Procurement is hardly ever involved, and there are a number of reasons for this. One is a perception that procurement does not have the needed knowledge and expertise. It is viewed as a cost-reduction center that focuses on costs only. Also, from past experience, procurement is only involved at the end of the process and merely does the paperwork.

Generally, procurement is not involved. First, event planning encompasses a cross section of many expense categories including hotels, catering, A/V equipment, rental (furniture, pods, etc.) professional services and others. Procurement often lacks a senior level resource to address the varying spend categories, and as such, is often unable to react to the comprehensive needs of the event manager. Secondly, fairly or not, Procurement is viewed by marketing leadership, as lacking the needed expertise. Third, is a perception of short time frames and need to move quickly.