2007 Star Awards. BCEM has also received two Gala awards from Special Events Magazine for Best Tent Installation including the installation for Bill Gates’ wedding reception.

We asked BCEM President David Clark for some pointers to those planning larger tented events. Here is his advice:

Choice, Siting and Installation
There are various categories of tents: Frame, Pole,Tensile and Structure.

The biggest mistake planners can make is to choose a tent that cannot support their production. In other words if you are designing a high end event with the usual suspended production, confirm that the tent you choose can support the weight of your lights, audio cabinets, and video projectors (if applicable).

Don’t choose a windy location. No matter how elegant your event is, it will be compromised by wind noise and billowing walls, or worse, tumbling centrepieces and blowing linens. Make sure you inspect your tent site at the same time of day as your event. Winds often settle down in the evening.

Don’t assume that you can release your tent contractor once the tent installation is complete. If the weather is at all unsettled keep at least one tent crew member on standby during the event to add or remove walls as needed.

Weather Concerns
Water (rain) management is a huge issue with tented events.

The most pristine set up can quickly turn ugly in a downpour, especially if you have not inspected the site in the rain and planned accordingly. Inspect the terrain where your tent is going to sit on a wet day. Note where puddles form and how water drains on your site. Note how quickly the ground absorbs water. The terrain might seem OK when you are at the site inspection in casual shoes but have a staffer try high heels to see how the terrain responds to heels.

Elegant events call for a carpeted floor. The only totally safe solution if rain is a possibility is a raised floor. Even then the water can run down the tent walls and blot into the carpeting. The only bullet-proof solution is to have the tent legs straddle a raised sub floor. In this manner the rain water running off the walls never comes in contact with the carpet. Tents that butt up to each other require gutters to prevent drips between tents.

In hot weather air conditioning is required as walled tents can get very stuffy since they do not have the ventilation systems that buildings do. Clear roofs and walls can exacerbate the problem on sunny days. Chillers (air conditioning units) require a lot of power - more than any site is likely to have unless it is designed for events. Generators therefore have to be provided. Be careful with positioning of the generators as they can be noisy and generate fuel smells. For both these reasons position them downwind. We like to mask them with a row of hedges. This also dampens the noise. Heat is easier to power as it can be propane driven and hence only requires power for the fans.

Budget
Tent prices vary considerably.

Keeping large tents spotless requires large cleaning facilities and much elbow grease to keep mildew absent and water and mud stains at bay. Vinyl has a shelf life and needs replacing periodically. Clear walls are popular but they show their age more quickly than opaque walls. Confirm that clear walls and roof panels are in good shape when you reserve your tent.

This maintenance and upgrading is reflected in your rental price. You get what you pay for. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get sparkling clean, new looking tents, from the lowest bidder.

Utilities and Safety
Kitchen tents are the most dangerous and complicated areas in event tenting.

In many jurisdictions a health inspector is required to sign off on the kitchen set up. If propane stoves /ovens are used a certified pipe fitter may be required to connect the cooking equipment to the tanks and a gas inspector may be required to certify the connections. The gas inspector will also require venting (stove hoods/fans) in any tent housing cooking equipment. Do not assume your caterer has taken care of these issues. Many ignore the red tape as gas inspections are rare. If the weather permits you can avoid this red tape by cooking outdoors.

Anchoring
All tents require anchor stakes and tension tents require especially deep anchors.

The event planner or tent company must determine what lies below the surface that you are anchoring to. Be sure to avoid sprinkler lines. The type if soil is also an issue. Tensile tents require packed soil - any loose or sandy soil will not hold the anchors. Reclaimed sites can also be a problem since old concrete footings might prevent anchors from penetrating. On concrete surfaces concrete anchors can be used. Asphalt cannot be anchored into, as it is too soft, but you can anchor through it. Plan on patching both asphalt and concrete before you leave the site.

The strangest anchoring case we have run into was at Fort Langley National Historic Site where an archaeologist had to certify that our longer anchors would not disturb native burial grounds.

Weights
In areas where anchoring is not possible (e.g. artificial turf fields, tiled plazas) weights have to be used instead.

