26 Jun 09 Ordering Break Beverages for the Stressed Out Planner

Here’s a quick multiple choice quiz: If you have 100 people attending an event, how much coffee should you order for a morning break?

A. Lots! People drink more than one cup.
B. 1 cup for around 90% of the expected attendance
C. Tear out hair and close event planner business

The correct answer may be C depending on how panicked you are about ordering food and beverage for your meetings, and A used to be the answer. However, if you want to save your client money and do your reputation a favor, choose B. Why? Not everyone drinks coffee, and coffee is much more expensive per pound than it used to be, so plan on anywhere between 80% and 90%.

You should coach your client to provide some juice for attendees, as well as soft drinks and tea. You might also consider ordering milk, depending on the meeting and client. If you really want to be accurate for the client’s sake, you can possibly poll those attending for a final count. Check with your client on whether this can work or not.

One thing to be careful of is working with the beverage provider on the other side of this deal. Remember that they are in the business of selling their beverage–or the venue is responsible for selling and pricing it–so check both the price per gallon of beverage and the price per person. Choose what is the best value for your event.

Some venues insist on charging per person, however, and you should be wary of a final price. Ask the manager you work with to provide the details on how much is allocated for each participant, if all participants are counted, etc. During the event count the amount of beverage used so that you don’t pay for what your client does not get.

With a little bit of diligence beverage planning does not have to make you bald. Do a little homework for the best results and best price.

Tags: Attendance, Attendees, Beverages, Choice Quiz, Client Money, Coffee, Correct Answer, Diligence, Event Planner, Food And Beverage, Homework, Little Bit, Multiple Choice, Participant, Price Per Gallon, Reputation, Sake, Soft Drinks, T Pay, Venue