Event planning just part of the job

A spokeswoman for the J Street Group said that they provide special security for events because of their connections.

{mosads}“We are partners with Joe Funk, who is a former U.S. Secret Service agent. So we do provide security at events,” said Bonny Wong.

The J Street Group services corporate conferences, international meetings, movie premieres and nonprofit and political fundraisers, among other things.

International Events and Security Consultants, a division of the J Street Group, provides security for events involving presidents, prime ministers and royalty.

“That’s what really makes J Street Group stand out — we put out events here and also provide that security,” Wong said.

The J Street Group has handled events for groups such as the Pennsylvania State Society of Washington, D.C., as well as for congressmen and Fortune 500 companies. It will soon be holding an event for No Greater Sacrifice, a nonprofit organization that raises money for the families of fallen U.S. soldiers.

“They provide scholarships for the children of fallen soldiers, which is a great endeavor. It makes a lot of good money for people that are in need, so it’s very rewarding to be a part of,” said Wong.

“We do a lot of events throughout the year … from educational seminars and conferences to banking and financial conferences. It’s a wide spectrum of things that deal with social and political issues.”

Global Event Planners (GEP) of Washington is a design management company that has worked with various groups and corporations, including Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft.

“Microsoft comes through for their annual conference at the convention center and we do a lot of things in conjunction with that,” said Marty MacKay, president of GEP.

Mackay said that Washington is a great place to work “because we have so many venues that are wonderful and really can fit small groups all the way through very large groups.”

GEP has done events in the National Building Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and even in Union Station.

“You can actually rent out the entire main hall,” MacKay said. 

GEP was hired as one of the firms to help orchestrate the papal Mass in April 2008. Pope Benedict XVI’s service was held at Nationals stadium and took about eight months to prepare.

“We worked on that program of the Mass that was held at Nationals stadium and right now we’re one of the firms working with the Martin Luther King Jr. foundation, for the dedication of it.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dedication is set to take place Aug. 28.

When the possible threat of a government shutdown loomed in April, Linder and Associates Inc. Event Architects had to handle planning an event that would be directly affected by the government’s budget decisions. A shutdown would have caused the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade to be shortened and rerouted; Linder and Associates prepared to accommodate any adjustments that had to be made.

“When someone throws us a curveball, we make the adjustments. We pride ourselves on this,” said Kane Rose, who was in charge of production of the project. “Everything pretty much went according to plan.”

Linder & Associates has worked on the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade for two years. They have also produced events in many of the Smithsonian museums, including a Cirque du Soleil performance specially designed for the National Building Museum.

“We just produced last year, an event for the Mosaic Foundation in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil,” said Rose. “It was a one-time-only Cirque performance that was custom-produced for that night.”

Rose said Washington provides a wide variety of venues that include gatherings in museums, modern spaces and rooftops.

“We are very venue-rich in Washington.”