The world of corporate event planning can be a scary one to venture into. After all, you’re usually dealing with high expectations, a never-ending guest list, and an event budget that would intimidate even experienced planners.
Whether you’re an events professional who’s just starting out, or someone who is looking to break into the exciting and fast-paced world of corporate events, here are a few key steps to planning a great corporate party:
What’s the Vision and Objective?
Before any planning takes place, it’s important to establish the vision for the event. What is it going to look, feel, and sound like? Will it be a formal evening or have a more laid back vibe? Will there be a specific theme? Once you have an idea of this vision, you can begin to look for venues that will match your theme or party vibe.
It’s also important to establish the objective for the event. Is it to raise awareness or money for a specific cause or organization? Is it just a fun event to thank some staff members? Knowing the vision and objective is key to ensuring that as the planning process continues, you stay on track to meet these goals.
Establish a Budget
This next step is perhaps one of the most important ones during the event planning process. Every event will have a budget and it’s important to establish what this is early on so that you can decide what’s feasible at every stage in the planning process. This also helps set up reasonable expectations for what your corporate event is going to look like.
Maintain Contact With Your Suppliers
If you’re new to corporate event planning, you’re going to get used to talking with a lot of people. It usually takes multiple vendors with multiple contacts to put together all the necessary pieces of an event, including caterers, entertainment, rental companies, decorators, production teams, and countless others.
It’s crucial that you keep in contact with your vendors to ensure that your needs will be met come the day of your big event. No one wants any last minute surprises because you assumed that everything was in place.
Don’t Pack Your Programme
Corporate events are always a great opportunity for business professionals to network. Don’t forget to take this into account when planning your programme. Make sure to allow time for your guests to chat and network by keeping speeches short and sweet and avoiding any loud entertainment until later in the night.
Rather than loading your event with speeches, which are likely to go in one ear and out the other for many of your guests, consider adding in more lively media such as videos, live presentations, or informational entertainment.
Expect the Unexpected
There’s a saying in the world of corporate event planning: “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” In other words, expect the unexpected. It’s your job to be prepared for anything that can be thrown at you and have a plan in place to deal with these situations appropriately.
Things can (and often do) go wrong for even the most seasoned of event planners, but the difference between them and a beginner is often how they deal with issues as they arise. Keeping calm and maintaining your cool under pressure is essential for a successful event, no matter what hiccups might come your way.
