Every year American corporations spend $10.2 billion on special events and business meetings. Sad to say, most of it is wasted on pre-packaged, off-the-shelf events and programs that generate the same old reactions from the very people they set out to impress. A special event - to be really special - is a strategic investment, and there's no such thing as a good investment in a canned event.

Here at Carlson Frank, LLC, we have a different approach to business events, and we realize it's not for everyone. Our philosophy is simple to express yet hard to accomplish: A great event creates a situation your guests have never before experienced and will remember for the rest of their lives.

We create every event from scratch with the pleasure of your guests our singular goal. Some of our clients give us a target budget upfront. Most don't, so we work with them to create the event concept and finalize the budget before our work begins. Our budgets are detailed, open book and include our professional fee, typically a percentage of the total. We never accept mark-ups from our suppliers and pass on all hotel commissions to our clients. Our billing practice tells you we are truly client oriented, not supplier oriented. And our business practice tells you we are results oriented. Every dollar spent is accounted for -- fiscally as well as from the results the investment will reap.