CEO Executive AssistantEvents and catering can be among the highest-revenue functions in a hotel or resort operation, yet they are also among the most fragmented in terms of leadership accountability. Sales brings in the business, catering services the client, F&B executes the food, operations manages the space, and AV handles technology, all for the same event. When accountability is that fragmented, coordination failures are inevitable, and when something goes wrong in a marquee event, everyone has an explanation and nobody has ownership.
Hospitality CEOs who build clear delegation structures for events and catering, with defined ownership across the full client journey, outperform those who rely on informal coordination. This guide shows you how to build that structure.
The Core Accountability Problem in Events and Catering
Before defining the delegation structure, it helps to diagnose why events and catering delegation fails in most hospitality organizations.
The fundamental issue is that events and catering sit at the intersection of four functions that typically have separate leadership chains: sales, F&B, operations, and technology. When a client signs a contract and begins working toward their event, they encounter multiple points of contact, receive information that may not be perfectly consistent across departments, and experience handoffs that can lose critical details.
From the CEO’s perspective, this fragmentation creates a different problem: when event performance is below expectations or a major client is dissatisfied, there is no clear single owner to hold accountable. The Director of Catering says operations did not set up the room correctly. Operations says they were not given accurate timelines by catering. F&B says the banquet event order changed at the last minute. Everybody is partially right, and nobody is accountable.
The solution is not more coordination meetings. It is clearer ownership.
Structuring the Events and Catering Leadership Role
The Director of Events and Catering, or VP of Group and Event Sales in larger operations, should be the single point of accountability for the entire client experience, from initial inquiry through post-event follow-up. This does not mean this person manages every function involved in delivering the event. It means they coordinate all those functions on behalf of the client and are accountable for overall client satisfaction.
Define the delegated authorities of the events and catering leader:
- Full ownership of the group sales pipeline and revenue targets
- Authority to commit property event space and services within approved rate guidelines
- Ownership of the banquet event order (BEO) process and all client-facing event planning communication
- Authority to direct operational departments on event setup and service requirements
- Catering menu selection and pricing within approved parameters
- Client relationship management throughout the event lifecycle
This is broad authority. It requires a leader with strong cross-departmental influence, which means the CEO must actively support this authority when operational departments push back.
The most common failure point: F&B or operations leadership who believe they should own their portion of an event without coordinating through the events and catering director. When this happens, clients receive inconsistent information and events become coordination failures. The CEO must make clear, through both policy and behavior, that the events and catering director has coordinating authority over all departments for event execution.
Group Sales Delegation
Group sales for events and meetings operates differently from transient sales, and it requires its own delegation framework.
The Director of Group Sales or VP of Group Sales holds authority over:
- Group sales team management and performance
- Response to RFPs (requests for proposals) for group business
- Rate negotiation for group bookings within the approved rate band
- Relationship management with meeting planners, corporate travel managers, and event agencies
- Group sales forecasting and pipeline management
The CEO’s involvement in group sales is limited to: approving the group sales strategy and room block revenue targets annually, participating in site inspections or sales calls for the largest strategic accounts, and reviewing group booking pace and revenue performance monthly.
Define the CEO’s personal involvement in group sales relationships. Meeting planners who book significant business annually, major corporate accounts that represent recurring group revenue, and national association clients with multi-year relationships may warrant CEO relationship engagement. Identify the top 10 to 20 accounts by annual revenue and schedule periodic CEO touchpoints for those accounts. Everything else is managed by the group sales team.
Establish clear authority levels for group rate approval. Standard rates and minor concessions are approved by the Director of Group Sales. Below-floor rates, significant package inclusions, or atypical contract terms require VP of Sales or CFO approval. The CEO does not approve individual group rates.
Banquet Operations Delegation
Banquet operations encompass the execution side of events: room setup and breakdown, service delivery, food production for banquet functions, and audiovisual coordination. This is operational work that belongs entirely below the CEO level.
