What makes successful corporate event planning? Is it the food, the decorations, or something else altogether? Whether you’re new to planning events or have been doing it for years, there is a lot of knowledge that you can use to make sure your corporate event goes off without a hitch.

From booking vendors and keeping costs down to selecting the perfect venue and making sure that everyone has a great time on-site, here is all the advice you need to plan an amazing corporate event.

What exactly is corporate event planning?

Corporate events are more than just getting people together for a meeting. They are opportunities to showcase your company’s culture and values, establish relationships, and strengthen the bond between customers and employees.

Corporate events can also create visibility for your brand, drive leads and sales, generate new ideas, and build relationships with key internal and external stakeholders. With the right planning, execution, and follow-up, corporate events can be invaluable in building a successful business.

Planning a company’s event is far from simple; it requires a great deal of forethought and consideration for details, including marketing strategies, budgeting, legal and safety regulations, guest management, and much more. It also necessitates strong organizational skills to ensure that all of these elements come together seamlessly in the final product that is the event.

Additionally, savvy logistical planning ensures that everything runs smoothly on the day of the event itself. The best corporate events are designed to reflect a company’s culture and values while delivering an unforgettable experience to attendees.

Corporate event planning requires extensive organization to ensure that a company’s vision for its event comes to life. Professionals like Traveler’s Q are highly experienced event planners who can take on the responsibilities of managing every aspect of the event, from budgeting and selecting vendors to booking a venue and coming up with creative ideas to make the event unique.

They also understand how important it is for companies to get the most out of their events, and they work hard to ensure that those goals are met. Every event should have a clear purpose with a result the company would like to achieve for or with every person who attends.

By having a clearly defined goal for the event, it allows for more targeted audience engagement and better strategies for reaching those goals.

What types of corporate events are there?

The exact number of people attending the corporate event will depend on the type of event and what’s planned for guests.

• Micro events are becoming increasingly popular for corporate event planning. These types of events involve bringing together a small group of people, usually no more than 30-50, to meet and interact in an informal setting. Micro events are typically shorter in duration than traditional events, ranging from one-hour meetings to multi-day engagements. They often incorporate activities such as workshops and seminars, online meetings, networking mixers, and even scavenger hunts or outdoor pursuits.
• Small events are a great way to celebrate success, build relationships with clients and colleagues, and provide team-building opportunities. They can range from small lunches or dinners to larger company gatherings such as BBQs, holiday parties, off-site retreats, and seminars. These types of events can often be customized to fit the individual needs of the organization, whether it be a formal or informal occasion.
• Midsize events are gatherings that range from 50 to 500 people. They might include business meetings, networking conferences, company retreats, and holiday parties. An experienced corporate event planner is often necessary to create a memorable and successful experience for everyone involved.
• Large-scale events can include product launches, business conferences, and award ceremonies. Such events typically involve many people and in-depth coordination of activities, and require detailed planning. Professional event planners are usually hired to create a complete package from the venue selection to catering, decorations, and audiovisuals; all combining to create an enjoyable and memorable experience for attendees.

What should the objective of a corporate event be?

Every event should have a clear and specific objective that the attendees are asked to accomplish. This could include asking each person to submit feedback or opinions, a call-to-action they can take to support a cause, or measurable results that the event organizers can use to evaluate its success.

To maximize the impact of an event, you need to set appropriate goals that are realistic, achievable, and relevant. Additionally, it is important to ensure that all attendees understand the objectives of the event and what is expected of them for it to be successful.

The two major ways to plan the goals of your event:

SMART Goals

• Specific:What is the desired outcome of the corporate event? Specific event goals also need a timeline for the desired outcome.
• Measurable: A corporate event can offer measurable returns on investment through increased engagement with customers, improved brand visibility and recognition, and strengthened relationships with stakeholders.
• Achievable:When planning a corporate event, it’s important to set achievable goals that are specific and measurable, with clear deadlines, to ensure all stakeholders involved have a successful experience.
• Relevant: An effective corporate event planning team should have relevant objectives to foster meaningful connections between brands and their consumers, generate brand awareness, and create memorable experiences that leave a lasting impression.
• Time-Based: Establishing a set timeline for your corporate event planning goals is essential for ensuring that all objectives are achieved in a timely and efficient manner.

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Objectives and Key Results in a corporate event planning context include setting clear goals and expectations for the event, establishing objectives to measure success, and creating key results to fulfill those objectives. These objectives and key results may include desired outcomes such as improved team morale, increased employee engagement, or enhanced customer satisfaction.

