I recently moderated my first Twitter Chat for #Eventprofs. For those who don’t know or have not participated yet, it is a thriving community of progressive event professionals, connecting via Twitter to share ideas, debate topics and collaborate for industry growth.

This group was started by Lara McCulloch who has served as President of ISES in Toronto and also is the Director of Marketing at Regal Tent Productions. She’s got a really cool event blog too!

I had the opportunity to chat with a variety of Event Industry vets with varying perspectives on the topic for the eve. I went ahead and just summarized the chat so that it would be readable, so you all may see your comments kind of mixed throughout!

Creative Proposals: Should we as event planners submit full creative proposals to a new client before signing a contract? Is it possible to just give them a little while keeping the rest of the cards in your back pocket? They must be comprehensive but consensus says you don’t need to give it all away.

The issue: We’re asked to spend days or even possibly weeks on crafting these time consuming creative ideas for an event, all the while there are other contenders, sometimes many. This is fine and I encourage clients to do their due dillengence. However, if a client likes your ideas but has someone willing to do it cheaper, they can take your ideas and have the lower priced competitor execute. We have no regulations and we don’t charge to write a proposal as done in other industries, so we’re prone to be taken advantage of.

Proprietary Clauses and Charging: Can we put a proprietary clause in? And can we charge a fee and then have it go towards our management fee? Why can’t we add an intellectual property clause in stating there’s a fee if used without permission and actually bill a client for it. Lawyers cost & ideas travel fast, wouldn’t it be hard to press charges?

If every company charges a design fee, how does the client justify paying multiple bidders including those who don’t win? I personally think the client should refund the losers and have the winning bidder take it out of the management fee. I mentioned that recently I had to actually pay a $50 fee to submit an RFP…what kind of craziness is that??

The Event Planning Industry: Are we that unstructured that we can’t make change? Do we have no rules and will we ever be a legit industry. Has it just grown without standards and will it take MASSIVE efforts to change?

The Idea or the Relationship?: We are in the relationship business. Ideas are huge, but will you win the bid if they don’t like you? I’d have to say it’s definetly a mix of both. You have to have good ideas and you have to do everything in your power to make them happy. Successful proposals are based on value. Events are commoditized. What do you offer that is unique and compelling? Isn’t that the very problem…a succesful proposal will be unique and compelling; then they take your idea!!

Our group consisted of:

@Mizcity- Native NYC Psychologist -Event Planner, enjoys good times with good people.

@GreenA_V- Owner and Chief AVGirl of Pulse Staging, (green) AV Production for meetings & events. Happy Tweets come from Happy Tweeps

@CiaraDaykin- Rockstar Wedding Planner and Event Planner. Wedding planning and planner of live speaking events for entrepreneurs. Coach to wedding planners.

@PinkDeb- CEO and Creative Director of Pink Inc. We design & build Tension Fabric Structures for events, exhibits, interiors, for agencies, architects, designers

@Ready2Spark- brand strategist turned event professional, industry advocate, founder of Eventprofs + social media lover . blog author . speaker . and sky diver

@Train2Meet- Meetings & Events Industry Trainer/Speaker/Facilitator, Consultant, International Planner, and all around lover of all things meetings/events related

@dwheeler11- Sci-fi/80s alt music geek, working for Sybase managing events and social media marketing.

@AprilBroussard- # Bio Consultant, Speaker, Social Media Addict, Writer, Lover of Sweet Tea and Ballroom Dancing, Christian

@AKthe5th- No bio on your Twitter page AK? http://www.5thelementevents.com/

@MichaelMcCurry- Creative thinker by nature,Event Mgr by trade,Harley Rider Musician/Songwriter & blogger — Social Media advocate that loves gadgets,bears football & the Cubs!

@Laurie360- No bio on Twitter page? C’mon Laurie;)

@JimPelley- Funny Speaker【ツ】 / Humor Expert / Event Coach / Love Folsom Bike Trails / working to be more green / Culinary Cowboy

@JaredGoldberg- Community Manager for @5ElementEvents. My passions are music (trained vocalist), events and graphic design. I don’t like perfume or brown socks.

@iandavmcg- # Bio Executive Director, Strategy – GPJ Experience Marketing, Event / Experiential / Entertainment / Digital Marketer, AMA VP, ENTJ, Sailor, Geek, Scorpio, Dad

Thanks everyone for participating!

You’re invited to join the #Eventprofs chat on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. EST / 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. PST and Thursday 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST / 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. PST for our Event Professionals virtual tweetchat.
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