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A corporate event can be a valuable business tool, helping you to promote your business, win clients and keep your customers happy with a little glitz and glamour. But planning a successful corporate event so that it goes off without a hitch can take a little bit of work, so here’s how to do it. 

Know your five W’s

The five w’s are the foundations of your corporate event, your who, what, when, where and why. With answers to your five W’s, you can then build your event from the ground up.

Who?                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Who will be invited to this event? Knowing your who is important to understanding your audience and what they will want to see from your event.

What?
What is your budget? Your what is one of your limiting factors and will ultimately determine a lot of the details to follow

When?
When will you host the event? Set the date and know when you plan to host your event to ensure that you choose a suitable venue. 

Where?
Where will the event take place? Which event space will you choose? 

Why?
Why are you hosting this event? Your why is perhaps the biggest single factor that you need to consider. What are you hoping to achieve from this event? what does success look like to you?

Set the date early

There’s nothing worse than organizing an event and then realizing that there are no venues available to accommodate it or that no one can come as it is too short notice. Set the date as early as possible to give you plenty of time to work towards it and to give your guests plenty of time to put it in their diaries. As a general rule 4 weeks is the minimum amount of time you should give guests and remember to collect their RSVP’s to get an estimation of final numbers. 

Assess everyone’s needs 

To make your guests feel special go above and beyond to make them feel special and meet their needs. We live in a world of inclusivity so ensure to assess the needs of your guests. Does anyone have any dietary requirements which may require you to make special catering arrangements? Does anyone have a disability and require additional assistance? Is anyone bringing a plus one and have you added them to your tally of total numbers? 

Go for quality not quantity 

The size of a corporate event doesn’t determine its success. If you have a limited budget then don’t try to stretch it too thin by sacrificing the quality fo your food, decoration or venue and instead downsize the event to be something more intimate. Similarly, if you are new to events planning then don’t make your first event something extravagant and instead remember to focus on quality and not quantity to help you build a strong business reputation. 

Be present

And finally, the most important part of a corporate event is to have a company presence, so remember to be present yourself and not hiding in the sidelines. A great touch is to greet all of your guests personally so that each and every one of them can say they spoke to you at least once on the night.