8 minute read
Expanding Entertainment
Kay May of Scottsdale Private Event Venues and Scottsdale Hangar Parties often incorporates classic and antique cars into
events. (Karen May/Submitted)
Scottsdale Private Event Venues fl ourishes with new partner and event locations
By Laura Latzko
The event-planning industry took a major hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scottsdale Private Event Venues and Scottsdale Hangar Parties, local companies out of Scottsdale, have had to adapt to changes in the industry, but they are growing thanks to the expertise of the woman behind the business, Karen May.
The companies help with planning a range of diff erent types of corporate, business and private events in diff erent parts of the Valley, but they are best known for their hangar parties.
May started the companies in 2017. She has worked in diff erent parts of the hospitality industry and wanted to get away from ballroom environments.
“I love a blank slate. I love something that I can turn into something else,” May says.
The company is poised to expand to new venues.
There are new hangar builds in Deer Valley and in Mesa at Falcon Field Airpark, and a new event venue in Scottsdale Airpark called Micks Place, which will have luxury cars and memorabilia.
May says having hangars in other locations, such as Mesa, will expand on what her company is able to off er.
“We think it will be a good addition out there with all of those big companies coming in to do holiday parties or brand launches,” May says.
The owners of the hangars and event venue have sought out May’s advice on what is needed for the space.
“We don’t usually get to be involved in what the building is like,” May says “We always work around things, but it’s neat when you get something that you wanted.”
May recently brought on a new partner, Julie Hannigan.
Originally from a small town in Oregon, Hannigan has a background working in the hospitality industry, in hotels and restaurants.
May has known Hannigan since 1989 and brought her to Arizona from Texas to work with her at a local hotel.
“I don’t have the time or patience to bring some youngster in and try to train them. Julie’s been on the hotel side forever, so she knows food and beverage. She knows operations. We are very similar. It was the perfect fi t,” May says.
May says having a partner has allowed her company to do more events, sometimes on the same day.
“I know that it’s going to get done, and it’s going to get done right. There’s not a lot of times that that happens, but lately it seems to be more and more, especially around the holidays,” May says.
Having a partner has also allowed May to be able to travel other states, such as North Carolina, to produce conferences.
With their events, the company always tries to bring custom, out-of-the-box experiences for guests.
They can include classic and antique cars,
Julie Hannigan, left, and Karen May run Scottsdale Private Event Venues and Scottsdale Hangar Parties together.
(Allen Nichols Photography/Submitted)
motorcycles, helicopters, military aircraft, photo booths, food trucks, themed food and beverage stations, visits from sports figures and/or unique entertainers.
Many of her events incorporate vehicles from the Janet Cussler Car Collection. Often, Janet Cussler will come out to talk about the cars on display.
May always tries to wow guests with the details she brings.
For past events, she has had helicopter and boat rides, interactive sports games, laser shows, a Pan Am era theme, a CEO horseback arrival, live entertainment from major country artists, and a doghouse-building contest.
May also strives to find unique entertainers who will leave an impression on guests. This has included an aerialist pouring drinks, comedians, DJs, costumed characters and mascots, orchestras, live singers and bands.
Events can take place in different types of venues, from hangars and equestrian ranches to private homes and luxury car vaults.
Recently, Scottsdale Private Event Venues hosted a beach-themed celebration of life.
(Karen May/Submitted)
Although the company mainly does corporate events, they have recently put on some weddings and celebrations of life, often for people to which May has close ties.
For a friend who had passed away from cancer, May did a beach-themed celebration of life at a hangar, complete with frozen margaritas.
In April, she organized a wedding brunch in which the bride and groom arrived to the event in a helicopter. During the brunch, there was an interactive breakfast wall, mimosa and bloody mary bars, staff dressed as pilots and flight attendants, an airplane-themed dessert, and an airplane display filled with family pictures. May says doing private events adds variety. “We are spreading our wings and doing some different stuff. But we are still those hangar girls,” May says. May has worked with high-profile celebrities such as Tiger Woods and Kurt Warner and helped to plan events for the Super Bowl, Final Four, the Fiesta Bowl and Major League Baseball. Before starting her own business, she worked jobs in sales, destination management, catering and event planning in the hotel, production and trade show industries. She also hosted parties on a yacht during a brief stint when she lived in Texas.
May has been recognized for her work as Meeting Planner International’s Meeting Planner of the Month, with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s Arizona chapter and a Smart Women in Meetings Award during the Smart Woman Summit in Las Vegas.
During events, May and her crew plan for and bring in everything, including décor, catering, audio visual equipment, first-aid kits, and women’s kits with bobby pins and sewing items.
“We have to anticipate every bit of that. We bring everything into the hangar down to the toilet paper,” May says.
“One of the reasons that I learned so well was way back, when I was in Houston, I was running a yacht and doing events on it. Once it takes off, you have nowhere to get toilet paper or extra butter. You’re stuck. You are out in the middle of the ocean. I think I learned really well from that side of it.”
Coming out of the pandemic has been a challenging time, with supply chain issues and short staffs.
Many catering, cleaning and security companies May works with are understaffed, making it difficult to find enough people for events.
A lot of meeting planners were let go during the pandemic. May is finding that she is working more with admins, receptionists and HR staff, who have been
tasked with planning large events such as conferences.
“We are spending more time with them on the phone, explaining why you need to do this or why you don’t want to do that,” May says.
She has found getting ahold of enough ice, tablecloths, tables and chairs, clear plastic glasses, certain foods, champagne and other alcohols is an issue at times.
It helps that she has worked in the eventplanning industry most of her life.
“I was born and raised here. All of my friends in the event industry, and I can call any one of them and say, ‘I need help,’” May says.
May said as an event planner, it is important to be fl exible and willing to do anything needed to make an event successful.
For her, this has meant driving people to events, acting as a “bodyguard,” sewing buttons on clothing, working the front desk of a hotel, moving chairs and tables in meeting rooms, and climbing scaff olds.
Along with her work with private and corporate clients, May also tries to give back to charity organizations through her company.
During the pandemic, the company worked more with nonprofi ts such as the Special Olympics and St. Mary’s Food Bank with their events.
She also helped with food drives, PPE packages for hospitals, and the Scottsdale Beat the Heat care packages for the elderly.
Throughout the years, she has also worked with charity organizations such as Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Center, the Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial and the Be Kind Project.
May is especially passionate about rescue dog organizations and has fi ve of her own fur babies.
She works a lot with the National Mill Dog Rescue, which rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes dogs that have been used for breeding purposes.
She tries to help these organizations through fundraising, donations, event planning and marketing.
She says this is the best way for her to help because she can’t rescue every dog in need, as much as she would like to.
Her husband is a pilot, and she knows a number of pilots through her work. Because of this, she has been able to call on her contacts to help with rescue eff orts.
“It happened in Houston with all the water. We sent a plane. They must have picked up 100 dogs and taken them to another rescue where it was dry. It is fun having those connections and knowing that you can save that many dogs at one time,” May says.
For more information on Scottsdale Private Event Venues and Scottsdale Hangar Parties, call 480-616-0707 or go spevevents.com.
Karen May of Scottsdale Private Event Venues and Scottsdale Hangar Parties works with different rescue groups and has fi ve rescue dogs of her own. (Dana
Gibbons Photography/Submitted)