Weights are usually one of two types: concrete or water barrels. Water barrels are the most practical since they can be filled and drained on site thereby avoiding the requirement for heavy equipment to move them. In certain situations only the increased weight of concrete will do. Unfortunately they require forklifts to move them into place. That in turn creates new problems. Some sites will have limits on the weight of lift trucks allowed on to the site. To avoid marring the surface, or causing depressions on sports fields, plywood sheets have to be laid down everywhere the lift truck moves.

Tent Height
Tents are often available with more than one height of leg.

Most events benefit from the longer legs to accommodate sightlines to projections and to get suspended lighting as high as possible. If planning a fair weather event with no walls, confirm that walls are available to match the longer legs in case you have to add walls at the last minute. With careful planning your tented event will be a huge success.

BC Event Management is a turnkey event producer and is Canada’s record holder for event awards and nominations. Sister company Event Effects supports events with specialty services including deluxe large tents, fireworks, lasers, lycra sculptures, banners and helium balloon lights. www.EventEffects.ca B.C. Event Management, 198 N. Sea Ave., Burnaby, B.C., V5B 1K5 Phone (604) 299-1420; Fax 299-1774, www.bceventmanagement.com

How to Pick Up a Good Woman...
It’s Not What you Think

FAST BECOMING THE FOREMOST source for women speakers and entertainers in the North American marketplace is Outstanding Women Speakers Inc, a new North American speaker’s bureau comprised of all women talent. Based out of Burlington, Ontario, this new organization allows clients to choose the best female speaker, moderator or entertainer for their events. The strength of this new player in the industry is evidenced by its diverse and power packed base of professional women speakers, along with its professional website which offers exciting speaker podcast interviews.

This fascinating company was founded by Carolyn Parks and Susan Valeri, both of whom have years of experience in the events and public relations industries. The duo’s research found that women are continuing to enter the workforce at a rapid pace, are assuming greater leadership positions, and are getting more advanced degrees. These facts clearly pointed to the need for a greater presence of women role models. Further, the pair found that most speaker bureaus offer a male/ female speaker ratio of at least 4:1. These findings, combined with a healthy dose of intuition and ambition, made the decision to launch an easy one.

“Outstanding Women Speakers’ mission is to even out the playing field so that organizations have a complete picture of the leaders and motivators available to them” says Parks, President. “We’re not here to replace male speakers in the least; we just recognize the opportunity to shine the spotlight on women who are becoming movers and shakers”.

Outstanding Women Speakers launched with 115 women, including well known Canadian names, such as international recording artist Sass Jordan, renowned comedian Elvira Kurt, celebrated broadcaster Valerie Pringle, Dr. Marla Shapiro and U.S. celebrities such as Kate Jackson and Ann Jillian. Now, with almost 200 speakers, the bureau is well poised to become a foremost resource for clients.

“We’re not interested in necessarily becoming the biggest bureau, nor one that focuses largely on well recognized names”, explains Valeri, who is Vice President of the company. “We are interested in finding those voices of today and tomorrow that offer something new and exciting in the demanding marketplace of today. We are interested in offering exceptional talent.”

Although the speakers bureau definitely targets both male and female audiences, Parks and Valeri know that – by virtue of being an allwomen’s bureau – it is also important to offer speakers of special interest to women’s groups. Several speakers on their roster focus on women-specific topics such as marketing to women, women’s health, women in the workplace, parenting issues, etc.

“So far we have placed speakers from Texas to Manitoba and many states or provinces in between”, says Parks. “We have been receiving rave reviews from our clients and are excited by the amazing women we are meeting. We are pumped about our early success and have some exciting ideas for future service offerings.”

If organizations are seeking out female speakers for their conferences, tradeshows, galas, meetings or other, they should definitely consider Outstanding Women Speakers as an important source.

It seems as though the future of their business is as their company name suggests – outstanding.

Sponsorship Marketing
Think "Long Term Strategic Partnership"

By Sue Griffen

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP IS AN $800 MILLION PLUS business in Canada. Based on the 10% factor, it is estimated that BC business spends over $80 million per year in rights fees and approximately twice that in leveraging the sponsorship investment.