The Director of Banquet Operations or Banquet Manager holds authority over:
- Banquet setup and breakdown crew management
- Service standards for banquet food and beverage
- BEO review and production planning
- Coordination with the kitchen on banquet menu production
- AV vendor coordination and on-site AV management
This is execution authority, not strategic authority. The banquet operations leader works within the parameters established by the BEO and the standards established by the VP of F&B. They do not make strategic decisions about events; they execute them.
The CEO’s engagement with banquet operations is experiential, not managerial. Walking through a banquet setup before a major event, observing service quality during a significant function, and recognizing the banquet team when events are executed well, these are CEO behaviors that reinforce service culture without creating management involvement.
Meeting Planner Relationship Management
Meeting planners are professional buyers who represent significant recurring revenue for properties that serve the meetings and conventions segment. Managing these relationships effectively is both a sales function and a relationship function, and the delegation line between the two matters.
The group sales team owns the transactional relationship: responding to RFPs, negotiating contracts, and managing the booking process. The events and catering team owns the planning relationship: working with the meeting planner through the pre-event planning process and during on-site execution.
CEO involvement in meeting planner relationships is appropriate for:
- Top-tier national associations with multi-year booking potential
- Corporate meeting planners who represent accounts with annual value above a defined threshold
- Third-party meeting planning companies who represent a significant portion of your group business
- Any meeting planner who has had a significant service failure that requires CEO-level resolution
For the broader meeting planner universe, the group sales and events teams manage all relationships. The CEO does not need to know individual meeting planners, approve individual proposals, or be involved in event planning conversations.
Build a formal meeting planner feedback process managed by the events team. Post-event surveys, annual planning meetings with key accounts, and a formal recognition program for repeat booking partners are all managed below the CEO level. The CEO reviews aggregate meeting planner satisfaction scores quarterly.
According to McKinsey research on the hospitality sector, properties that systematically manage group and meeting planner relationships through dedicated sales and events teams outperform those that rely on ad hoc relationship management, particularly in periods of competitive group demand. The delegation structure you build directly determines whether your team can service meeting planners at the volume and consistency required to win repeat business.
The Banquet Event Order Process: Delegating the Detail
The Banquet Event Order (BEO) is the operational contract for every event: it specifies setup requirements, timing, food and beverage details, staffing, pricing, and all special arrangements. The BEO process is one of the most operationally critical functions in events and catering, and it should be entirely delegated.
The events and catering coordinator or event planning team owns the BEO process:
- Gathering all event requirements from the client
- Translating client requirements into operational specifications
- Distributing BEOs to all departments (banquets, kitchen, AV, front desk, etc.)
- Managing BEO revisions and communicating changes to affected departments
- Ensuring all departments have confirmed receipt and can meet the requirements
The CEO never reviews individual BEOs. If you are seeing BEOs in your inbox, something has gone wrong with the delegation structure, and the appropriate response is to redirect them, not to start managing them.
The CEO’s involvement in BEOs is limited to one scenario: a significant event with reputational stakes, such as a high-profile charity gala or a political event, where the CEO may participate in the final pre-event briefing to confirm readiness. Even in this case, the CEO is receiving information, not making operational decisions.
Sponsorship and Revenue Delegation Within Events
Events and catering often generate revenue beyond the base event fee: sponsor activations, premium seating, branded experiences, and upsell services. Managing these revenue opportunities requires delegation clarity.
The VP of Group Sales or Director of Events holds authority for revenue strategy within events:
- Sponsorship package pricing and sponsorship inventory management
- Upsell program design (premium room blocks, catering upgrades, AV enhancements)
- On-site revenue management during events
- Post-event revenue analysis and opportunity identification
The CEO approves the overall events revenue strategy and targets annually. Individual sponsorship package pricing and on-site upsell decisions are fully delegated.
For major event sponsorships with strategic value beyond the specific event, the CEO may maintain involvement at the relationship level. A flagship annual conference that attracts major corporate sponsors, or a recurring charity event that brings in community relationships, may warrant CEO-level sponsor engagement. The events team manages the operational sponsorship fulfillment; the CEO manages the strategic relationship.
For a broader view of delegation across hospitality operations, the hospitality HR delegation framework covers the workforce management structures that underpin events team performance.