The major difference between SMART goals and OKRs lies in their respective objectives. The former focuses on specific, measurable outcomes within a certain timeframe, whereas the latter emphasizes tangible progress toward goals that may be more long-term or abstract.

In addition, SMART goals are typically created by an individual and focus on singular, attainable tasks whereas OKRs are usually established collaboratively by teams or organizations and aim to bring larger, ambitious projects to fruition.

The choice of venue for the corporate event will have a significant impact on how effectively the goals are achieved. It will also affect whether you implement SMART goals or OKRs into your corporate event planning strategy.

Corporate event budgeting

Once you decide upon your objectives, the next step is to define the values and goals you want to achieve. This will give you an indication of what needs to be prioritized and budgeted for the event. For example, if one of your values is to create a memorable experience for attendees, then you may need to prioritize activities or services that will help create this atmosphere, such as entertainment, decorations, food and beverage, and more.

When organizing a corporate event, it is important to consider the funding sources and determine if the event will be self-funded or if it will have sponsors. Additionally, depending on the type of event, you may have opportunities to raise funds from attendees or through activities such as auctions or raffles.

When planning for a corporate event, it is essential to ensure that the budget allocated has the flexibility to accommodate unexpected costs. Have a contingency fund in place and create a realistic budget based on all event variables.

When planning a corporate event, it is important to seek out potential discounts or deals that may be available due to the seasonality of demand or through negotiations with vendors. For example, looking for businesses that offer special discounts during specific times of the year can help save money.

How can I find the right venue for my event?

When planning a corporate event, it is important to pre-determine your goals, values, and priorities to ensure that the event is successful. This includes defining the size of the event, setting a budget, considering desired outcomes such as brand recognition or lead generation, as well as establishing any guiding principles that should inform decisions throughout the planning process.

When planning a corporate event, it is essential to consider who the target audience will be and how best to engage them. Understanding these needs will help make your event more attractive and easier for your guests to attend.

The Steps to Venue Sourcing

The cost for guests to attend the event will vary depending on the number of attendees and services required, such as catering and entertainment. Depending on the complexity of the event, it could range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars per person.

The cost for guests to travel to the event will depend on a variety of factors, such as the distance from their point of origin, travel class, and the number of people traveling together. Moreover, additional costs may include accommodation if guests are coming from afar and need somewhere to stay overnight.

Depending on the location of the event, guests may need to travel for several hours or even a full day to get to the corporate event. For those traveling from far away, it’s important to plan ahead and make sure they arrive in plenty of time for the festivities.

Depending on the type of corporate event, some attendees may need to stay in a hotel. Whether or not the company will cover room and board expenses depends on the budget associated with the event and could range from paying for all costs to not covering any expenses at all.

Working with a corporate event management company

1. Put together a Request for Proposal

Compose a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) that should include information about the goal and purpose of the event.
A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation of bids from vendors to provide certain services and products related to planning a corporate event. It includes a detailed description of the products or services needed, along with information about the timeline, budget, evaluation criteria, and desired deliverables. Know that you should be open and transparent about your budgetary limitations.

2. Communicate your goals

It is essential to effectively communicate your goals and values when planning a corporate event to ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page and understand the company’s objectives. Utilizing clear, concise language and proper terminology can help reinforce any message you intend to deliver while showing your team or clients that you are serious about the event.

Set clear deadlines

When planning a corporate event, it is important to make your deadlines clear from the start and be sure to communicate them to all the stakeholders involved. This not only ensures that tasks are completed on time but also builds trust among everyone involved in the event.

4. Use a corporate event planning template

A corporate event planning template can be a great resource to help you organize and manage all the details of your event. At Traveler’s Q, we offer customizable templates that you can easily download and tailor to suit your needs, ensuring that no detail is overlooked and that your event runs smoothly.

When evaluating potential vendors for corporate event planning, it is important to review their proposals to assess their ability to deliver the agreed-upon services and expectations within the desired timeline and budget.

Using Traveler’s Q’s venue-sourcing tool TBD, event planners can quickly and easily compare the availability, pricing, and features of hundreds of potential venues for their corporate events. This allows them to find the perfect fit for their budget and specific needs in a fraction of the time it would take to research each venue manually.

