Calling the Pros: Why NPR Decided to Partner with Kennedy Events
As much as we would love to pretend that event planning is nothing but throwing glamorous parties all day, the team here at Kennedy Events knows that the devil is in the details. Sometimes the most important person in the room is the person emptying the overflowing trash can or dropping off timely snacks to your backstage crew. Creating a seamless event is dependent upon laying the groundwork first so that the visual elements can shine.
Our recent collaboration with NPR and the How I Built This Summit with Guy Raz is a perfect example. The event, held in San Francisco, was the second year for the Summit. We connected when the team at NPR acknowledged that while you can do everything yourself, sometimes you shouldn’t.
After a successful first year, the NPR team wanted to grow the scope and audience of the event and recognized that it was time to pull in an expert team to act as an extension of their own events team. That’s where Project Managers Marianne Jackson and Robin Smiley stepped in. Over the course of nearly 800 hours of teamwork, Marianne and Robin helped alleviate the pressure of planning an event that would be held on the opposite coast from their Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Managing Resources
Understanding the workflow of a large scale event is also crucial. Taking NPR’s successful first year as a launchpad, Marianne and Robin were able to refine processes so that the entire event ran more smoothly. Providing signage that directed traffic flow was a start. Utilizing the event space for multiple functionalities helped get the most bang for the buck in terms of labor and materials so that more of the budget could focus on higher impact elements like an incredible family-style lunch for 280 VIP guests.
Feeding the Masses
At Kennedy Events, we know that ensuring guests and staff are well-nourished with delicious healthy food can turn a meh event into a spectacular one. Not only did Marianne arrange for timely meals and snacks for the guests but she also paid extra special attention to feeding the behind-the-scenes crew inclusive of 40 NPR staff, 10 KE team members, and 20 vendors. She understands the importance of catering to individual needs, like vegan or gluten-free meals to make sure everyone feels their fueling needs are met. This attention to detail allowed the NPR team to put their energy toward the task they came to do: inspire and engage with their audience.
Leveraging Relationships
One of the challenges of planning an event across the country is knowing who to call. With her well-developed list of vendors in hand, our dynamic duo was able to not only find the best vendors for NPR’s needs but also do it either on or under budget; from a talented photographer to shoot the entire event to impressive projection mapping to light up the main stage.
According to NPR Project Manager John Isabella, those vendor relationships were vital: “Both Marianne and Robin were clearly dedicated to helping NPR minimize event expenses; they helped us make wise vendor selections, leveraged their connections to secure rates that met our budget, and guided us in managing relationships with vendors. This was a huge benefit of working with KE that we would not have been able to do on our own.”
What’s Your Next Event?
Are you an idea person who needs help with the logistics of event planning? If so, we would love to chat about how to bring your vision to life. Send us a note and we’ll be touch in soon.
Maggie Kennedy is the co-owner of Kennedy Events; a large-scale event management company based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. Our team creates stress-free conferences and events with a positive impact, which allow our clients to resonate with their audience. Kennedy Events specializes in producing flawless product launches, award ceremonies, fundraisers and multi-day conferences while keeping our eye on retention and engagement goals
MAGGIE KENNEDY
