Making special events special

If Indian gaming in California is the threat that most consider it to be, what will fill hotel rooms in northern Nevada? Special events, says Amy Bennett, and she's doing her part to make sure that the region's special events draw crowds that are not only big but safe and satisfied.

A veteran planner of special events herself she began planning special events for Northrup Aircraft in Los Angeles in 1958 Bennett today is director of special events at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in downtown Reno.

But equally important, she spends three hours on one night each week teaching her craft to students at Truckee Meadows Community College.

When students are finished with the class taught by Bennett and Deanna Valles, they've learned about everything from police requirements to budgets, from health regulations to publicity.

When it was launched in the mid 1990s, the Truckee Meadows Community College course in special events was the first to offer certification in the field.

Today, six other institutions around the country offer similar programs.

But no other part of the country depends as much on skilled producers as the Truckee Meadows.

Bennett and Valles tell their students that the region produces more special events than any other community its size in the United States.

Special events' importance will continue to grow, Bennett said a few days ago.

"There's got to be a reason for people to go past the Indian casinos and come to Reno," she said.

"And it's important that the people who do these events know what they're doing." During the 19-week course, the six to 10 students who pay $400 for the course learn the special events business from the pros.

Managers of venues such as Lawlor Events Center detail how to figure the size of the facility needed for a special event.

Representatives from the health department, police department and fire department a trio of agencies Bennett calls the most important to the success of any special event detail their requirements.

Other sessions cover subjects ranging from the best way to approach potential corporate sponsors to preparation of a realistic budget.

Budgeting, Bennett said, often is the most difficult subject for her students to grasp.

"A lot of people come in with grandiose ideas," she said.

"Special events are not lucrative." A realistic budget becomes one of the key pieces in the students' final exam.

Each is required to prepare a full-blown plan for a special event and present it as if their proposal was being pitched to potential sponsors.

The real final exam, of course, comes when students leave the classroom and begin planning special events on their own.

The eighty graduates of the program include directors, manager and coordinators of special events throughout northern Nevada.

One the graduates of the program, Berenda Wrest, now serves as VIP, special events and entertainment at Boomtown.

She said the class provided an overview of the special events business that is difficult to find elsewhere.

"Amy Bennett has more knowledge than anyone I've ever known in the special events business,"Wrest said.