The call comes down from on high, your company or client is now going to involve procurement in the planning, staging and production of events and meetings. UH-OH.

Yes, there is room to be concerned, but since you can not fight this one it is best to get on board early and learn the systems that will now be in place. We (OnSite Events) work with our clients that have implemented these strategies to keep costs down. In most cases it has been painless, in others not so much.

The biggest effect we see as a third party planning firm is that procurement departments treat events like widgets rather than living breathing things. Sometimes it is difficult to quantify the ROI of a particular event, things drastically change at the last minute or the scope of work gets re-written over and over. As planners, we already plan for this and adapt as required.

In order for the procurement solution to be effective across the enterprise, planners must be involved in implementation of a procurement solution, not simply told that they must now adhere to new regulations. Procurement departments need to understand that we as planners take pride in keeping event costs as low as possible; in fact we thrive on it. As successful meeting and event professionals, whether in-house or third party we are a companies champion and look after its pocketbook and best interests. As a third party planner, if OnSite Events comes in under budget while reaching the stated event goals, we keep the client. If an in-house planner does the same, they keep their job.

Procurement Managers need to understand that the widget model will not work and is sometimes counter productive to a companies best interests. If a company loses a venue, hotel location or preferred rate because budgets are held up while awaiting approval, they are actually responsible for costing a company additional funds.

My two cents on the subject are this. Procurement is not our enemy, in the proper setting and environment they can actually be beneficial and help large organizations keep costs controlled across the enterprise. In order to be successful, they must include the planning experts at the earliest possible time. Remember, if you thought enough about an individual to hire them as an in-house planner, or enough about a third party planning company to contract us, use our expertise to make your cost wrangling goals achievable while keeping your needs, goals and reputation intact.