Planning a corporate event can be challenging. You have to make sure that the event is functional and that you meet the demands of the company, clients and anybody else invited. Plus, you have to fulfill the goals of the event. With a diversity of people, tastes and personalities you’re bound to gather there, you might find yourself at a complete loss for ideas on how to make everything work.
However, with some good advice, you’ll realize that things don’t actually have to be that difficult when you are looking to hire a venue. By following these simple steps, you’ll manage to plan your event to the fullest, without losing any sleep over it.
Know the Objectives
Before you make any plans, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve with your event. For instance, you may be interested in attracting new clients, or you are trying to present a new product to the public. Some events are internal, with the purpose of team building or simply celebrating a huge company success. Once you know the goals of your event, you can focus on the intended audience, which means that should decide on how many people will be invited and who those people will be.
Set the Budget
This is one of the crucial early steps in planning an event, since it directly affects most of the other steps. Plus, once you’re clear on what exactly your budget will be, you’ll be less likely to encounter any unpleasant surprises in the final stages of planning. However, bear in mind that you’ll surely have to make some adjustments down the road, although not as disrupting as they would be if you didn’t have a detailed budget plan. One good way to map your budget that is to break it into percentages, and then use the biggest part on the most important aspect of the event, while dividing the rest to cover the other, less important expenses, keeping track of any updates, so as to have an accurate budget plan at all times.
Find a Caterer
Once you know your objectives and you’ve set your budget, you should consider what food you’d like to be served at the event. This hugely depends on the attendees, but also the type and the theme of the event, which you also need to set.
For instance, if you’re throwing a Halloween party, you’ll want to order top-quality Halloween catering, fitting for the occasion. As you’ll want the most exquisite cuisine and uncompromising service, do some online research and find companies that use fresh ingredients and have a variety of options to offer, from hot and cold finger food, to sweet treats, to a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Find a Venue
When you know the target audience and their number, you’ll know the size of the venue you’re looking for, making this the next logical step. sound system on rent or display screens can prove to be somewhat tricky, as you’ll need to take into account your budget and the possible date or dates for the event. In addition, you’ll want to know if you can hire your own caterer and whether the venue will provide you with their own staff, or you have to find them yourself.
You should also know that not all venues have their own tables, chairs and other equipment, so make sure you ask about that, too. Finally, you should ensure that the space you choose appeals to the profile of the attendees, in order to make the event more effective and more memorable.
Schedule Everything
If you want to avoid any nerve-racking setbacks, you should make a schedule and have everybody involved stick to it. That’s the only way that everything will function well. When you know when the caterers are bringing the food, when the entertainment is arriving and how long they need to set their equipment, and that you’ve given the staff an agenda that tells them what their assignments are and what comes after what, you’ll be more relaxed, everything will be organized properly and the guests will be happier and more comfortable. When all participants know what needs to be done and when, they’ll all be more efficient and the goals of the event will be met with more ease.
Once you’ve settled on everything, print the invitations with all the relevant information, send them out and wait for the event to start. With good planning, the day of the event should be far less stressful and immensely more successful.
