Event Architects To Know in 2024 - Jenny Bartkus, JPB Designs
Jenny Bartkus, JPB Designs, discusses how she builds and plans meetings and events in the evolving hospitality landscape of 2024.
Luke Whalin
May 27, 2024
Welcome to the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series, where we highlight event professionals making waves across the events industry to share lessons learned and raise awareness of their invaluable contributions.
Name: Jenny Bartkus
Company Name: JPB Designs
Job Title: Owner
Can you briefly tell us about your background in event planning and how you got started in the industry?
Truthfully, my story about getting into the events industry is one that generally makes other industry vendors cringe. However, after remaining in business for a successful 17 years, I can tell this story with pride!
Vendors never appreciate hearing that a planner came into this business after planning her own wedding. In my case, when I planned my wedding, I was planning it for out of state, moving across the country, and leading a high school English department. After the dust settled, I decided that I really enjoyed the type of stress that came along with wedding planning. Knowing I wanted to run a small business, I chose to get started in this industry. Many other vendors really don't value this because all too often, planners can leave the industry after a short stint. However, with many successful years of planning 100s of events, I'm happy to tell my journey!
How do you go about selecting the perfect hotel or venue? What factors weigh most heavily in your decision?
Before visiting a venue or hotel, I have extensive conversations with my clients about their vision, how they want their guests to feel, what type of vibe they are going for, and what their budget looks like. It's so much better to get a solid vision from the client before starting the venue search than to simply throw them ideas. In my experience, clients have a good feel for what they are going for. Having that conversation about "what you want your guests to feel" is a solid way to understand what type of venue we are looking for!
Do you use frameworks, templates, or other tools/documents to help you stay organized and manage the event planning process?
I always joke around that I'm uber-organized and got that trait from my maternal grandmother. Because of that, I have developed my own systems and processes that have served me well over the years. In terms of connecting with clients, I use a shared Google Drive folder with clients that I have organized by vendor category and a contracts folder for those vendors we have secured.
Do you have any specific strategies or insights for enhancing the attendee experience at your events?
Lately, I've gotten quite a few clients who are interested in throwing smaller weddings. Whenever I hear that, I think about how special someone must be to the couple for them to be invited to their wedding with a small guest count. As a result, I've been working with these clients to create really special touches throughout the day to remind these guests of how important they are. For example, I've had a couple of weddings where the couple wrote handwritten notes to each person in attendance. For one of them, we had the cards displayed on a table for guests to grab prior to the ceremony. For another wedding, the notes were at each person's place setting before dinner.
Effective communication is crucial in any planning process. How do you ensure you and your event stakeholders are always on the same page?
Simply put, everything is in writing. Even if we are on a phone call, I'm taking notes to put it in writing. Additionally, I have weekly check-ins with each of my full-planning clients. This way, they know exactly what I'm working on, what I'm waiting for them for, and/or what our next steps are.
Communication. I find that having a solid team of vendors is my best asset on an event day. Working together to figure out how to handle emergencies and how to distract the guests / deter them from noticing is key! A few years ago, I did a wedding where we ended up having to call 911 because one of our guests collapsed immediately following the wedding ceremony. Our team of vendors was able to move guests to cocktail hour without many people truly noticing. Then, we extended the cocktail hour just long enough for the EMTs to come into the ceremony space to provide aid. Before the guests knew any better, our vendor team had the room flipped, and we were ready for dinner.
What are the typical steps you take in the post-event phase?
I have a close-out sheet that I do for every event. Although this is simply for my eyes, it provides me with the opportunity to process exactly what happened. In my sheet, I make a note of how I obtained the client (as all of my business comes from referrals), stats (such as guest count attended, budget, location, money I paid to my assistants, etc.), and notes on how the event went. Even though I've been doing this for 17 years, I'm still learning something at each and every event. It's a nice practice to process this before wrapping all of the paperwork up.
What advice would you offer someone just starting their career in the meetings and events industry?
Surround yourself with good people. Together you can lift one another up! One of my favorite things to do is to put together a team. When getting a good read on my clients, I'm then able to put a team of vendors together who are a great fit for those clients. When bringing together quality people and treating them well, you will lift each other up!