The fabulously inexpensive caterer you hired is running 40 minutes late, your florist overcharged by an obscene amount and the proposed menu included the words finger and food-together. To make matters worse, the full house you had expected looks more like a handful of close friends or a deserted scene in a western movie shootout.

Long before you find yourself at that moment of peak desperation and utter despair – what can you do to avoid this disaster in the making? Hire a public relations firm to handle your event. Now more than ever, public relations (PR) firms find themselves in the role of event planning and for good reason.

PR firms know the community, the vendors and the media and have the resources to bring them all together. And if that wasn’t enough, PR firms also know what caterers deliver on time, who offers the best AV equipment in town and what florist offers gorgeous flowers at manageable prices.

The workplace is slowly getting smaller and administrative assistants, account executives and other full-time positions are being asked to become meeting planners. These often inexperienced planners find the task of planning a meeting overwhelming and chaotic. That’s where PR firms come in and take over. PR firms understand the logistics and minute details that need to be addressed for meetings and events.

From the swankiest soiree to the most humble of grassroots get-togethers, every event has its own pulse. Finding the heartbeat is essential to diagnosing your media needs and what messages will resonate with your target audience. From entirely themed events to educational seminars and trade shows, understanding media is the key to success.

In general, a PR firm can coordinate public releases, TV presence and help to identify corporate branding. Branding or name recognition can give companies the credibility that every organization needs. PR firms thrive on creating marketing packages that will increase exposure and flaunt the positive aspects of the company or event. For example, PR Firms will hire great photographers that can incorporate embossed logos of the company on every photograph taken. PR firms offer organizations the opportunity to brand themselves in ways that are often not obvious to meeting planners.

Still need more incentive to use the vastly overlooked skills of a PR firm?

Then take this into account: PR firms know every deadline and the event budget and good firms can guarantee that every date will be met, usually under budget. Speaking of deadlines, think the event would be perfect for Vogue? Then get ready, because for many national publications you’ll need at least one year in lead time, even two in some cases. The key to effectively using a PR Firm is to prepare early- before the chaos ensues!

A public relations firm has the personnel to tackle any sticky situation. Often meeting planners are alone in their pursuit and don’t have the luxury of a fabulously talented team of professionals behind the scenes. From pre-event strategy to the real affair, PR companies are on hand to make sure the meeting planner is praised and applauded, not on the streets in search of a new job.

Events that are well-designed and executed can promote a company, leverage business objectives, generate goodwill in the community and get people involved. To ensure that the VIP guests that are invited get the treatment they deserve, the florist arrives with beautiful blooms and the wish-list publication that confirmed their attendance is awed and marveled at, meeting planners should consider hiring a PR firm. Make the most of any event with help from a PR specialist!