TEPG specializes in science, health, education forums

In the event-management business, dealing with the problems of organizing functional and communicative events is the core of the industry.

“How you can really determine whether you can withstand all this is really being able to provide solutions for clients,” said Jennifer D. Collins, president of The Event Planning Group LLC. “My focus is we can provide a service, and we have a track record with providing a service and we can do it well.”

An American University alum with a background in public relations, Collins brought her unique view of event organization to the event-planning industry. Through working at various public relations firms in Washington, Collins developed the perspective that company events could be used as communications tools.

Collins began with an outlook that an event is a method of delivering a message to an audience.

“What is it we are trying to accomplish and what kind of event can we develop to communicate that to the audience?” she said.

“In the event-planning industry there was a focus on logistics,” she said. Taking a more personal approach has been the key to TEPG’s success.

“We’ve developed events in the education, science and health [fields],” Collins said. “That’s what our specialty has been, which helps. Because when you’re doing things in education we understand the audiences of teachers and in certain instances, policy.”

Working with groups such as the National Diabetes Education Program, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education has given TEPG knowledge of planning events for science, education and health organizations.

“It helps because we already have an understanding of what they’re doing,” Collins said. Her firm has also planned events with firms such as the Calvert Group Ltd. and Microsoft Corp.

TEPG’s goals for the future include working more with government agencies and becoming more involved with the private sector by producing their meetings, conferences, workshops and trade shows. Collins also pointed out that the company organizes a national scholarship competition for high school juniors and seniors throughout the country who are looking to pursue careers in public health.

“We are able to give focused and individualized attention to our clients,” she said. “Clients wanted to work with a company where they felt that their details mattered.”

The growth of the company has been controlled to continue to allow the personable attention to clients that the firm has succeeded with for 12 years.

“Being a minority as well as a woman helps to bring a different perspective to … building events,” Collins said. “We are a viable entity in the sense of being able to compete.”

The Event Planning Group is a certified women-owned business as well as certified minority-owned business. For more information on the business, visit www.tepgevents.com.