Technology Systems for Events and Catering
Events and catering operations rely on multiple technology systems: event management software, catering ordering platforms, AV management tools, and client communication platforms. These are operational technology decisions that belong to the Director of Events and the technology function.
The CEO does not select or approve individual events technology platforms unless the investment exceeds the standard capital threshold. The events leader works with IT to evaluate options, the CFO approves capital expenditures, and the CEO is briefed on significant platform changes without being involved in selection or implementation.
For technology that affects the guest-facing event experience at a strategic level, such as a new digital event management platform that changes how meeting planners interact with your property, the CEO may be involved at the strategic positioning level. Even here, implementation is fully delegated.
Building the Performance Review Cadence
Create a structured review cadence that keeps the CEO strategically informed on events and catering performance.
Weekly (no CEO involvement): The events and catering team reviews the upcoming event calendar, BEO status for next-week events, and current group booking pipeline. This is an operational meeting led by the Director of Events.
Monthly (CEO participates): The CEO reviews events and catering P&L with the Director of Events and Director of Group Sales. Key metrics: group room night production versus target, catering revenue versus target, event contribution margin, meeting planner satisfaction scores, and upcoming pipeline for next quarter.
Quarterly (CEO reviews): Group sales strategy review. The group sales and events leadership presents quarterly performance, pipeline analysis, competitive intelligence, and proposals for strategy adjustments. The CEO provides direction on strategic priorities.
Annually (CEO approves): Events and catering strategy and budget approval. The VP of Group Sales and Director of Events present the annual strategy: group sales targets, catering revenue targets, key account priorities, major event initiatives, and capital investment needs.
This cadence ensures CEO engagement at the right level and frequency without creating operational dependency.
Handling Major Events: Elevated Oversight Without Micromanagement
Some events require heightened oversight: a major political event, a celebrity wedding, a national conference with significant public profile. These events carry reputational risk that justifies closer CEO attention, but the nature of that attention matters.
For high-profile events:
- The events team adds a dedicated senior coordinator as the single point of client contact
- A pre-event review briefing includes the Director of Events, relevant department heads, and the CEO (30 minutes maximum; agenda is readiness confirmation, not operational planning)
- The CEO is available for on-site visibility at the event (attending the opening reception, speaking with the client, acknowledging the events team)
- Post-event review with the CEO covers client satisfaction, operational execution, and lessons learned
The CEO’s role in high-profile events is visibility and leadership presence, not operational management. The events team runs the event; the CEO attends as a senior representative of the organization.
The hospitality delegation playbook describes how hospitality CEOs manage oversight across multiple high-stakes operations simultaneously, including strategies for prioritizing CEO time during major events across a portfolio.
Multi-Property Events and Catering Coordination
For hospitality CEOs managing events and catering across multiple properties, the delegation structure requires a portfolio-level overlay.
Designate a corporate Director of Events and Catering or VP of Group Sales who:
- Sets brand standards for events and catering across all properties
- Coordinates group bookings that span multiple properties
- Develops shared tools, templates, and training for events teams across the portfolio
- Benchmarks events performance across properties and shares best practices
Property-level events and catering directors report operationally to their property GM and functionally to the corporate events leader on standards and portfolio coordination. The CEO’s governance of portfolio events performance is through the corporate events leader, not through individual property events teams.
Conclusion
Events and catering delegation in hospitality requires solving the core ownership problem. Create a single point of accountability for the client experience across all the operational functions involved in delivering an event. Give the events and catering leader genuine authority to coordinate those functions. Hold them accountable for client satisfaction and revenue performance.
The CEO’s job is to set the strategy, approve the targets, participate in high-profile relationship moments, and review the financial results. The operational work of running hundreds of events across a property or portfolio belongs to a well-structured, empowered events and catering team.
Build that team and that structure, and your events and catering operation will perform at a level that reflects the investment you have made in the leadership beneath you.
Related Reading
For further context, explore Delegation Guide for Affordable Housing Nonprofit CEOs and Delegation Guide for Automotive CEO: Brand Management.