Strategy, budget, production, and on-site execution for meetings, summits, and conferences in all 50 states. We work as an extension of your in-house team, not a vendor you have to manage.
There's a version of corporate event planning that's purely executional — you send a scope, an agency prices it, everyone does what the scope says. It's an efficient way to plan, but it can produce meetings that are well executed without being able to show what they accomplished.
We start earlier than that. Before the agenda, the venue, or the AV needs, we want to know what the organization is going to point at six months later to say the event was worth doing. That conversation sometimes shortens the meeting, sometimes changes who’s in it, and occasionally omits a session that everyone had assumed was mandatory.
From there we run it like part of your team. Our certified planners handle registration, sourcing, contracts, budget, speakers, production, and on-site management, so your internal team can stop being the switchboard between eight vendors. Clients tend to describe it as us working for their company rather than for ours, which is the highest compliment available in this business.
One accountable team from strategy through post-event evaluation, a budget your finance group can read without a translator, and a debrief that says what we’d change — not a highlight reel.
An internal team knows your business, your politics, and your people. An agency brings supplier leverage, national reach, and a team that has run similar events a hundred times. The question is rarely agency or in-house, but rather how to divide the planning between them.
Most of our clients keep the content, the audience, and the message in house, and hand us sourcing, contracts, logistics, production, and on-site. We’re built to work alongside your team rather than replace anyone.
Hand us the whole program or the pieces your team doesn’t have time to manage. Most clients start with hotel sourcing or registration and then add from there.
We gather people with intention. Every program we design centers on the participants in the room, creating experiences that mean something to them and results your organization can measure.
Four phases, one accountable team, and a clear answer to who does what before you sign anything.
Who's attending, what has to change by the time they leave, and what the organization needs to be able to point at afterward. Budget parameters get set here, against the objective rather than last year's number.
Program design, venue options, and supplier recommendations with real pricing. You meet the team who'll run it, not just the person selling it.
Contracts, registration, attendee communications, speaker management, production timelines, and staffing plans.
Our team runs the program on the ground. Afterward you get a financial reconciliation, a post-event evaluation, and an honest debrief on what to improve next time.
Every other year, more than a thousand Pet Supplies Plus employees, franchise owners, and company leaders gather for the Group’s Education Summit — a multi-day program built to equip store managers to lead, connect them with suppliers, and celebrate two years of results. It has to carry serious professional development and still feel like the brand, which is playful by design.
Our team managed the complete event lifecycle: registration, air travel, audiovisual production, hotel accommodations, exhibit management, offsite receptions, VIP services, and talent coordination, including live performances from Nashville artists Chase Rice and the Jenkins Brothers. Executives and key sponsors got concierge-level handling while every logistical detail stayed behind the curtain.
In an industry where agencies get changed out after a bad year, we have client relationships that span decades.
It was a great event and everyone executed at such a high level. This partnership is special, and I value and appreciate each of you.
You operate as if you are on our team and work for our company. You are a true partner, and I am so grateful.
I'm always in awe of your ability to see through the fog of details to create a first-class event.
Most clients hire us for more than one kind of gathering. Here's the rest of our portfolio.
Tell us the dates, the headcount, and what you want the meeting to accomplish. We'll come back with a real approach and a real budget, not a brochure.
Talk to Our Team → Or call us directly at 248-336-8600.Program budgets get approved in rooms we're not in. Here's something to bring into one.
Our full service list, certifications, and how we work alongside in-house teams.
Download the PDFWe have a deep commitment to sustainability, including reducing food waste at all events we plan.
Read the ResourceHow we accommodate a growing range of dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences.
Read the GuideAn agency takes a meeting from objective to reconciliation: meeting design, venue sourcing and site selection, contract negotiation, budget management, registration, attendee communications, speaker and talent management, exhibit and sponsor management, production, on-site management, and post-event evaluation. Special D Events does all of it, or the subset your internal team hands off.
Both, usually. Internal teams know the business, the politics, and the audience. Agencies bring supplier leverage, national reach, and a team that has solved this exact problem repeatedly. Most of our clients keep content, audience, and message in house and hand us sourcing, contracts, logistics, production, and on-site. Where the divide happens is a first-conversation question, and it’s different for every organization.
While some event agencies base their fees on a percentage of the total event cost, our compensation is never tied to how much you spend. When charged based on percentage of event costs, the more your event costs, the more your agency earns. Our fees are based on the work required to plan and manage your event. Your event budget is a resource to manage, not a revenue opportunity for us.
CMP is Certified Meeting Professional, the industry’s principal credential, requiring documented experience and a certification exam. CPCE is Certified Professional in Catering and Events. We also have an Event DEI Strategist on staff.
Nine to twelve months is comfortable for a multi-day program with travel and production; large annual conferences and citywide programs often need eighteen to twenty-four. That said, we’ve built full programs in weeks. If your timeline is tight, tell us and we’ll give you an honest assessment about what’s still possible. Read our guide on When to Hire an Event Planner.
Yes. Special D Events is a national agency headquartered in Detroit and has planned meetings and events in all 50 states and beyond. Detroit is also where we serve as a destination management company; everywhere else, we’re your planning agency and we hire and manage the local partners on your behalf.
