The Standard 8 June 2014

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4 THE STANDARD STYLE / WOMAN / FASHION June 8 to 14 2014
June 8 to 14 2014 THE STANDARD STYLE / WOMAN / INSPIRATION 5 EXPERIENCING my PASSION CONTINUED PART 4 EVENT Management is definitely not for the faint hearted. The characteristics that come to mind when I think about my line of work are: passionate; organised; patient; tolerant; understanding; enthusiastic; flexible – to mention just a few. An event manager needs to be cool, calm and collected. You have to have good people and communication skills in order to be effective. Time management is essential. The ability to think on your feet and manage a crisis without going into panic mode is critical. Events are all about creativity and attention to detail, and normally it’s the seemingly small but extremely significant details that are forgotten. I have also learnt, however, that no matter how long and detailed your checklist may be, there will always be situations you will find yourself in, that are neither on that checklist, nor are they found in any of your “Wedding Planning 101” books. There are so many details that I would never have considered, until I was faced with a situation that revealed a gap in my plans. Imagine a wedding ceremony procession. The groom and groomsmen walk down the aisle to the altar, followed by the bridesmaids and the flower girls. At that moment when the bride’s song starts playing she turns to me and says “Rufaro, where is my brother? He is supposed to be giving me away!” All eyes are on the bride, the groom is watching his bride standing at the back of the church, wondering why she is not walking down the aisle. And I had no idea where her brother was. I finally got hold of him on the phone, and he was 22kms away from the venue. So, I managed the crisis, but learnt that this is a significant detail that I needed to add to my checklist. My role as an event manager is to plan, advise, recommend, organise, coordinate, mediate, manage and control an event. I wear the bride and the groom’s hats – and very often, these are different hats. I also wear the family hat, because it is my personal belief that a wedding is a family event and they should not be side-lined, but final decisions should be made by the bride and the groom. When it comes to family, communication and mediation skills need to be at their best. An event manager has to see things from everyone’s perspective and have the ability to communicate well at all levels. Every event is a project. I research on “what’s hot, and what’s not” in order to create a unique event for my clients. One of the most challenging parts of event management is finding the right event vendors. The service providers that you choose to work with can either make you or break you. Every event manager needs to be well connected, and have an extensive network of reliable, professional event service providers. You also need to insist to your client that you only work with vendors who are tried and trusted. Many clients fail to understand why this is so important to an event manager. It takes one unprofessional service provider to destroy your good reputation. With a corporate event, you may get lucky and be given another chance to redeem yourself at their next event, but with a wedding – it’s a once in a lifetime event that cannot be re-done. Now, if you’ve been following my story, you will know that I have learnt many lessons from past experience. It’s one of the best and most stressful ways to learn how to be efficient. So when it comes to event vendors and their services, I will insist that my clients make their decisions within my recommendations. I insist on this before they hire me. I will give them at least 4 options to choose from, and each of these options are tried and trusted. If they refuse to work with my recommendations, I will not take them on as clients. This may sound unreasonable, but in this business, all eyes are on you at the event manager. Even if I did not endorse the company that is making the wedding cake, when that cake collapses on the wedding day, all eyes are on me. If I did not recommend the DJ, and he suddenly announces 5 minutes before the ceremony, that he doesn’t have the bride’s processional song, that bride will probably be upset with me for a very long time after her wedding even though she chose the DJ herself – and people tend to share their bad experiences much more than the good ones. Yes I have had to deal with a cake collapsing at a wedding. I have had an unpleasant experience with an MC who needed copious amounts of “Dutch” courage in order to direct an event. He kept taking short breaks, and we eventually realised that he was inebriated when he started to insult some of the guests, and even invited one of the waiters to give a speech. Then there was a new caterer I decided to try out – this company came highly recommended from a friend. So I set up a tasting dinner with the caterer and my client. The caterer arrived for the tasting dinner 2 hours late and forgot to bring some of the dishes he had prepared. The tasting dinner was at the bride’s home, her parents and the groom’s parents were in attendance. The food was a disaster. When my clients voiced their concerns, his excuse was that his mother normally does the cooking and she was currently on holiday. So I was guilty by association. If I had been the client I would have lost confidence in the event manager. As an event manager, you always have your clients’ best interests and desires at heart, but this should not be at the expense of your business. You have to have your professional boundaries, because your image is important. If a client is not willing to work with your terms and conditions, sometimes it is better to walk away if you feel that your image will be compromised. Most of an event manager’s business comes through referrals, so you would rather turn down a client to save your reputation. I am only as good as my last event. Rufaro Mushonga
Page 1 and 2: The Standard BEST SUNDAY READ US$1/
Page 3 and 4: Local News The Standard June 8 to 1
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Page 13 and 14: Feature The Standard June 8 to 14 2
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Page 31 and 32: The Standard StyleISSUE JUNE 8 TO 1
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Page 49 and 50: THE STANDARD STYLE FAMILY Chapfunga
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The Standard 8 June 2014

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