Based on these figures, one would assume that the event marketing industry is a relatively sophisticated discipline, that the event promoter understands the market and is a strong businessperson, that sponsors will see a return on their investment and are being strategically identified. Of course, one may also assume that the target audience is, in fact, “targeted” and there is more to the sponsors’ benefit package than “corporate exposure” - read logo soup.

Reality says not so. The simplest reasons why, are that there is a disconnect between all of the parties involved in the deal and that few companies have invested in the development of an internal strategic sponsorship marketing program. As a corporate sponsor, it is crucial to know who is involved in the deal and why they are involved. Typically, the parties involved in any sponsorship deal would include:

• The promoter or event “property” owner
• Sponsors
• Media
• Venue
• Not for Profit Groups
• Suppliers
• Consumer/Business

So the question becomes, how can these parties all work together to ensure that respective objectives are met and that the sponsored program is a success for everyone involved?

1. START WITH SPONSOR WORKSHOPS

As a sponsor, one should be asking for pre-event sponsor workshops AT LEAST 9 months prior to the event. Ask the event organizer to invite all of the sponsors, the media partners, the not-for profit and the marketing representative from the venue, if appropriate, to a 3 hour Sponsor Workshop. The event organizer should be providing an overview of the event, presenting the marketing plan for the event and creating a forum for all parties at the table to share their marketing initiatives with the intent of identifying cross-promotional and business to business opportunities.

2. DETERMINE WHICH EVENTS TO INVEST IN

Is the property (or sponsorship opportunity) relevant to your brand and to your target audience? For example if your brand represents traditional family values, does it make sense to align the brand with the image and an audience involved with extreme sports? Perhaps a health related family event would be a better fit?

Does the sponsorship investment fit into your annual corporate marketing and business strategies? If your key objective is employee acquisition and retention and the event does not provide creative, long term opportunities for staff participation ....look again.

If your key objective is product sales and you are not provided with the lead time, nor the marketing vehicles within the event itself....keep looking.

3. EVALUATE THE EVENT ORGANIZING TEAM

The credibility factor is crucial. New events sound exciting with lots of potential (remember all of the millenium ideas). Is there a market for the event? Who is the audience? Does the promoter have the financial backing to deliver the goods? What other events have they organized and promoted? Is there a marketing plan?

Unfortunately, there are more than a few event disasters and sponsors have been burned. Check them out - do your homework - don’t believe everything you read or hear.

4. IS THE PROPERTY CLUTTERED WITH OTHER SPONSORS?

Is your company able to “rise above” the logo soup on the event poster? A recent, very high profile event in Vancouver had (at last count) a total of 24 sponsors’ logos on the event poster - 10 “primary/major” sponsors, 5 at the next level, 3 at the next and 6 media partners. I would venture to say that the only people who notice the logos are the sponsors themselves and other promoters checking out prospective sponsors for their own event.

Think about visibility. Can we rise above the clutter through “ownership” - is there an opportunity to take title of the event or of a key, relevant component of the event? “Runs” are a great example of this; Temporarily Yours has taken ownership (title) of to the corporate division of the Vancouver Sun Run.

As a sponsor, be prepared to pay more to reduce the clutter within the event - it’s worth it if all other selection criteria are met. Differentiate yourself in the market and take “ownership” of key, relevant components of the property. If there aren’t any opportunities for “ownership, either find some or move on to another property.

5. IDENTIFY WHETHER THE RIGHTS FEE (THE DOLLARS REQUIRED TO SECURE THE SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS) JUSTIFY THE VALUE OF THE BENEFITS

It probably does not. How do you know if the sponsorship fee is worth it? You can buy a very sophisticated, easy to use and very reasonable, tailor made software program (Canadian) that allows you to input your selection criteria, develop respective benchmarks and measure how effectively different properties will meet these criteria.

Do your homework - what are the rights fees for other properties in the market offering similar benefit packages?

REMEMBER - negotiate. Everything (almost) is negotiable. As a sponsor, you are a shareholder in the event - not the banker. It is not your responsibility to underwrite the cost of the event - it is your responsibility to ensure that your corporate marketing objectives are being met through strategic sponsorship investments.

