Are You a Planner, or Curator?

I used the phrase “event planner” yesterday during a conversation with Cara Kleinhaut, founder of Caravents, an award-winning live events company in Los Angeles. (She’s going to be part of our upcoming trends issue, which will hit your mailboxes in early December.)

Cara took issue with the term “event planner.” She prefers the terms “curator” or “producers.” Her team, she said, curates the content of the event—what the audience will see, hear and experience, from providing an intriguing backdrop for the step-and-repeat to extending the reach of the event with RFID bracelets.

“It’s not about the linens or the lighting,” she said. “Tools of the trade have evolved.”

Those tools, she argues, are technical expertise in live video production, social media, interaction and engaging the mind as well as all the senses.

We’ll show you what she’s talking about in the next issue. In the meantime, what do you think? Are you a planner, or a curator?