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Best Advice on Alcohol, Transportation, Etc.

By Fern Glazer

How do you limit your liabilities when alcohol is served at a company event?

Shattuck: You always plan as much as possible for any worst-case scenario. It requires good research on insurance and on your venue.

Krotman: If the concern is that great, you might consider not having alcohol. We've had clients, huge events, with no alcohol. We've put signs up at events that say, 'No alcohol will be served at this event since we will be getting high on the spirit of the event.'

Schron: As the meeting planning company, we pass the liability for the serving of alcohol at any function which we're managing to the client and include a disclaimer in our contracts.

Needle: You have to get the proper permits from the town or county. Make sure you have car and taxi service available for people as they are leaving. You can also print up signage that says, in a nice way, don't let friends drink and drive. It's really about being aware and checking at the gate. It's a moral responsibility. Even if you're hired by a client, it's your event; they're still your guests.

I'm planning an event on a yacht and I'm concerned about people getting home afterwards, since the pier is in a part of town underserved by public transportation. Any suggestions?

Krotman: Have the client rent a bus, a limo or a jitney to transport people to and from the parking lot. It kind of starts and ends the party. We've had entertainers, favors, a little piece of chocolate on the bus/limo.

Shattuck: There are also other practical solutions…provide a list of transportation options and send it to people or include it in the invitation.

Schron: This is more often the case than not and we usually will arrange for both pre- and post-event transportation for our client's guests by chartering limos and/or motor coaches to solve the problem, scheduling departures and return trips to and from the pier from a central location convenient to public transportation … sometimes using a hotel or a parking garage as the gathering place for the roundtrip.

Needle: I would have chartered luxury coaches traveling back and forth to a checkpoint. That way the party can continue once people disembark from the boat.

My client wants a post-event report. What are the important points to include?

Krotman: It's really critical to generate a pre-event overview outlining the goals…so you can have a basis for measuring the event. The most important thing is: Did you reach your goals? In order to answer that, you have to have established them. We have a set of categories…all the elements of an event. We do an evaluation on each item.

Schron: Aside from providing a cost analysis of the event, to evaluate a meeting or incentive program, we will provide our client's guests with a questionnaire asking their opinion of the content of the meeting or the incentive program; the quality of the venue chosen for it; the selection of food and beverage for group functions; the accessibility of the site where the meeting or incentive program was held; the most important thing they took away from the meeting/incentive; and what they would like added or eliminated to the agenda or program.

Needle: The number one concern of the client is budget. We do a spreadsheet for the financials… everything is broken down. Also, point out where you were able to save money creatively. What the goals were and how you met and exceeded them. If it's an annual event, I like to create new ideas for the following year so I can leave the client with something to think about if he or she wants to hire me again.