A corporate event management company can assess proposals with the tool or compare venues based on factors such as ambiance, atmosphere, facilities, location, and catering. They can also consider less concrete factors such as customer service, reputation, and overall guest experience.

How should I market my corporate event?

One of the best ways to market an event is to utilize social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This allows businesses to reach a wide audience quickly, as well as promote their event through posts, stories, and sponsored ads. Additionally, creating a website for the event and utilizing email campaigns can help to ensure maximum attendance by providing more detailed information, such as time and location.

The event can serve as re-marketing of the brand even after it is over by creating content such as video and photo galleries, interviews with key speakers, and engaging blog posts that can be shared on social media to generate further interest in the brand. In addition, the event’s hashtag can be leveraged for further reach, allowing more users to discover the brand and its message.

One example of a strong digital marketing strategy that you could integrate into a corporate event is using personalized QR codes on identification cards. This would allow attendees to store their contact information digitally, while also giving event organizers a way to track the attendees’ activity during the event. Additionally, QR codes could link guests to surveys, ticketing systems, or even promotions related to the event.

How should I engage my corporate event attendees?

Engagement is critical to the success of any corporate event because it allows attendees to have meaningful and lasting experiences that they associate with the brand.

By creating an engaging atmosphere, providing ample networking opportunities, and offering interactive activities and experiences, event planners can ensure that guests are more likely to remember their experience long after the event is over. Through thoughtful planning, event planners can create memorable events that engage attendees both emotionally and intellectually, resulting in a positive perception of the brand and its message.

Breakout sessions and groups are an increasingly popular component of corporate events, providing attendees with the opportunity to engage in more focused and structured discussions on topics relevant to their field.

A successful corporate event requires a knowledgeable and engaging speaker with a strong stage presence to captivate a crowd and draw them into the experience. This can be through dynamic speech, compelling anecdotes, and the ability to read the audience.

Attendees at a corporate event have the opportunity to become actively engaged in a variety of ways, including engaging with the content presented, connecting and networking with one another, interacting with sponsors and exhibitors in your industry, and listening to inspirational speakers.

Do all corporate events need to be in person?

Not all corporate events need to be in person; a successful digital event could involve hosting a live webinar, virtual conference, or video-streamed presentation for employees to take part in remotely. The event could include interactive features such as polls and surveys to increase audience participation, visual content for greater engagement, and an online Q&A session with relevant speakers.

Corporate event planning checklist

1. Create a budget and timeline for the event

2. Develop an event concept that aligns with company goals and visions

3. Secure an appropriate venue

4. Draft a comprehensive logistics plan

5. Review applicable laws and regulations

6. Identify potential vendors and select those you can use

7. Determine audio-visual needs, the necessary event technology, and technical requirements

8. Design invitations, programs, and other materials necessary for the event

9. Compile a list of guests you want to invite and their contact information

10. Research local hotels, transportation options, and other amenities for out-of-town guests

11. Schedule speakers, performers, or other entertainers, if relevant to the event

12. Set up registration procedures for attendees, including payment options, if necessary

13. Establish food service contracts with caterers based on the type of cuisine desired

14. Select decorations according to the chosen theme or style of the event

15. Develop a communication plan to engage attendees leading up to the event as well as during it

16. Prepare any materials needed by presenters or panelists, such as slideshows or handouts

17. Book necessary staff members, such as security personnel or AV technicians, for the duration of the event

18. Secure any permits required for special events such as outdoor concerts or parades

19. Arrange transportation, if necessary, for VIP guests or performers

20. Obtain relevant insurance coverage for both pre-event activities and during the actual event

21. Train volunteers in the protocol, security procedures, and customer service etiquette

22. Design post-event survey forms to gather feedback from participants

23. Hire photographers or other professionals to capture moments from the event

24. Coordinate follow-up activities such as mailing thank-you cards, website updates, etc.

25. Identify potential media outlets to promote future events

Plan your corporate event with Traveler’s Q

The success of a corporate event hinges on the right planning. At Traveler’s Q, we specialize in crafting refined and memorable events that exceed expectations. Our expertise and assistance are tailored to each client’s needs and desires. From ensuring your attendees have an enjoyable experience to devising a thoughtful agenda, our team is experienced in every facet of creating a successful corporate event.

Our services include package bundling, budget management, food selections, and more. Clients trust in our commitment to delivering exceptional outcomes. Contact us today to find out how Traveler’s Q can help plan your next corporate event. We look forward to discussing your needs and creating something truly special for you.