Meet the Member: Peio Dubarbier, Founder & CEO of Deal4Event

Recently, we spoke with French entrepreneur Peio Dubarbier, Founder & CEO of Deal4Event. Deal4Event is a one-stop event concierge, working with a range of providers from accomodations, to caterers, performers, speakers and beyond. They create bespoke experiences for their corporate clients, working within every budget to realize the vision of their event.

Peio is also part of the FACC CoWorking space which provides daily, weekly or monthly desk rentals and dedicated services to French professionals beginning their experience in New York. Keep reading to discover more about Peio's background, his company's mission and how they are putting a French touch on events in NYC:

FACC: Can you tell us a bit about your background & experience?

PD: Younger, I practiced sports at a competition level. I was part of a professional soccer training center during 3 years, then I played rugby in first division.  In parallel of this experience which shaped my personality with no doubts, I followed my study (Master in economic sciences and third cycle graduation in marketing and sales negotiation in Business to Business).

I Started my professional career at Xerox, in business development for a public strategic account, then I had the opportunity to join the business sport field, where I occupied different responsibilities (sales director, general management) for various sports agencies. I worked in an international scale on every aspect of the sports business (sponsorship, consulting, media, corporate hospitality) and deeply tackled the interactions between sport rights owners, corporations and agencies.

Five Years ago, feeling confident enough and with a global vision of what has to be an efficient organization in term of process, organization, sales strategy and management, I decided to launch my own company, deal4event, the best adventure of my life so far!!

FACC: Deal4Event is a one-stop concierge service for events. From professional trade shows to product launches, business breakfasts and more, you intervene to realize the vision of your clients and coordinate the various specialists involved in the production. How does your approach differ, if at all, between New York and France?

PD: We are different in a sense that we are a service and not another event agency.

A unique promise to bring the best answer when a corporation needs to manage their corporate events : meetings, incentive, customer events and corporate hospitality.

Our difference is based on 3 assets:

1. The best access to the entire solutions from the French event industry: locations, catering, logistics, activities, speakers, contents and technologies. We are a platform to make the link with best providers, with the best expertise. We work with all the actors in a very atomized market, providers, but also event agencies, in total independence, only inspired by the interest of our customers.
2. The best service around the concierge service DNA : project management, coordination, flexibility, reactivity, consistent information concerning last trends, last solutions, through our exclusive digital information system offered to our customers.
3. Business model with no additional costs. Our customers have a budget, important or modest, to organize their corporate events. We work within this budget, no fees, nothing more. Our compensation comes exclusively from the providers involved on each project.

In NYC, our aim is to keep and offer our assets, offering the best experience when US corporations come to France. But the method to tackle and to communicate toward the US targets, of course, has to be adapted to the American culture and way of thinking. That is a fascinating challenge. Keeping our identity, but in a U.S. version!!

FACC: What is your added value proposition, as opposed to clients relying upon their in-house staff to coordinate their event?

PD: We are not in competition with the internal staff of our customers. We work for them, we bring them additional resources to optimize their actions. Most of the time, they don’t have time, resources, or money. With deal4event, they have all of this.

Moreover, we are very flexible on the way we collaborate with our customers: sometimes we handle everything, especially with the executive assistants who are in charge of the internal meetings and incentives, and who have millions other things to care about. Sometimes, we are just an additional support for the communications staff, working with them in hand in hand. This flexibility is clearly at the heart of our success. Customers see us as a solution, and not as a threat.

FACC: Are there any event trends that companies should integrate into their 2019 strategy? Whether in event format, design, location etc?

PD: It is important to separate three ideas: the format of an event, its content and the final objective.

The format stays the same: breakfast, seminars, afterwork, holiday party, summer party, participation at trade shows, etc.

The contents are more related with some “fancy” trends. Currently I would say: Women’s empowerment, Sustainability and RSE policy, innovation and AI.

Final Objectives are still the same: improving the relation with your targeted audiences: employees, partners, customers and prospects.

FACC: You recently relocated from France, where the rest of your team is still headquartered, and took up residence in the FACC CoWorking space to launch the business in the United States. What is the greatest business development challenge you are currently facing?

PD: The biggest challenge is leveraging all the learning from my former experiences and at the same time clearly resetting my personal wiring to understand this market where everything is totally different, starting with the language of course !! 

FACC: What do you most appreciate about the FACC network?

PD: The opportunity to connect with people who are interesting for my business development strategy and also to learn from people who have a solid track records in U.S., to find the right development strategy and to avoid the frequent mistakes of a newcomer!

FACC: Thanks to the FACC network, have you made any valuable business connections?

PD: Many good connections yes. I can highlight the connection with Alexandre Chelma, an entrepreneur which develop an incredible success story with Altour group. A beautiful meeting, really inspirational for me. Furthermore, I am part of the FACC CoWorking space and I can underline the good spirit of the team, very helpful during the demanding challenge!

Interested in connecting with Peio? Log into the FACC Member Directory to send him a message, or as an FACC member, request a personalized introduction from our Member Relations staff.