Planning and delivering a corporate event may seem daunting but with the help of a professional corporate event planner, you can be sure putting on an excellent corporate event.

Between you and your planner you should consider the following questions:

When Should You Hold Your Corporate Event?

You’ll have a rough idea of when you want to hold your event so the first thing you should do is check to see what other events may be happening on your chosen dates. Avoid dates that clash with big local events such as football matches.

If what you’re planning is a big corporate event, aim to start around 5.30 to 6pm start. If it is more of a seminar, which is a different concept entirely, start early in the morning and aim to finish around 10am. This is increasingly popular as people will have had breakfast, done their networking and will be in the office for an almost full day’s work.

Where Should You hold you Corporate Event?

When choosing your venue try and get a personal recommendation from someone you know. Discuss in great detail your requirements with the venue and then set it all down in writing and get them to acknowledge in the same way.

This will reduce any disasters and, if there are any, you can negotiate on price after the event!

You should remember that the venue is just as interested in talking to your corporate clients as you are. They will want to keep you all happy.

What Is Your Corporate Event About?

If you can’t answer this question then you should ask yourself why you’re bothering in the first place. Corporate event planning should always have a mission or a message and the theme be consistent with it. Go back and decide what you are trying to achieve.

Who Are You Inviting?

Your budget will determine how loose you want to be with your invite list. If you have a small budget then only invite the clients and associates who bring you business. If you have a larger budget then you can look further to those who might bring you business.

Steer clear of inviting people for the sake of it or just because you always have done – if they’re not helping your business and are unlikely to, why would you want them at your event?

A corporate event planner will be able to advise you on your invite list as well.

You should aim to send your invitations out about 4-5 weeks before the event to give people time to make room in their diaries but also not forget about the event all together!

Think about sending a list of selected invitees with your invite. Something like “We are delighted to invite delegates from Company 1, Company 2 and Company 3” – this might entice those who had little to no interest in attending to show up.

Food For Your Corporate Event

You are going to want to feed your guests with as little fuss and trouble as possible, so stick to bite-sized offerings that don’t drip or spill. It’s impossible to hold a conversation, balance a drink and eat an egg mayonnaise sandwich. It may not sound impressive, but anything on a stick can be made to look appetising and can be eaten with ease!

Corporate Event Reminders

Send your guests home with marketing pack containing a personalised letter thanking them for coming and the guest list, as well as your marketing material.

As well as thanking people for coming in your letter, include the following:

An offer to make introductions between delegates who did not get to meet.
An request for any feedback on your event, via telephone, email or even in person.
A polite note reminding people not to blanket mail or email the event’s guests.

Your event was all about networking and your guests should get as much out of it as you did. These three things included in your letter will go a long way to making that happen, as well as making your guests feel special.

A good corporate event planner will help you achieve all your goals.

Author Bio: Trevor Richards is writing on behalf of OWL Event Management, specialist corporate event planners.

Category: Advice
Keywords: corporate events, corporate event planners, events