Corporate events often play important roles in the operations of a company. The purpose of corporate events can vary greatly. Sometimes an event is simply about making your employees feel appreciated. Other times you are showing appreciation for old clients or trying to impress potential new ones. Industry events are all about networking and trying to find potential partnerships for your business.
Whatever the purpose of your corporate event, you are going to want to make it memorable. A boring, uninspired event is unlikely to achieve any of your potential goals. Here are some ideas for your next corporate event to ensure that you and all of your attendees go home happy.
1. Create an Unexpected Entrance
Discuss transforming the entryway to the venue with your event planner. You want to wow your guests from the start. To elevate the spatial experience even more, consider the ability to plan independently on different floor levels, offering varied ambiances and activities on each level.
The one thing to keep in mind with the grand entrance is that the rest of the event space has to live up to the standard set at their arrival. Having a cool entryway that leads to a boring interior is going to leave your guest feeling very let down. A beautifully built museum with nothing inside does not sell tickets.
2. Have a Theme
A theme for your event can really help to draw people into the experience. Rather than a bunch of disconnected elements, a theme can help to put attendees in a certain state of mind. It can also help your event planner to create lots of special little touches that guests will notice and appreciate.
The catering staff can play a large role in tying the theme together. Rather than being dressed like waiters and providing random food options, the food can all be created to go with whatever the theme for the event is, and the catering staff can be dressed to match.
3. Don’t Be Too Corporate
While some people enjoy the corporate environment when it comes to work, almost nobody is going to enjoy that same environment when it comes to fun. If your event is about the appreciation of your clients, you should throw the corporate element completely out the window. Instead, simply focus on making sure your guests are having a good time at the party.
If there is a business element to your event, it can be a much harder line to walk. You do not want attendees to forget that you are professionals with a job to do. However, you also don’t want to make them feel like they are simply in a business meeting.
You likely have some ideas of how to achieve this, but talking to your event planner can often be very helpful. An event planner with plenty of experience planning corporate events will be able to offer insight into where to draw the line so that your event achieves its intended purpose.
4. Consider the Lighting
One of the best ways to ditch the corporate feel is by not having your event lit by harsh fluorescent lighting. Whether you should simply go with softer lighting for the event, or switch it up completely to a darker club look with colored lighting, depends upon what type of event you are throwing. If you have it in the budget and are really going for more of a party than a business vibe, there are all sorts of great lighting options available.
5. Don’t Skimp on Entertainment
Whatever the main purpose of your event, much of the time will likely be focused around attendees intermingling in a relaxed environment. You may also have some more structured elements if the event has a higher business focus. No matter what the rest of the event looks like, though, you are going to want to at least have some form of entertainment beyond background music and the décor.
Entertainment is not the area to cut costs. This is the part of the event that your guests are most likely to remember, so you want to make sure that it is something they will not forget. Just be sure to familiarize yourself with your event insurance claim process if you hire an entertainer who has a dangerous element to their act. Here can read more about this topic and find out other useful information.
6. Offer Plenty of Activities
Another way to keep your guests entertained is by having plenty of areas set up with activities in which they can participate. From a fun photo booth to space for guests to get lost in virtual reality, there are plenty of ways for attendees to engage in the event beyond conversation.
Having various competitions that attendees can sign up for is a great way to include that competitive aspect that everyone is looking for in business. Competitions can pit individuals against each other or could be team affairs with different departments battling for the top prize.
You can even consider staggering all of the competitions so that if a guest wants they can compete in all events. You can have winners for each individual competition along with an overall leaderboard for the night with a grand prize for whoever tallies the most total points.
7. Eyes on the Prize
Corporate events, along with any other type of event, have a purpose. However, you choose to go with your event, make sure to remember the intent throughout. If you lose sight of why you are having the event in the first place, it is unlikely to be successful, and all the money you spent will have been for nothing. Discuss the intent with your event planner so that together you can strategize the best ways of achieving your goal.
Whatever the purpose, a successful event can go a long way towards your company’s long-term success. It does not matter whether you are building new business connections, strengthening old ones, or boosting employee morale. A well-organized corporate event is worth the financial investment.
