Our Story

Meet our Event Experience Director

I’m Grainne Gray, and my passion in life is Events and creating partnerships, memories, and watching a vision come to life. I’ve always been in events, from my first catering job at 15, I knew there was nothing more special in life then attending an event that will be imprinted on an individual for the rest of their life. From a wedding full of love, a conference full of learning, a meeting that inspires performance, a networking event that creates true connection or a gala that has just has a little bit of magic in the air.

I worked in hotels for 16 years, and I built myself up due to dedication from banquet operations, event manager, senior sales manager, Director of Event Management and Director of Sales and Marketing. I worked in almost every regional market, working from conference big box hotels, downtown hotels, destination locations and luxury.

But I always knew there was more. Breaking out from the walls of confinement of just specializing in one part of the planning process and a localized interaction with my clients. I received my CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification so I could learn all facets of meetings. Then I had my first chance to expand when I was asked by one of my favorite clients to take over his conference. Now I’m proud to be my own boss and operate on an elevated level where I can make the whole big picture come to life in events.

People ask me where SDE Events name came from. During my early career, I received a thank you note from a client, that said “Thank you for being so Strategic, Dynamic and Engaging. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.” And I want all my partners to have that same experience.

SDE Events plans anywhere and everywhere, however I’m based in beautiful Utah where I have lived since 2016. I love to ski, hike, yoga, travel and most importantly spend time with my two daughters and try to be the best role model to them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of events do you specialize in?

We specialize in conferences, meetings, incentive trips and retreats. We are up for any challenge and request, however SDE Events wants to be the best at what we do. So if this is a first time event, or you have done it 20 times, we bring a fresh perspective and continuous market trends to make your event successful.

I’m not sure we can afford to add the expense to our budget?

We have worked with many first time clients hiring an experienced event planner who have this same question. However the end result always being the same. As that extension of your team, we mange and are committed to partnering with you to meet your profit margin goals with revenue generating strategies, registration growth through tactful marketing, and cost saving focus. Our clients find that even with the addition of our team to your budget, overall you will save in monetary value and resources by your team by investing in this event production partnership. Additionally, instead of hiring someone on to your team full or even part time, you are getting a dedicated team member that doesn’t hit your payroll and doesn’t take part of your insurance program. Bottom line, you can’t afford not to hire an event consultant.

Why hire an Event Planner?

To plan an absolutely successful event, this take time and meticulous detail. From managing your budget, sourcing multiple options, program building, speaker management, attendee communications, managing registration, hotel and third party logistics. All of this is about 85% of the work before you even step onsite. If you only do one or a few event events per year, this can add a lot of time away from your team’s core responsibility with their other job focuses and can result in a drop in their day to day production, and take away from the key objectives at the event itself.

We have an experienced meeting planner, why would I enlist the help of a venue sourcing specialist?

Whether you have one meeting a year, or 90, allowing your company’s meeting planner to utilize their time and resources in the actual event production allows more focus in the end goal experience and takes away some of the time consuming “leg work” that our procurement team is specialized in.

We are not order takers, we want to know your details and can take that key objectives and help do Destination research, venue sourcing based on your needs and preferences, help build buying power within hotel brands for your company with loyalty programs. With 16 years of experience in hotel sales and event management, we know the value of your business and can leverage the best rates, concessions and protection contractually to save you money you can not leave on the table. Working with the most experience company meeting planners, although their skill set is tremendous, there is no one that knows how different markets and hotels operate to earn your business.

How does the process of Venue procurement work?

We will set up a detailed meeting to go through your event needs and preferences. We will help partner to guide and educate to make sure we are taking all aspects into consideration when sourcing a location. Then, we will use our multiple platforms and resource tools to create your RFP, and start sourcing venues. We take care of all communications with follow ups, questions and pre-negotiations and then will present to your company representative for short list and final choices. We handle the contract from A-Z, and will only put in front of you when it has our stamp of approval, and then will take back any final requests before signature.

Once the contract is signed, we do a warm hand off to your event professional at the location to start the planning process. However, as your event partner, we will always become your advocate. If your customer service standards or contractual obligations are not to your satisfaction, we will be your continued partner in finding proactive solutions with the venue.

What does your Venue Souring Services Cost?

NOTHING. Just for venue sourcing, there is no additional costs to you as the venue absorb the costs through their commission structure. So why would you turn down a great partnership that only has positive impact to your bottom line.

Myth or Fact: Commission will add substantial cost to our room rates?

In general, this is a MYTH. From working in hotels, and understanding the brands revenue management systems, commissions are pre-built into all provided rate whether you use a third party intermediary or not. So by going with the consistency of a big box brand, you are paying for these commissions with no benefit to you. Independent hotels, not chain related, may try on their first rate presentation to inflate the cost. But that’s where our negotiations come into play. We are going to get you the best value overall package. And the money you can save event outside of concessions in contractual protection will far surpass any incremental change to your rate.

There are so many Event Planning companies out there, why is SDE Events right for us?

We are not order takers, we are partners. Many of our clients look at us as part of their company team. We offer complete full service, or can tailor the experience based on what you need and what you feel more comfortable with your team doing. Most of our partners come from direct referral or just attended one of our seamless memorable events, and want that special touch to be incorporated into their experience for their company and attendees. Our passion is events, and there is nothing like it in the world to help connect the clients vision to the execution where everyone at the end of the event is inspired and blown away by the experience.

Our Story

Meet our Event Experience Director

Frequently Asked Questions

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