Manager George Portes Shares Insightful Advice for Hiring Qualified Event Staff

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George Portes George Portes
George Portes

Senior Event Manager George Portesof Gaithersburg, MD is a multi-award winning manager who delivers outstanding service and client satisfaction. He shares insight into event staffing through expert hiring tips below.

George Portes is an experienced Senior Event Manager who maintains a reputation for superior event coordination, comprehensive management, and a knack for hiring qualified event staff. In 2014, he and his colleagues received an Award for best Easter Region Event Management of the year for increased Revenue Creation and Overall Satisfaction.

He has years of experience to back up his decision making and intimately understands the characteristics required of quality event staff. In this way, he appropriately matches the needs of each of his clients’ events with an exceptional and qualified team.

“First thing, you’ll need to determine your need,” says George Portes. “Sometimes you can hire a smaller, more specialized crew that can handle a larger or high-profile event. Sometimes an event requires more hands than a small set of individuals can provide. You’ll have to determine client expectations and figure out how you can meet that need before you call in your first interviewee.”

Understanding exactly what the event will require is paramount, George Portes says. From there, you can build up to meet or exceed client expectations by setting goals your staff can meet. After figuring out the requirements, he advises that event managers or coordinators establish a strict budget that will define the limits of their hiring.

A budget will help determine the perfect candidates and assist in choosing between a small specialized team (which is likely to cost more) or a larger group (who may not have as much experience). Not all managers know how to work within their budget, but George Portes says that staying within a budget is a hallmark of any quality event manager.

Next, he advises using people or groups who you’ve worked with in the past to staff an event. This firsthand experience of the staff’s success or failures will give hiring managers more peace of mind and will help ensure they deliver exactly what’s expected.

However, hiring staff that a manager has worked with in the past isn’t always an option. In those circumstances, George Portes suggests seeking out recommendations from other event groups or professional connections. Hiring this way will lend more credibility to the candidates and will help managers staff a crew with proven experience that can undoubtedly meet expectations.

Lastly, George Portes advises that all candidates undergo a thorough interviewing process. He suggests asking about the events they’ve worked on in the past, whether they’ve worked independently or on a team, whether they have experience with task management software or technology, and their availability among other things.

“Really get to know your candidates in the interviews,” says George Portes, “and make sure no questions go unasked. When it’s time for the event, the staff’s performance will be reflected mostly on the event managers so you’ll want to go in knowing you have a truly professional team behind you.”

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