A Comprehensive Guide to Corporate Event Organizing

Corporate events are hosted for multiple reasons for product/service launches, to demonstrate any changes in the company’s structure, to motivate or appreciate employees, to build new partnerships, etc. No matter the reason behind hosting these events, it involves handling important personnel and various other aspects of the event. This makes corporate event management more than just meeting planning; it comprises various things and requires detailed planning and careful execution. The event planning process is often a month-long process and requires a keen eye for attention to detail. To help you navigate through this complex process, here is a detailed guide to corporate event management. If you are planning on starting your own event planning business, this is the ultimate beginner guide that can help you organize your first event seamlessly.

What is a corporate event?

Before understanding the intricate details of how to organize a corporate event, it is important to understand what it is.

A corporate event is usually a large-scale business event that is organized to strengthen a company’s image inside and outside the organization. Internal corporate events are hosted to discuss business details, trends in the industry, the position of the brand, celebrations, appreciation, etc. An external corporate event is specifically hosted to showcase the brand’s performance and image to the general audience or potential business partners. This may include product launches, discussing industry trends and advancements, celebrating success, and building new relationships.

Types of corporate events

• Conferences and seminars: These are typically organized to discuss the latest trends in the industry to educate employees and customers.
• Product launches: Usually are the biggest corporate events hosted to announce new products or services of the brand to the general audience.
• Board meetings: These are internal meetings between the shareholders, usually held to discuss new business strategies, their performance, improvement ideas, and future objectives.
• Award ceremonies: Award ceremonies are formal events hosted to recognize the best-performing employees and offer them gifts or appreciation for their contributions.
• Employee appreciation events: These are small-scale events usually hosted by the organization's internal team to show appreciation for the employees.
• Holiday parties: Corporate companies organize these off-site holiday parties to celebrate any milestones or to have a break from the regular work life, especially for their internal teams.
• Corporate retreats: Corporate retreats are organized for both internal teams and clients to celebrate any milestone, usually hosted for a large group of people.

Understanding why each event is held can help you cater the event management according to the business needs. This will also help you host events that resonate with the target audience.

How to host a perfect corporate event?

Everybody remembers the best events they have attended in their life. Now what makes an event the best? In order to host a perfect event, there are various things to consider. First and foremost you have to understand the organization, its business offerings, its USP, colour and aesthetics. Here is a list of all the things that you need to keep in mind while organizing a corporate event.

• Unmatched guest management
• Exciting events
• Interactive shows
• Good food
• Lighting and aesthetics
• Beautiful main stage
• Thoughtful decoration
• Efficient logistics and transportation management

Things to look out for while hosting a corporate event

• Event objective: Understanding the event is the key to making it a success. Collaborate with the client’s internal teams, know what they are looking for, understand their business, their unique requirements, and colour and aesthetics. The clients know what they want and it is our business as an event organizer company to achieve it.
• Event budget: Based on the client’s requirements and expectations, roughly make an event budget. This depends on what services they have opted for. Coordinate with multiple vendors to get a quote and finalize the budget for the event. Coordinate with the client, discuss the budget and get on to a final budget for the event.
• Venue sourcing: Venue is another key aspect of the event, this is the place where the entire execution happens. Coordinate with clients to get their preferences and expectations and contact multiple vendors, analyze various options, present them to the client along with the budget and finalize the venue.
• Guest management: On the day of the event, guest management is the key to making the event successful. Guests should feel welcomed and entertained throughout the event, so ensure they are well taken care of. Ensure that each and every guest is valued and is provided with all the basic amenities without any compromise.
• Catering services: If the client also wants catering services, get their recommendations. What kind of menu do they want, for how many people, and what are all the options that need to be included? Research multiple vendors, compare their prices and amenities and choose the best.
• Event marketing: If you are hosting a big corporate event such as a product launch, marketing plays a key role in making the event successful. Your clients can have big expectations and reaching the right audience is crucial, analyze the market, and audience and use multiple platforms online and offline to promote the brand effectively.

How do I start an event management company and become successful?

Similar to any other business, to start an event management company research is the key. Analyze the existing leading event management companies and what they do. What is making them successful? What are all the services they are offering? How much are they charging? How long have they been in the business? What made them successful? And most importantly there is always room for improvement, figure out things that they are lacking. Where can they do better?

• Do not start the business immediately, if you are already from a management and marketing background do your research. If you are completely new to this business, we recommend you do basic courses, there are plenty of websites and even colleges that offer both short-term and long-term courses to study event management. It can teach you many things that are involved onsite. This can come in handy and give you a kickstart in the beginning.
• Know about all the regulations and legal documentation processes. This may differ from state to state, do your research and get all the paperwork and documentation done for smooth and seamless beginnings.
• Figure out all the finances involved and all the services that you are planning to offer. We recommend you start small, make contacts across multiple places with top vendors in the beginning, make partnerships with them and discuss your cut.
• Create all the social media accounts Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. These accounts can not only help you establish brand awareness but also act as a portfolio in the future. Collaborate with influencers and publish exciting content, invest in advertising and collaboration partnerships. This is the important part, it can help you compete with the top players in the market and make your name. Post engaging content, hire a dedicated social media manager, and see the magic.
• Last but not least, be dedicated and motivated, you may not see success in the initial days of your business. Never forget that the secret to success is consistency. LinkedIn, this is where you can find corporate clients. Try cold emails, keep contacting multiple clients and within no time, you can find your first client.

How to become a successful event management company?

In order to become a successful event management company and sustain it in the long run, good contacts with multiple vendors are the key. Since event management involves complex planning and detailed execution, it is important to be open. Discuss your opinions with the client and recommend things, sometimes they might be wrong or confused about what they want. Your opinion and expertise play an important role in hosting a seamless event.

Conclusion

All in all, in order to sustain in this event management field, consistency and hard work are the keys. Plan your steps carefully, be one step ahead, always have a backup plan, and keep believing in yourself. Follow up with your first clients, get feedback, work on improving your work regularly, and always remember not to stop experimenting. For more information or any queries contact G-Units or visit our website.