Questions to Ask an Event Planner: The Essential Vetting Guide
Selecting an event planner or production partner is one of the highest-leverage decisions in any program. The right choice protects budget, eliminates friction, and elevates the attendee experience; the wrong choice increases risk and forces last-minute heroics. A thoughtful vetting process—grounded in clear, targeted questions—reveals how a planner thinks, staffs, manages vendors, controls costs, and handles the unexpected.
Use the questions and guidance below to evaluate capabilities with confidence, align on expectations early, and set the foundation for reliable, repeatable success.
Core capabilities: what to uncover first
Begin by clarifying core focus areas. Ask, “What is your core business and typical program scope?” A planner whose day-to-day work spans strategy, content/speaker management, technical production, and showcalling will be better equipped than a vendor who primarily rents gear or books venues on commission.
Request concrete examples: “Share two programs similar in size and complexity. What were the objectives, constraints, and outcomes?” Probe the operational backbone with, “What does your production documentation look like—run of show, cue-to-cue, site plans, and safety plans—and when do we receive drafts?” Finally, test for scale and consistency: “Can your core team travel for roadshows, and how do you maintain quality across different cities and venues?”
Budgeting and Pricing: What to Expect and Negotiate
Money isn’t just numbers—it’s risk allocation and scope clarity. Start with, “How do you estimate and present costs?” Prefer a detailed scope with itemized labor (A1, V1, LD, PM, stage manager), equipment, scenic, and third-party expenses (power, rigging, internet, union labor, parking, drayage). Ask, “Which costs are fixed versus variable? What triggers change orders?” to illuminate scope boundaries. Clarify inclusions: rehearsals, tech checks, overnights, travel/per diems, rush edits for video, platform fees for hybrid, captioning, and backup internet.
Negotiation starts with transparency. Ask, “Where can we scale up or down without compromising experience?” Strong planners will protect essentials (intelligible audio, camera-ready lighting, clean power plan, realistic install/strike windows) while offering tradeoffs on noncritical scenic or lighting looks. Probe vendor relationships: “Do you accept commissions from venues or in-house AV? How do you ensure we aren’t paying double markups?” If the planner is independent, ensure contract language preserves the right to use preferred vendors without penalties or “access” fees.
For cash-flow and governance, ask, “What is the payment schedule? How do deposits, hold fees, and cancellation terms work? Can cancellation fees be credited to future events?” Establish a policy for content lock deadlines and approvals to avoid overtime and rush costs.
Logistics and Vendor Management: Ensuring Seamless Execution
Event execution fails where handoffs are weak. Ask, “Who owns vendor coordination and how is the communications plan structured?” A robust answer includes one primary point of contact, weekly cross-vendor check-ins, and a detailed comms matrix. Ask, “How do you integrate venue teams?” and look for early venue letter submissions with power/rigging/internet requirements, floor plans, load-in/load-out timelines, and room protection protocols.
For multi-speaker agendas, content and speaker management is the difference between calm and chaos. Ask, “How do you manage decks, last-minute changes, and teleprompter/confidence monitors?” A best-practice approach centralizes assets, standardizes 16:9 templates, embeds media as .mp4, and provides live operator support with redundant playback and mirrored show laptops. Clarify expectations for rehearsal cadence, mic technique coaching, stage movement guidance, and backup plans for speaker no-shows.
If the program travels, ask, “Can your core team travel with us, and how do you source local labor?” Prefer a hybrid model: a traveling core (producer, PM, showcaller, lead audio/lighting) plus trusted local crews for efficiency. Ask, “How do you validate local labor quality and ensure safety and compliance?” Look for references, insurance verification, and standard operating procedures.
Risk Management and Contingency Planning: Preparing for the Unexpected
Plans are necessary; contingencies are essential. Start with, “What are your top risk areas for this program and how are you mitigating them?” Expect specifics: RF coordination and battery policies for mics; power redundancies (clean, adequate circuits, backup UPS for critical positions); hardline internet with backup bonding for hybrid/stream; egress and emergency plans; and weather or transportation contingencies for outdoor or complex venues.
Ask, “What redundancies do you build into show-critical systems?” Look for secondary encoders for streaming, mirrored playback machines, spare microphones, duplicate clickers, and printed show flows for every station. For health and safety, ask, “What is your plan for attendee well-being and accessibility?” Captions, step-free routes, quiet rooms, dietary clarity, and first-aid protocols should be normalized, not exceptional.
Finally, clarify escalation. “When something goes wrong on show day, who makes the call, and how do we get informed?” The answer should highlight a named incident commander (usually the producer or PM), a decision tree, and a tight feedback loop that prioritizes the attendee experience and executive visibility without derailing the show.
Questions to ask (and strong signals to look for)
- What is your core business and recent programs most like ours? Strong signal: concrete outcomes, constraints, and lessons learned, not just sizzle.
- Who will staff our show, and how many shows like this has each key lead run? Strong signal: a seasoned showcaller/PM with backups named.
- How do you manage content and last-minute executive changes? Strong signal: centralized asset management, version control, and rehearsal discipline.
- How do you integrate with the venue and in-house AV without cost surprises? Strong signal: early venue letter, power/rigging estimates, and explicit non-penalty clauses for preferred vendors.
- What’s in your run-of-show and cue-to-cue, and when do we see v1? Strong signal: dates for drafts, stakeholder review cycles, and tech rehearsal schedules.
- What redundancies protect show-critical elements? Strong signal: secondary encoders, ISO camera records, battery plans, spare mics/clickers, and labelled contingencies in the show flow.
Red flags that warrant a deeper look
- Vague pricing with “we’ll know once we’re onsite.”
- No clear show documentation or resistance to cue-to-cue detail.
- Inability to travel with a core team or no process for vetting local labor.
- Reliance on venue exclusives without transparency into markups or commissions.
- No clearly named incident commander or escalation process.
How to compare proposals beyond price
Normalize proposals by creating a comparison matrix: labor roles and hours, equipment with quantities and models, third-party/venue pass-throughs (power, rigging, internet, union), install/strike windows, rehearsal time, content deadlines, and redundancies.
Score each planner on transparency, feasibility of schedule, quality of documentation, and alignment to non-negotiables. If the lowest bid removes critical rehearsals, power redundancy, or clean audio, it’s not cheaper; it’s risk deferred.
Asking the right questions reveals how an event production company thinks under pressure, documents reality, and protects the audience experience. Prioritize teams that bring clarity to scope and budget, discipline to logistics and vendor management, and rigor to contingency planning. The most valuable deliverable a planner provides isn’t gear or décor—it’s confidence that every moment will land on time, on message, and on brand.
