How To Plan A Successful Corporate Event
September 20, 2020
The most important aspect of any business is the people, whether it’s your customers, business partners or employees. No matter how good you are at what you do, you won’t get anywhere unless you can build relationships and loyalty. This is the purpose of a corporate event, to give people the chance to get to know each other in a more relaxed setting and build relationships with one another that they can carry over into their work.
Set Your Objectives
The first thing you need to do is understand why you are holding an event in the first place. Are you hoping to impress a new client, build relationships between your employees or simply thank them for their hard work? Once you know what your objectives are, you can ensure that the event you plan will resonate with your audience and meet your goals.
Set A Budget
Once you get into the core of event planning, it’s very easy to overspend! Set your budget early on and allow a little extra for the inevitable unforeseen costs.
It’s important to decide how much of your budget will go on each area; for example, you don’t want to end up spending so much on decorations that you end up having to serve pop tarts for dinner! Allow a reasonable amount of money for food and beverages, and make sure you take into account any dietary requirements. If your guests are well-fed they will enjoy your event much more.
What Type of Event Are You Hosting?
The type of event you host should be driven by your event objective, and by the needs of your guests. A free bar and a DJ are a great way to get your employees to let their hair down, but if you are trying to impress potential new clients you might want to think about planning something more refined.
Make sure that there is varied entertainment so that your guests don’t get bored, and try to be creative when planning it. A live show is a good way to both keep your guests entertained, and to give them a talking point afterwards.
With the success of artists like Penn and Teller, Derren Brown and David Blaine, magicians are becoming increasingly popular. People are not only entertained by the feats they perform, but they love to talk about them afterwards to try and figure out how they were done! You can hire a magician for your event at https://www.alivenetwork.com/bandsearch.asp?style=Magicians
Venue
There are a few things to consider when choosing a venue for your event:
- Location: The venue should be easily accessible by car or public transport for your guests. If you do choose to have your event in a more out of the way location, this may cost extra as you will need to consider putting on transport.
- Parking: Guests will need to be able to park their cars at the venue, or again you may need to put on transport from a central location where they can leave their cars.
- Capacity: Ensure that the venue you choose is large enough to cater for all of your guests, but not so large that they are rattling around in an almost empty room!
- Amenities: Does the venue have a kitchen facility and other things that you may need for your event like tablecloths, chairs and so on? If not, then you will need to budget to provide this for yourself, so this should come into your decision making process.
- Ambiance: Your venue will need to be a place that your guests will enjoy spending time in!