Growth & Jobs | Planning for successful events

Two weeks after Stacey- Ann Stoddart decided to take the bold step of venturing in the events planning industry, she received her first contract with one of Jamaica's renowned companies to organise their booth for the Jamaica 50 celebrations.

This encouraged Stoddart to persist with what is known today as Tomorrow's Event Solutions for Today (TEST), where they specialise in planning weddings, festivals, parties, among other social happenings. They do conferences as well.

Stoddart noted that in addition to having an innate passion for decorating, her business partner Glendon Watson and herself come with years of experience and are trained professionally.

"I've always loved event planning because my mother loves decor. My house always looked different, we had no one way of designing our house, so I always knew that eventually I would venture into something of that nature.

"Also, I was blessed enough to work in the event production field, so that sort of introduced me to the world of events. I have been in events production for close to 15 years," she said.

The boss of the four-year-old company noted that even though she continues to battle numerous challenges daily, she is consistently learning that with good marketing strategies and creative professionalism, persons can enjoy huge success in planning events.

Potential in everything

"There is potential in everything. The thing with event planning is that it has a domino effect and there are always events taking place. For example, when you host an event, especially in the Jamaican context, people are going to think of doing their hair, so the hairdresser benefits. People are going to want clothes, so the fashion players benefit. People are going to have to eat, so chefs, caterers and even the man on the corner will get a slice of the cake. Even security companies benefit," she explained.

'It goes right down to the soup man on the corner'

"Taxes are also involved so the Government benefits from events planning," says Stacey Ann Stoddart. "It's a ripple effect, it goes right down to the soup man on the corner, depending on the event."

She added, "You cannot host an event without understanding risk assessment and risk management."

In addition to making her business international, Stoddart wants philantrophy to be a big part of her production, indicating that she wants to do whatever she can to reach the less fortunate.