Understanding counts As well as saving time and money, crewing companies can provide additional support services. In fact, experienced freelance technical event director Matthew Abercrombie calls them his "comfort gap".

"The right crewing company will give you moral support and act as an emotional buffer," he says. "They’ll do stuff that I don’t know about, and it just gets done – often they don’t need instruction."

This level of understanding can be invaluable, and only comes from vast experience over a broad variety of events.

"A lot of the success for any crewing company comes from not knowing simply what the client wants, but having a real understanding of what the objective of the event is and what the guest at the event is hoping to experience," says Off To Work’s Atkins. "With this understanding, the best crewing companies will work with their clients within the creative and logistical brief to ensure an event is successful. Furthermore, if they are good and in it for the long term they will look to work with their clients to actually save labour costs rather than over-exaggerate the levels of staffing they need. A customer who knows they have had value for money and that there is no more effective way of getting the event done will return time and time again."

Choosing wisely So crucial are crewing services to the overall success of an event that it pays to make sure the company you choose has all the necessary attributes and experience.

"Try to always go with a recommendation from someone you know and trust," advises Atkins. "If no one suitable, it is always worth seeing who has won any industry accolades. Events associations like the International Special Events Society are also a useful source of recommendations as their members are in general clued up on the requirements of the events industry."

To get the most out of a crewing company once you’ve chosen one to work with, a thorough briefing is essential, not only on the project in hand, but also on your visions and values and on the kind and level of service that you – and more importantly your clients – expect.

"We take all our potential crewing partners through an exhaustive vetting process," says Jackie Broughton, head of sales, conference and banqueting at Wembley Stadium for Delaware North. "It is essential that all our team members deliver levels of service consistent to our rather stringent standards. Using crewing services means that, besides our core team, we have a workforce that is constantly evolving. This only adds to the challenge of managing our teams and ensuring that our associates understand Delaware North’s core principles and deliver an outstanding service experience to our customers."

Get the crewing element right, and you’ve laid the groundwork to a successful event.

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