{"id":822400,"date":"2021-08-15T03:08:45","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T03:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webnewswire.com\/2021\/08\/15\/wedding-planner-andrew-roby-speaks-out-in-ny-times-article-about-biases-in-events-industry\/"},"modified":"2021-08-15T03:08:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-15T03:08:45","slug":"wedding-planner-andrew-roby-speaks-out-in-ny-times-article-about-biases-in-events-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webnewswire.com\/2021\/08\/15\/wedding-planner-andrew-roby-speaks-out-in-ny-times-article-about-biases-in-events-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding Planner Andrew Roby Speaks Out in NY Times Article About Biases in Events Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Roby, who owns Washington, D.C.-based Andrew Roby Events and heads the National Events Council, said that minority-owned companies are underrepresented on event venues\u2019 preferred vendor lists.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div id=\"cwrap\">\n<div>\n<p>As the owner of an event planning company in the nation\u2019s capital, Andrew Roby knows the power of preferred vendor lists that major venues offer to their clients. But he also believes that minority-owned vendors are too often left off of those critical lists, a concern he addressed in a recent New York Times article titled \u201cHidden Bias in the Wedding Industrial Complex.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to heading up his event planning and management company, Andrew Roby, who is Black, founded and leads the National Events Council, which promotes greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the events industry. He said that while chatter around DE&#038;I peaked during the summer of 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement gained visibility, few lasting changes were made in the events industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter George Floyd died, we had so many people who went to Instagram,\u201d Roby said in the August 6 New York Times article. \u201cSo many people in the industry were using those black squares as a sign of support. That\u2019s kind of odd. If you look on your Instagram, it\u2019s all white people. If you look in your vendor lists, it\u2019s all white people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roby said that this matters because event venues request, and sometimes require, that their clients use preferred vendor lists. But Roby said those lists are inaccessible to many companies of color. \u201cIf venues expand their lists, it is usually within the same communities. Minority-owned companies are left to wonder how they will ever break in?\u201d said Roby.<\/p>\n<p>Roby said that many businesses of color have worked hard to attract clients through other avenues, such as social media and networking in local professional organizations. However, there\u2019s no substitute for inclusion on the all-important preferred vendor lists.<\/p>\n<p>Roby is committed to improving the vendor list issue through his work with the National Events Council. He said that clients can also help by asking venues to add preferred vendors whose companies are owned and staffed by minorities.<\/p>\n<p>Roby has worked in the events industry since 2005 and specializes in event planning services in D.C., Dallas, and Los Angeles. His team\u2019s events include weddings, microweddings, and corporate and social events, both in-person and virtual (or hybrid).<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Roby was named a \u201cTop Wedding Planner in America\u201d by Brides Magazine. He was also chosen for the \u201c40 Under 40 Award\u201d by Connect Corporate and the \u201cCouple\u2019s Choice Award\u201d by Wedding Wire. His company has been celebrated on The Knot, WeddingChicks.com, and CBS and FOX news. To learn more about Andrew Roby and his advocacy for greater diversity in the events planning industry, visit AndrewRobyEvents.com.\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n                    <strong>About Andrew Roby Events<\/strong>\n                <\/p>\n<p>Andrew Roby Events is a one-stop-shop that offers a wide array of Event and Wedding planning services. Whether it\u2019s a wedding, a government or corporate event, or any social event, they know what to do and how to make the event perfect and memorable.<\/p>\n<p><\/img><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roby, who owns Washington, D.C.-based Andrew Roby Events and heads the National Events Council, said that minority-owned companies are underrepresented on event venues\u2019 preferred vendor lists. As the owner of an event planning company in the nation\u2019s capital, Andrew Roby knows the power of preferred vendor lists that major venues offer to their clients. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-822400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wedding Planner Andrew Roby Speaks Out in NY Times Article About Biases in Events Industry - Webnewswire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webnewswire.com\/2021\/08\/15\/wedding-planner-andrew-roby-speaks-out-in-ny-times-article-about-biases-in-events-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wedding Planner Andrew Roby Speaks Out in NY Times Article About Biases in Events Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roby, who owns Washington, D.C.-based Andrew Roby Events and heads the National Events Council, said that minority-owned companies are underrepresented on event venues\u2019 preferred vendor lists. 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