One of the best ways to grow your brand is to host a corporate event. They are especially crucial for your company culture.
By throwing a corporate event you can promote your business to the public. You can also re-instill morale in your staff – as they will feel grateful for working with your company.
So how do you throw a successful corporate event on a budget?
This frugal guide will help you prepare for your upcoming corporate event.
The Guide on How to Throw a Corporate Event
The first step is to come up with an objective for your corporate event. Are you doing this as a public relations event? Is this event intended to celebrate your staff? Is this event to celebrate a recent company milestone?
Once you have decided on the objective, you are ready to start preparing for the event.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Hire an Event Planner
Event planning is indeed a lot of fun. But it can also be very strenuous. You should hire a professional event planner to help you plan and execute your corporate event.
By reaching out to event production services you will have a helping hand by your side. An event planner will be able to help with booking a venue, the logistics of the event, the itinerary, and the marketing.
All you will have to do is oversee the planning. Your event planner will consult with you to make sure they are meeting your goals.
2. Choose the Best Venue
Once you have prepared the blueprint for your event, the next step is to choose the best venue.
You have to think carefully before you choose your venue. Most likely you will have to pay a deposit and sign a contract to book the venue. So once you are in, you can’t really get out.
You want to consider the size of the venue and the capacity. If you want an intimate event, you want a hotel ballroom where you can arrange seats near each other. If you want to address a large audience you may want to rent an auditorium.
You also want to consider the location of the venue. Is this a place that can be easily accessed by public transportation? You also want to pick a venue that is in a central location. You want a place where attendees can go for a happy hour or a meal afterward. A restaurant with a private dining room is ideal for your esteemed guests.
By choosing a location in an isolated area, you will alienate many potential attendees who will feel the journey is not worth it.
3. Don’t Be Miserly with Your Budget
You will have to work with the event planner to set up a budget for your corporate event. One thing you want to make sure is that you and the event planner don’t attempt to be miserly with the funds.
You want to make sure you have high-quality audiovisual equipment for your event. You want to make sure your decor is elegant and doesn’t cheapen the atmosphere. If you are serving food, make sure you choose a fine catering company. If possible, serve food on actual plates rather than plastic plates. Use silverware as opposed to plastic cutlery.
Your corporate event is an investment for your business. You have to treat it as such. Make sure that your budget is generous for your corporate event and don’t be afraid to exhaust it entirely!
4. Send Invitations Early and in Abundance
To ensure a great turnout, you need to send your invitations as early as possible. You also want to make sure you send an abundance of invites. You should expect that some of your invitations will be ignored entirely. You also should expect that there will be no-shows. You also want to send an abundance of invitations.
For example, if you want to have at least 100 attendees then you should send out at least 150 invitations. You want to start marketing your event as early as possible. Once the date, time, and venue have been confirmed, you should start sending out invitations.
As you and your event planner prepare for the event, you should keep sending invitations and compiling a guest list. Make sure you send regular communications to your guests to remind them of the event and to provide any updates.
On the day of the event, you should send out a few reminders to ensure that everyone shows up. You may even consider a waiting list for guests who RSVP’d after you met your limit. If there is a last-minute no-show, you can tell your guests on the waiting list that they may attend the corporate event.
5. Focus on Entertainment
Corporate events don’t always have an appeal because they are thought of as dry and stale. To ensure success at your corporate event, you want to focus on making it as entertaining as possible.
You should keep speeches, introductions, etc., short and sweet. Focus on allowing your guests to mingle with each other. If you want to incorporate any games, activities, or icebreakers then these should be the central focus of the event.
The corporate event should be seen as a celebration of the company and what it has achieved. It should be a way for attendees to enjoy an evening out. If the focus is on your employees, you especially want it to be a fun event and not seem like another day at the office.
6. Think Outside of the Box
This is something that your event planner can help you with. You want your corporate event to have some sort of uniqueness.
This can include having a surprise keynote speaker. It can also include surprise activities. You can also give out awards to outstanding employees. If your event is open to the public (as in a public relations event) you may wish to give out prizes to promote your brand to the public.
Discuss with your corporate event planner what your event can do to be unique.
See You at the Event!
Now that you know how to plan a successful corporate event, you are ready to start preparing. By following the steps in this guide, you will surely throw an unforgettable event.