Finally, here are a few trends and statistics to consider in developing your sponsorship portfolio and differentiating yourself in the market:

• Female sports properties will always dominate. e.g. HSBC’s recent title sponsorship of the Women’s Tennis Event at Jericho Tennis Club.
• 76% of consumers will change brands if the company is associated with a cause they care about - Cone/Roper Trends Report ‘99 e.g. Nike Womans 8k Run. The most successful sponsorship programs are built on the concept of developing Long Term Strategic Partnerships. Take the time to know your partners, know why you’re involved and how your objectives will be measured.

SPONSORSHIP IS AN EXPENSIVE VENTURE - PLAN FOR IT.

5 Ways to Create a Life Portfolio
by David Corbett

Life spans have increased and will continue to edge upward, even as older Americans are becoming more vital. That has yielded a new life stage—the first since social scientists identified adolescence a century ago. It’s extended middle age, anywhere from age 50 to 90.

Old approaches to retirement are obsolete in light of this change and we have new opportunities to make this new stage meaningful. The way to do this is to adopt a life planning model called a life portfolio. It’s a “portfolio” because, like a collection of stocks and bonds, it is an integrated mix of personal holdings or assets. But this one covers the gifts, values, passions and pursuits that make you who you are.

Building your life portfolio is all about making choices. It’s never too soon to create one. All of this takes planning of course and a life portfolio is indeed a strategic plan. It has short and long-term goals to keep us on track and set realistic expectations for ourselves and our families.

However, fundamentally, it is an orientation to life—one spanning yesterday’s accomplishments, today’s goals and tomorrow’s legacies. To adopt it, you have to step back, question what you may have learned about “retirement,” and be willing to envision and plan new possibilities.

Since one can begin to weave a life portfolio as early as one’s twenties, even as careers are pursued, and because it may last thirty or forty more years afterward, a portfolio can actually have more impact in shaping adulthood, than a career. Careers in short, have a shelf life; portfolios can be timeless. Start yours today.

How do you get a life portfolio? Here are five ways to begin:

1.) Work for pay or passion, but on your own terms.
You’ve spent your career working for others, and hopefully, you’ve enjoyed your work. But now you have the opportunity to love what you do. You might get paid monetarily, or the payoff might be that you experience bliss. However, you’ve waited for this chance your whole life and now, finally, the possibility is open to you.

2.) Learning and spiritual growth.
You may have missed the opportunity to get a degree, or an advanced degree, while you were getting established in your career and rising through the ranks. Or you may have had to say “no” to your inner voice that wanted to connect with nature, pray, or meditate more often. Well, now you have the time that you always used as an excuse. You can get that degree (or just take classes in whatever strikes your fancy). You can hike, or go to your house of worship, or explore your connection to the universe in whatever ways feel right to you – and you don’t have to wait for vacation time to do it.

3.) Recreation or down time.
If you’ve always wanted to take more time for yourself, you finally can. Activities that you always had to cram into your two or three-week vacation can now become ways in which you occupy much of your time. Whether you want to improve your golf game, become conversant in current movies and other aspects of pop culture, or travel to all the places you’ve never been – now is the time when you finally can indulge yourself. There’s nothing to stop you from turning down time into your best ever time.

4.) Connect with family and friends.
Sure, you’ve always loved your family and valued your friendships. But you’ve never had the time you wished you had to devote to building those relationships, because you were so busy with your career track. The good news is that it’s never too late to have the relationships you’ve always dreamed of. Now that you have the time to devote to your family and friends, you can finally strengthen those bonds and give the most important people in your life the attention they deserve and that you deserve to give them.

5.) Give back.
If you’ve spent your whole career accumulating wealth and material possessions, you’re not alone. You’ve had bills to pay and perhaps you’ve had children and grandchildren to support, but now that you’ve made it to retirement, you can take the pressure off yourself. You don’t have to acquire more wealth. Your kids can take care of themselves and your grandchildren have their parents to rely on for support. You can use your money, time, and energies in ways that please you. Do you want to contribute money to your community, house of worship, or an organization that matters to you? It’s done – if that’s your choice.