As a part of our sit-down with Naif Productions CEO, Annette Naif, we discussed the value of utilizing a speakers bureau when planning virtual, in-person, and/or hybrid events.

Jennifer Best: Speakers bureaus are actually really valuable. You mentioned an example earlier where you had a comedian booked at an event, talking to an audience and really just missing the mark, right?

Annette Naif: Yes.

Jennifer: Speakers bureaus, if they’re doing a good job, they prevent things like that from happening. They get to know the client. They get to know the client’s preferences. Who the audience is. What the topic is.

Then, they also get to know the talent. They get to know, is this person really on-topic? Not only that, they prep the talent. With the speakers bureau, there’s really a lot of things to know. I think in general, having a speakers bureau is always a good idea because you’ve got experienced people who are doing this day in and day out, whereas you’re putting on one event a year or maybe a couple of events a year depending on the size of your business.

I think it’s important to have a partner like that who you can rely on and you can go to and make sure they understand what your needs are. You can lean on them. It’s just one less thing you have to worry about, and they handle it from there.

Annette: Right.

Watch the video interview on our YouTube channel. For additional event planning resources, visit: aaespeakers.com/event-planning-resources