Executive Dinner Programs

ROI Calculator

In-house means a hire, a ramp and a year of salary before the first guest sits down. An agency means one number per dinner. Put your own figures in.

Your numbers

50%
Venue sourcing, vendor calls, run-of-show, confirmations, no-show chasing, on-site.
50%
Invite list build, outreach sequencing, follow-up.

Modelled on a two-dinner-a-month program, 20 guests, and $13,000 of venue, food, AV, print and gifting per night at California loaded (Employer Taxes) rates.

What you are actually risking

A bespoke agency exposes you to one number: the fee per dinner you book. A hire exposes you to a range, and the bottom of that range is not zero. Even a hire who works out costs you the search and the ramp before the first guest sits down.

3
6
3
35%
20%

At risk with a hire, likely

$0

At risk with a bespoke agency, exactly

$0

  • Hiring: likely, between best and worst case
  • Bespoke agency: exact, per dinner booked
What you are exposed toHiringBespoke agency

Running it in-house

$0

Bespoke event agency

$0

What the event budget shows, and what the night costs

  • In the event budget
  • In payroll, never re-aggregated

Where the money actually goes

Cost lineIn-houseBespoke agencyWhose budget it lands in

One honest note: this compares labour to labour. Venue, food, AV and gifting are paid either way: and you hold those contracts directly, so you keep the pricing leverage and nothing is marked up. The saving is on the people, not on the program.

Want this written up with your numbers?

We will send the analysis back with your figures in it, plus a short note on which market and format we would run first.

Your figures are used to prepare that note and nothing else.

Quartermaster Studio