From business and product launches to employee conferences, there are many reasons why you might need to organize a corporate event. These are great opportunities to showcase the talented professionals working for your company, as well as the new and innovative ideas that your business is bringing to the table. However, as fantastic as these events can be for your brand, they must reflect the professionalism that you want your business to be associated with. This will require a lot of careful planning, and if you’re in charge of organizing an event like this for your company, here are some ideas to help you do this.
Manage the Budget
The first thing you will need to do is find out what your budget is and then manage it effectively. It can be easy to get caught up in a vision of how you want the event to look, but often these ideas can be more expensive than you realize. The most expensive parts of the event are likely to be venue hire and catering, as well as hiring entertainment for the event if you are choosing to do so. You’ll also need to think about how much it will cost you to promote this event. Sit down with your team and brainstorm to help you break down your budget into reasonable amounts, carefully choosing how much you are willing to spend on each aspect of the event. Doing some research to help you come up with a costing guide will be helpful at this stage.
Choosing the Venue
Once you know how much you have to spend, you can begin to search for suitable venues for your event. Some things to look out for when choosing your event venue include whether or not they are accessible for anyone who may have limited mobility. How easy is it for attendees to get to the venue? For example, is it close to public transport links? Is there parking for those who are driving? You’ll also need to make sure that your venue can provide a PA system for when you’re making presentations or if there will be live music. Projectors would also be useful, and any quieter meeting rooms if your event is geared toward staff training or meeting with potential clients to discuss sales.
Brand Visibility
Another thing to be mindful of when planning your corporate event is to make sure that your business brand is visible throughout. You can do this by having your logo printed onto edible icing for cupcakes, using branded glassware to serve drinks in, projecting your logo as a backdrop on the stage, and perhaps even handing out branded apparel to attendees. At the very least, having employees working the event wearing branded clothing is a smart idea. You can even have custom Converse for your staff to wear!
Catering
Your guests and staff will need refreshments throughout the evening, and you should check with your venue to see if they can provide any suitable catering packages for your event. If they can’t offer this, you’ll need to hire an external catering company to serve your guests on the night. Canapes and cocktails are perfect for product launches and more casual events, but you might have to serve something more substantial if you’re hosting employee awards or a training day.
If you’re in charge of organizing a corporate event for your company, use these tips to help you with the planning process and make sure that the event runs as smoothly as possible.