how to plan a corporate event

Corporate events can sometimes be very hard to plan because you want them to be formal and representative of your company, and you likely want your company to learn something. However, you also want your corporate event to be fun and a way for everyone (yourself included) to kick back and unwind.

If planning your corporate event has you more stressed out than a typical day at work, then you need to get some help. There’s nothing better than this guide to help you get what you need to plan your event from top to bottom, so read on and let’s get started!

Figure Out The Scale Of The Event And The Event Itself

A corporate event can be anything from a small weekend getaway for your patients to do work in a place other than the office, to a large weekend retreat that is filled with activities, to large getaways hosted by others. So if you are planning a corporate event you need to nail down the scale first and foremost, because smaller events are going to be easier to plan.

But whether you are hosting a half-day long training session followed by a relaxing lunch, or a large corporate fundraiser gala, you then need to figure out the second most important aspect of the event.

Look At The Event Budget

The amount of budget for your event can make or break your plans, because everything comes back down to how much things cost and how much you are planning to spend. Will you only have an outgoing budget where everything is spent on the venue, the speaker, and the food? Or can you supplement your budget with sponsors or donations or other forms of revenue?

Additionally, make sure that your budget has some flexibility. Even if your corporate event is a simple holiday lunch that you have hosted a million times before, you still want to have extra cash to take things like rising costs, other problems, hidden fees, and other costs you might want to spend money on.

Figure Out The Objective Of The Event

Finally, what is the reason that you are planning this event? Is it to raise money for a worthy cause? Thank your employees for all their hard work? Support a speaker and have everyone learn something? The objective can be extremely complicated or can be as simple as allowing everyone to have fun at work, but you need to know the objective beforehand and make sure every other part of the event reinforces that objective.

What Will Your Entertainment Be?

Now to be fair, not every single corporate event needs entertainment. However, some events, especially those that are designed to be more fun in nature, will require some of your best corporate entertainment ideas. Whether you have live music, booths set up with lots of activities, or a place where people can sit and talk about things other than work, corporate entertainment can be what makes or breaks a party.

So make sure to put some thought into the entertainment, and even if your corporate event is something that is more businesslike than fun, even that requires some entertainment to stop people from working all the time.

Market Your Event And Get The Word Out

Even if your event is mandatory for a team to attend or for everyone in your business to go to, you still want to market and promote it. Share it on your company’s social media pages, put a brochure together, use email funnels to get people excited, and even use flyers around the office to get people excited about what is about to happen.

You might even be able to use a meeting application to get people to sign up so you know how many people to expect at an optional event. Still, don’t be afraid to hype the company up, even if your employees and co-workers have to go to the event, you can still get them excited about it!

Look At The Event And The Aftermath

Once the event starts, that is where most businesses stop. But it is important to look at the engagement of your employees and others at the event, and see what lessons you can learn. Was a speaker or an activity particularly well enjoyed? Are your employees still talking about it months later? Is everyone looking forward to going to the event again?

Getting some data from the event and learning from it is only going to help you create a better and more engaging event next time!

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