Travel Directors
Handling the details of event operations
During the planning stages of an event, the event planner can manage all the different aspects of an event themselves, but once the event begins the planner can only be in one place at a time. They may have VIP arrivals, speaker rehearsals, event registration and amenity deliveries all happening at once in different places. This is where Travel Directors (or TDs for short) come in. An experienced team of TDs will handle the details and minutia of event operations so that the planner can focus on the big picture, their clients, and manage their team.
What is a Travel Director?
Travel Directors (also called TDs, Freelancers, Onsite Meeting Managers or Trip Directors) are event operations specialists with expertise in logistics, hospitality and event management. TDs bring the best practices from the entire event industry with them wherever they go, and with limited instruction can quickly understand the operational needs of an event.
TDs are typically brought on to the team just before an event and stay through the execution and post event reconciliation. TDs’ expertise includes Transportation, Food and Beverage, Meeting Rooms, AV, Hotel Room Management, VIPs, Amenities, Registration, Table Seating, Staff Management, Vendor and Venue Management and Billing.
When to use Travel Directors
A perfectly planned event can be a failure if it is not executed properly. Event planners must rely on many people to execute their events – volunteers, coworkers, or internal staff usually do not have the expertise or even the desire to work the way you need them to for your event to be a success. Hiring your own team of TDs who share your goals and are working only for you is valuable. Mistakes on events can be highly visible and affect your brand or client relationships. You cannot do everything yourself, so hire professional Travel Directors to be your right and left hands and make sure everything goes smoothly.
Who uses Travel Directors?
Any company who needs to have reliable, professional event management uses TDs. You have probably been working with TDs on your events already and did not know it. They might be working for the production agency or your third-party planning agency or even a Destination Management Company. TDs become an extension of their client’s team and keep their interest in mind while managing event operations.
