Questions, Answered
Direct answers on how Event Dept. operates, what is included in our 2-week Brand Discovery ($7,500), how ongoing retainers & sponsorships are structured, and how we measure return on every event.
Working With Event Dept.
What does Event Dept. do?
Event Dept. is a Miami-based turnkey experiential marketing & event management company. We plan, produce, & run brand experiences from initial strategy and creative concept through venue sourcing, sponsorship sales, production, & event-day execution.
What types of brands do you work with?
We work with growth-stage & established brands, typically generating $2M+ in annual revenue, across 4 core industries: E-Commerce & D2C, CPG, Health & Wellness, and Premium & Luxury Travel.
What are the 3 ways of working with Event Dept.?
We offer 3 engagement models: Advisory Only (Done by You) for brands with an internal events team that want strategy, systems, & executive review; Advisory + Execution (Done for You, Recommended) where we plan, produce, & run every event end to end; and Integrated Team (Done with You) where we lead events alongside your in-house team with a written split of responsibilities.
How long is a typical engagement?
Every relationship begins with our 2-week Brand Discovery & Experiential Marketing Playbook. Ongoing engagements run on 6-month, 12-month, or defined project terms, with monthly & quarterly reporting tied back to business outcomes.
Do you produce events outside Miami?
Yes. Event Dept. is headquartered in Miami, FL, and produces events, activations, owned properties, & retreats across the United States and internationally. Our founders have produced events across major US markets as well as international retreats in Switzerland, Panama, & Greece.
Discovery, Pricing, & Budgets
What is the Brand Discovery & Experiential Marketing Playbook?
Every engagement starts with a 2-week discovery period, with the first week conducted on site with your team. You receive a 9-part, 12-month experiential marketing playbook covering audience strategy, event calendar, budget & revenue model, sponsorship map, operations, risk & compliance, and KPI framework.
How much does Brand Discovery cost, and do we keep the playbook?
Brand Discovery starts at $7,500 one time, paid in full upfront to book your on-site dates, with travel billed at cost. The 12-month playbook is 100% yours to keep and operate with us or without us.
How much do ongoing engagements with Event Dept. cost?
Ongoing retainers & turnkey engagements start from $15K/month depending on your event calendar, scope of production, & selected way of working (Advisory Only, Advisory + Execution, or Integrated Team). Production & venue hard costs are budgeted transparently inside your playbook.
How much should a brand spend on experiential marketing?
As a planning benchmark, brands in a maintain stance typically allocate 3% to 5% of annual revenue to marketing, steady-growth brands allocate 5% to 10%, and aggressive-growth brands allocate 10% to 15%+, with experiential budgets scoped from $50K to $500K+ across a 12-month calendar depending on event formats & sponsorship offset.
Services, Sponsorships, & Execution
What is the difference between experiential marketing & event management?
Experiential marketing is the why & the who: brand expression, audience strategy, creative concept, sponsorship, & how the event drives revenue and retention. Event management is the how & the when: permitting, venues, vendors, run of show, staffing, & event-day logistics. Event Dept. unites both under 1 roof so the strategy survives event day.
Can sponsorships help fund our brand events?
Yes. Led by Co-Founder & CCO Nate Smith, our Sponsorships & Partnerships practice builds sponsor packaging, pricing models, outbound sales pipelines, & on-site fulfillment designed to offset production costs and generate partner revenue before the doors open.
How do you measure the return on an event?
Every event is tied to a KPI framework defined during Discovery before a venue is booked. Depending on the format, we track attendance & show rate, cost per attendee, product trial & on-site conversion, CRM & SMS capture, partner & sponsor revenue, press & creator reach, and 30/60/90-day cohort repeat purchase or LTV lift.
Who actually leads our strategy & shows up on event day?
Every client works directly with our 3 founders: Matt Hardage (Co-Founder & CEO), Justin Humble (Co-Founder & COO), and Nate Smith (Co-Founder & CCO). Strategy is never handed off to a junior account layer, and operations are led on site by the same team that built your playbook.
Applying & Partnering
What happens after we submit an application?
All 3 founders review every application within 2 business days. If your brand, timeline, & goals match our criteria, we invite you to a 30- to 45-minute intro call, followed within 48 hours by a written recap & a Brand Discovery proposal.
How can venues, vendors, or sponsors join your partner network?
Venues, production vendors, culinary teams, contractors, sponsors, talent, & media partners can submit their capabilities through our Partner Intake form at eventdept.co/partners. Our operations team reviews submissions by market & category before adding approved partners to our active roster.
Do you ever work with brands under $2M in annual revenue?
Our core engagements are built for growth-stage & established brands at $2M+ in annual revenue, or funded brands with a dedicated event budget of $50K+ over the next 12 months. If you are planning a well-capitalized launch or flagship property, submit an application & share your budget context.
Let's Build Something Real.
We're selective about the brands we take on. Tell us about yours. If there's a fit, we'll reply within 2 business days to set up an intro call.