When planning a corporate event, it’s easy to feel the pressure mounting. With so much on the line and the reputation of a business at stake, you need to get things right. As with any event, the key to success lies in methodical planning and preparation for all eventualities. With our handy step-by-step checklist and timeline, you’ll find a logical path that dodges all the common pitfalls, allowing you to nail corporate event planning no matter what happens.
Your Corporate Event Planning Timeline
Planning a corporate event may take longer than you anticipate, and ideally, you should give yourself up to a year to plan and orchestrate an event. Our step-by-step guide will walk you through the crucial stages and the best time to complete each, whether you’re in charge of a small event or one of the annual large corporate events in your industry.
Up to 12 Months Before the Event
Organising an event is much like putting the pieces of a puzzle together – but the puzzle is unpredictable, with pieces that may go missing or an image which may suddenly change. Careful planning and being prepared for problems are crucial to successful event management.
A Clear Vision
Before you start booking glittering venues and picking out appetisers, take some time to focus on the purpose of your corporate event. Corporate event management can only be successful if you have a clear vision of what the company is trying to communicate through the event. Is your event being hosted to:
- Make an announcement?
- Celebrate an achievement or to reward success?
- Educate or build brand awareness?
- Enable networking or collaboration?
Understanding the story that the corporate event needs to tell will shape every critical decision you must make in the planning process – from the venue you choose to the décor you opt for and the entertainment or key speakers you hire.
List your Key Objectives
Company event planning involves many lists, the first of which should be your objectives. With a crystal-clear vision in mind, you will be able to state the overall aim of the event, but you then need to ask:
- When will the event take place?
- How many people do you need to attend (and/or livestream) the event?
- If the event needs to turn a profit, what are your margins?
- How much will the tickets cost?
- Where would you like to hold the event?
Finalise your Budget
Finalising your budget this early in the proceedings is crucial as your budget impacts every decision you make. As any event planner can confirm – even a generous budget is easily spent!
The best way to plan out your budget realistically is to conduct plenty of research, asking for estimates or quotes and include a generous contingency plan within this budget. Budgeting software can make managing your money simpler, allowing you to track various expenditure streams in one place.
Choose your Theme
Again, with the vision of your corporate event in mind, you need to pick the style and theme of your event. What type of event would best suit your vision? A sit-down dinner followed by entertainment or a speaker? Or would a tradeshow or conference style of event portray your company’s story more effectively?
Think about who will be attending your event. What would they like? What theme would express your vision and suit your company brand and ethos while still catering to this target audience?
Choose your Venue, Vendors, Exhibitors and Catering
Picking your venue is one of the most important parts of planning a corporate event. You need to choose a venue in a geographical location that is accessible to your target audience and to any stallholders, exhibitors, speakers or entertainers you’re relying upon.
Not only must you source a venue with practicalities in mind – such as attendee numbers and floor space, but depending upon the objective of your event, you may need the venue to bring the wow factor to leave the right impression on your attendees.
When finding the right venue, it’s time to compile another list. What needs must your venue meet besides accommodating the requisite number of attendees? What will your Wi-Fi and infrastructure requirements be? What type of local vendors will you need access to? What on-site catering and/or bar facilities will you need? What safety protocols will you need to implement, and what type of venue can facilitate those?
Catering at a corporate event is one of the touches that can make or break the attendee experience. Superb food is always a talking point; therefore, finding a good quality, reliable caterer within your chosen geographical location is vital. And because great caterers are always in demand, booking them up to a year in advance may be necessary.
Start contacting vendors and exhibitors that align with your company and the story your event is telling.
At this stage, think about what booking and ticket system you will use. With active promotions starting from around the four-month mark, you’ll want to have your system secured and in place for early ticket sales.
Research your Key Attractions
Most events will have a significant attraction that will draw attendees and serve as a reliable reflection of the company. When planning a corporate event, securing the writer speaker (or panel of speakers), entertainers or exhibitors should be considered another pivotal puzzle piece.
Securing your attraction can be a logistical nightmare, which is why it’s so important to start researching and contacting them right at the start of the process. If you don’t have personal experience with your key attraction, do plenty of research to check that they have spoken, performed or attended similar functions to yours.
Secure Insurance
If one thing’s for sure in corporate event planning – it’s that nothing is for sure! To protect the finances of your event, taking out event insurance will help smooth the path should the unexpected happen. This insurance can offer protection from the planning stages right through to the hosting of the event itself.
