by Mahider Tadesse
Whether you’re planning a workshop, seminar, cocktail party, exhibition, or conference in Kigali, it is important to ensure that your international event runs smoothly. Depending on the size of your event, you can plan it yourself or hire an event planner in Kigali. Hiring an event planner in Kigali will save you from the stress while ensuring your event is the absolute best it can be.
Know What You Want For Your Kigali Event
What is the objective of your event? You need to set your goals before looking for an event planner in Kigali. Once you have the big picture, you need to work on your budget. Knowing how much you are willing to spend will help your event planner in Kigali pick the right venue and select service providers within your budget.
Define the tasks you want your event planner in Kigali to do and the tasks you and your team will do. Most event planners in Kigali will charge you depending on the services you render. For example, do you want your event planner to book guest accommodations, lodging, event venue, book ground transportation, and facilitate local communications?
Freelance Event Planner VS Event Planning Company
Deciding between a freelance event planner in Kigali and an event planning company in Kigali is crucial. There are pros and cons you need to consider before you make your decision.
Freelance Event Planners in Kigali
Before you go down the freelance event planner path here are some things you need to consider.
Saving
If your event in Kigali is small and you have the time to do the heavy lifting, hiring a freelance event planner will cost you only a fraction compared to hiring an event planning company in Kigali. Most freelance event planners in Kigali don’t have the required industry connections to save you money from different vendors.
Quality of Service
If you do your research well and hire a top-notch freelance event planner in Kigali, you can get a good service. Since freelancers don’t plan several events simultaneously, unlike event planning companies, your event planner will give your event the undivided attention it needs. Even though freelance event planners usually work on only one event at a time, remember this also means they have less experience than a seasoned event planning company. When hiring a freelance event planner in Kigali you have to be ready to run the show. Your event planner will be best fit as the second person in charge. Most freelance event planners in Kigali may not have the experience to help you solve major issues.
Time
Freelance event planners work solo, meaning it takes longer to get tasks done. If you are planning to hire a freelance event planner in Kigali you need to consider the lead time you have. Freelance event planners don’t have the same bandwidth as event planning companies to manage tasks in a short period of time.
Event Planning Companies in Kigali
A lot goes into planning a successful event. If you would like to plan an attention-grabbing event in Kigali, it is a great idea to hire an event planning company in Kigali. It is essential to hire an event planning company that understands the destination, boasts a proven record of planning successful events in Kigali, and has international and regional experience.
Cost
Kigali is a small market. Event planning companies in Kigali don’t have much competition. Therefore, it is hard to find qualified companies for a reasonable price. Due to lack of competition, event planning companies in Kigali charge 2 to 3 times more than their regional counterparts.
One way to gauge the markup is to compare your event venue rental and accommodation price directly from the hotel and the event planning company quote. If the markup is significantly high, you can directly source the event venue and hotels in Kigali.
Saving
If you select a great event planning company in Kigali you might save money. This is because event planning companies in Kigali have industry connections that give them better bargaining power than you. You can easily find out if the event planning company you plan to work with is saving you money by comparing the accommodation rate you get directly from hotels in Kigali vs. accommodation rate quoted by the event planning company in Kigali.
Local Kigali Knowledge
Despite taking care of nitty-gritty, you need to work with an event planning company with local Kigali understanding. Luckily, most local event planning companies in Kigali have sufficient knowledge to guide you to plan a successful event in Kigali.
International Standard
Even though most of the local event planning companies in Kigali have local knowledge it doesn’t necessarily mean they deliver a world-class service. Things that might seem simple, like getting a timely response to your email and meeting certain deadlines can be taken lightly. Try understanding how their event planning process works. Find out how they handle projects and how they set their priorities. Check how and how often they communicate with their clients.
Partner Vendors
Event planning companies in Kigali usually have a preferred vendor list. If you work with a transparent event planning company in Kigali, they won’t mind disclosing their vendor list. You need to check some of the high priority vendors to see if they can deliver a service to your event standard. If you don’t like some of the event planning company’s vendors make sure you are able to work with any vendor you prefer.
Reference
The event planning company you decide to work with will play a significant role in your event. You need to go the extra mile to make sure you make a good decision. Call a couple of their references and check if they have a case study for you to go through.
Once you find an event planner or event planning company in Kigali that checks everything on your lists. Get a detailed timeline for activities, budget and spell out your communication plan. You need to watch closely how your event planner or event planning company in Kigali charges you.
Even after picking the best event planner or event planning company in Kigali remember your work is just getting started. You need to work closely with your event planner or event planning company in Kigali to plan a successful event. You need to be updated regularly on every process and you need to provide updates from your side to your event planner or event planning company in Kigali. As the saying goes teamwork, makes the dream work.
Questions?
Are you looking to host an international event in Kigali? Let us help you! Hallpax has destination experts who are dedicated to making your event planning process enjoyable and stress-free. We are passionate about the cities we work with, and with our in-person presence in Africa, we help our clients navigate their cities of choice with ease.
