If you have been tasked with setting up a corporate event for the first time, you will most likely, and understandably, feel at least a bit nervous. Even if you are planning an event for a relatively small company, there is a lot of pressure around measurable positive outcomes after a corporate event. This means that your decisions for the event could impact the business going forward based on its overall success. Before you get started, here are a few useful tips to remember that will help to make your corporate event memorable for all the right reasons.
Figure Out the Precise Purpose of the Event
A vague idea of what your company wants to achieve from hosting the event isn’t enough to set it up for success. You will need to identify the exact reasons for hosting the event either by speaking with the team in charge or, if you are the business owner, creating a detailed plan of action that includes your intentions. There are plenty of reasons that a company might find that hosting an event is an important step to take and investment to make. Employee satisfaction, recruitment, attracting investors, fundraising, and targeting customers are all examples of common reasons a business will throw an event. Your company may also be celebrating a recent success or thanking an individual for their contribution.
Understand Your Expected Guests
When you have a clearer understanding of why your company is hosting an event in the first place, you will then be able to gain a more precise insight into the people expected to attend. Will you need to send out invitations to specific people or is it an open event intended to attract as many people as possible? Will there be tickets or an entry fee? These are all important considerations to take into account when thinking about who the expected guests will be.
Plan Your Budget
If you are the owner of the business, you will most likely have more control over how much you should allocate to your event budget. However, if this is not the case and your manager has set you the task of planning the corporate event, then you will need to have clear budget limitations before making any firm arrangements. Of course, the details of this will depend highly on the business’s accounts.
Cover the Basics
Food and Drink
If your guests are going to be participating in your event for any extended period of time, it is best to provide enough food and drink so that everyone is comfortable. This might be something as simple as small snacks or as complicated as a three-course meal. It will all depend on the level of formality and purpose of your corporate event. People are more likely to spend as much time as possible at your event when they can easily refresh themselves.
Amenities
Being able to use the bathroom and maintain good personal hygiene is another essential for guests of any event. Most event venues will have access to toilets and other essential amenities, but you can’t assume this without double-checking first. Find out in advance whether or not your venue has bathrooms that are easily accessible to all your event guests. If your corporate event is being held at an outdoor venue, it is even more important that you make the appropriate arrangements for bathrooms to be available to your guests. It might seem like an obvious consideration, but many event planners can become so distracted by more complicated aspects of an event that they leave the essentials until the last minute.
Entertainment
For a truly successful corporate event, you may want to include some memorable entertainment for your guests to enjoy. There are plenty of forms this entertainment could take, such as live performances or interactive games. You can visit Alive Network for more ideas on how to entertain your event guests. By giving your guests something to grab their attention that isn’t related to the main reason for the event, you can create a hook that sticks in their minds long after they have gone home. This can help to reinforce their connection to your company, increasing the chances of future engagement.
Venue
Most of your other considerations will be directly influenced by the type of venue you have to work with. This will vary depending on your company’s event budget and not all venues can offer the same amenities. As the event planner, you will need to visit the potential venues and decide which one is the most appropriate for your corporate event’s purposes. Think about how formal or informal the event should be and how much space you need for the number of guests you expect to arrive.
These four basics will help you to lay the groundwork for a successful corporate event.
Create a Structured Timetable
Whether you want your guests to be aware of it or not, having a structured event timetable can make it much easier. Outline rough times that take into account each aspect of the event, such as how long you have access to the venue and the duration of any entertainment you might have booked.
Provide Transport Where Necessary
Depending on the type of corporate event you are hosting, you may also need to think about providing transport for guests to arrive and leave. Factor this into your budget at the start since it can quickly become costly to offer taxis or other transport to a large number of guests.
This information is a quick overview of the most common essentials a corporate event should have. Remember that your event may have fewer needs or require far more additional features. The key is to always keep in mind the purpose of the event and the desired outcomes.
