There's a question that sounds simple, yet even long-time event people sometimes stumble over it: "What do you do for a living?" Say "I organize events" and people picture a wedding or a party. Say "I produce events" and they often ask what that means. The word producer was borrowed from television and film, and it describes a role quite different from what most clients expect.
What is an event producer
An event producer is the person with overall responsibility for turning an event idea into a real product. The job usually has four parts: shaping the idea and goals with the client, building and holding the budget, choosing and coordinating suppliers, and making sure production is the right quality on the day.
What makes the role is more than knowing a lot of suppliers. It's being responsible for the final result as a product. When stage, lighting, sound, content and timing fit together, that's the producer's work. When one link is off, the producer is also the person answering to the client.
Compared with an event planner and an event manager
These three titles get mixed up often, but each stresses a different part of the job.
- Event planner: plans, finds venues, books services, tracks progress and handles logistics
- Event manager: runs the event, managing the operations team and suppliers on site on the day
- Event producer: owns the whole product, from the idea and budget to production, and usually decides the direction together with the client
The exhibition management training program's material also shows the layers inside a single large exhibition: someone in charge of strategy, an operations manager, floor managers (usually one per 150 booths or so) and temporary registration staff. On a small project, one person may play all three roles.
The article on the on-site operations team describes the day-of management side. This article looks at the production role at a higher level.
What a producer does at each stage
Early on, the producer asks more than answers. Which business goal does this event serve? Who are the guests really? What makes them come, and what makes them remember? The output is an event brief and a program concept.
In the middle stage, the producer builds the budget and negotiates with suppliers. This is where you need to understand both the craft and the numbers. The same stage can be built three ways at three prices, and the producer knows which one fits the goal without overspending to show off.
In the final stage, the producer runs the minute-by-minute script, checks the technical side and stands beside the operations team on the day. After the event, the producer compares results with the original goal, in the spirit of the post-show evaluation.
When you need an independent event producer
An ordinary event such as an internal gathering can be handled by the admin department or a turnkey service provider. An independent producer is worth hiring when at least one of these applies.
- The event has several different production areas to coordinate, such as stage, livestream, content and experience.
- You need one person working directly with leadership to turn business goals into a program.
- The event is community-based or industry-specific, and needs someone who understands the attendees' culture and language, as with tech or blockchain events.
- You've worked with turnkey providers several times and the results fell short.
An independent producer usually has no equipment or venue of their own. That's both a limit and an advantage, because they choose suppliers and venues to fit the goal rather than the other way around.
The skills that really make the difference
The usual list of skills includes project management, reading budgets, negotiation and stage technology. But three things that get mentioned less often decide the results.
First, knowing how to say no to an idea that is beautiful but doesn't serve the goal. Second, hearing what the client really wants beneath what they say. Third, staying calm when things go wrong, because something almost certainly will. The article on Emergency Readiness discusses how to prepare.
Choosing a producer or a turnkey company
There's no right answer for every case. A turnkey company is convenient if the event has a familiar format and the client wants a single contact to carry everything. An independent producer suits events that need a lot of personalization, or clients who want to separate choosing suppliers from the person doing the work, so prices are easier to compare.
A useful question when choosing is to ask: "If something goes wrong at 8 pm on the day of the event, who do I call?" Someone who can answer that specifically has usually been doing this long enough. If you're thinking about hiring a producer for an upcoming event, you can send a request through the quote page.
The work is worth doing because when everything runs right, nobody notices the person behind it.