Turn to an insurance provider such as Park Insurance, and you can benefit from a tailor-made events insurance policy that meets your project’s individual needs. You can include cancellation, postponement or abandonment coverage for those precarious planning stages. These important coverages ensure that your company isn’t left out of pocket if unforeseen circumstances prevent you from running your event. If you’re planning to host your event outdoors, consider the benefits of adverse weather coverage, as this isn’t always included as standard.
The core coverage with an events insurance policy is public liability insurance. This coverage protects your company against claims made by members of the public for any personal injury or personal property damage sustained during the event. If your company plans to hire staff for their corporate event, you must also add employer’s liability insurance to the policy, as per the current UK law.
Up to Four Months Before the Event
Though you may feel more confident once your venue, attractions and catering are booked, there are still many puzzle pieces to pull together. From around the four-month mark, your corporate event management strategy should start focussing on the finer details and event marketing.
Securing All Bookings
Remember, things can still change just because you’ve made preliminary bookings. From the four months mark, it’s time to secure all your essential bookings by requesting confirmations, ensuring all your deposits are paid and clarifying all your requirements and expectations so that both sides are happy with the arrangement.
Promotions and Marketing
Request bios and photographs from your speakers or entertainers to help you publicise the event and for your on-the-day promotional materials.
Start promoting at this stage by adding the event to your online calendar, using your email contacts database and utilising the company’s social media platforms. If it is a ticketed event, consider offering earl-bird deals. Over the next four months, use the company’s website blog to post interesting and engaging content about the event and if your budget can accommodate it, make a promotional video.
If you’re hosting a large national or global corporate event, market it with teaser emails and a dedicated website. Consider a mobile event app. Mobile event apps can allow attendees to communicate and network with one another.
Two Months Before the Event
With just eight weeks before the event, now is the time to start finalising your schedules and double-checking all your bookings again. Problems can and likely will arise at this stage, but as long as your event is fully insured, though these issues may give you a headache, the event’s financials will be secure.
Further Promotion
In the weeks building up the event, a great marketer on your team can create a real buzz through email and app reminders, blog and social media countdowns and tempting offers for last-minute ticket sales.
While you’re busy reminding your event attendees about the approaching date, don’t forget to remind all the key attractions, too, working to keep them engaged and motivated so that you’ll get the ultimate performance from them on the day.
Make your Final Contingency Plans
For many of your puzzle pieces, you won’t know whether they will fall into place until the final weeks or days. Accidents and illness are one of the leading causes of disruption for the event planner, be it a key speaker, the caterer, the singer in the band or a vital employee working the event. During these two months, take the time to prepare your backup plan. Find out who would be available as a short-notice replacement and how much this change would cost.
We’re now all too familiar with how quickly rules and regulations surrounding gatherings can change, so take the time to plan a shift to a virtual event.
One Week Before the Event
With one week to go, it’s time to write and then tick off your final lists. With your insurance in place and your contingency plans creating a safety net, you can focus on making the day of the event run smoothly.
Compile and Share the Event Schedule
A comprehensive schedule will keep everyone on the same page. It can help the different departments working the event to know what each other is doing and encourage them to discuss how best to complete work smoothly. This is an essential part of any corporate event management strategy.
Hold Final Meetings
Now is the time to talk to your caterers regarding final numbers and any last-minute changes (such as the guest who has suddenly announced a nut allergy). Be sure to chat with your key attractions to ensure they’re happy with all the arrangements and the expectations you have of them.
If you have exhibitors and vendors coming, make sure they know when they can arrive and set up.
Visit the Venue
Visiting the venue in the days before the event can allow you to visualise the set-up process and give you the perfect opportunity to iron out any potential IT or equipment issues.
With safety and potential claims in mind, perform your health and safety checks and ask the venue to implement any necessary changes.
Then, come the day of the event, you’ll be prepared for a strategic set-up, followed by an event that brings all your hard work together. If your large event requires more than a day to set up and take back down, take out sufficient insurance cover to protect these extra days.
Are you planning your own corporate event very soon? If you’d like to discuss your event insurance needs, give one of the friendly experts at Park Insurance a call today. With decades of experience in creating bespoke policies, Park Insurance can offer you the peace of mind you need when planning a corporate event.