Hiring an events agency: what to know before you start

A good events agency guides the whole journey from A to Z. It starts with a strategic brief: what do you want to achieve, and for whom? From there they develop a concept that fits your organisation.

After that, they arrange everything. They scout and book the venue. They put together the programme and entertainment and coordinate the technical production. They also select the catering and manage the invitation process. Plus budget and supplier management. On the day itself, they handle full coordination and direction.

The advantage: you have a single point of contact for everything. No hassle with ten different suppliers, no stress about details. And no surprises.

Not every events agency is the same. When choosing, what matters is experience with your type of event, creative quality, transparent costs, a personal click and good references.

Always ask for an introductory meeting. A good agency invests time in understanding your situation before making a proposal. Be wary of agencies that come straight in with a standard package without asking any questions.

At Live Impact, we always start with a no-obligation chat. We want to know who you are, what drives you and what the event needs to deliver. Only then do we start dreaming things up.

The cost of an events agency usually consists of two components: a fee for the guidance and the pass-through of supplier costs.

The agency fee ranges from 10 to 20 per cent of the total budget, or a fixed amount depending on size. For a complete event, you can reckon on:

Small event (50 to 100 people): €2,000 to €5,000 agency fee.
Mid-sized event (100 to 300 people): €5,000 to €15,000 agency fee.
Large event (300+ people): €15,000 to €30,000+ agency fee.

An agency often pays for itself. Think better supplier rates, avoiding costly mistakes and saving hundreds of hours of internal organising time.

The trade-off is simple: how much time do you have, and how important is the result?

Organising it yourself quickly takes 200 to 400 hours for a mid-sized event. That's time you're not spending on your actual job. On top of that, you miss the creativity and experience an agency brings.

An agency saves time and often delivers a better result. Not because you can't do it yourself, but because they do it every day. They know the pitfalls, have the contacts and know what works for which audience.

The ideal scenario: you decide the what (goal, audience, budget), the agency decides the how (concept, programme, production).

A good partnership with an events agency unfolds in phases.

Phase 1: Brief and concept. You share the brief, the agency develops a concept and presents the proposal with a budget.

Then: development. Once approved, the agency works everything out: venue, suppliers, programme and communication.

Next: production. In the weeks before the event, we finalise every detail and build the run sheet. We also run technical checks.

On the day itself: delivery. The agency coordinates everything. You can focus on your guests.

Finally: evaluation. Afterwards we look back together. We share lessons and determine the return.

At Live Impact you get a dedicated project team: a concept thinker, a project manager and a producer. People who treat your event as if it were their own party.

Get in touch for a no-obligation chat. Send a brief via live-impact.nl/briefing.

Call us on 085 401 40 14 or email hello@live-impact.nl.

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