Event Professionals' Frustrations

Every industry has its frustrations. Event professionals are no exception. After talking with photographers, DJs, venue managers and others, the following list of the most common issues we face on an all too frequent basis was created. The issues are presented in no particular order.

• People who make appointments and then don't show up or call to cancel. This is a huge time waster, particularly if the event professional was meeting the potential client somewhere other than the professional's office.
• People who are chronically late - for appointments, for meetings and even on the big day.
• People who leave messes and walk away, leaving it up to the event planner, caterer or others to clean up because our reputation with the venue is at stake.
• People who don't read. They ask for bids, quotes and detailed plans but then don't read the information provided.
• People who are rude, treating vendors like servants, yet would never tolerate reciprocal behavior from their vendors.
•  People who fail to pay for services rendered in a timely manner. This is critically important if a vendor paid for items for the client, such as food or rentals, and needs to be reimbursed before the credit card bill arrives, or perhaps an assistant or independent contractor needs to be paid.

Hopefully, you don't see yourself in any of the above. Please remember that event professionals are business owners and managers whose reputations and income are at stake when someone fails to do their part to make an event go smoothly. Lets all think before we act and consider the impact of our actions.