Organizing a big corporate event with so many things to worry about is a daunting task.
For one, you must find a suitable corporate event space that could accommodate all the expected guests and participants. There’s also the question of how much budget you should request from the management to cover all the expenses for the event.
You have to do many things and you’re already feeling quite exhausted just thinking about all of them. Here are 10 tips to help lighten your load and ensure a hassle-free corporate event.
Give Yourself Time to Plan
Someone once said that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Having mentioned this, make sure that you plan for the event months ahead. This will give you enough legroom to work on the myriad tasks you have to accomplish.
Form an Event Management Team
During your planning phase, you should form and find people who will be part of the event management team. This is to offload from you the different tasks required to hold the event. Your team should consist of the following
- Event planner
- Client service event manager
- Event manager
- Event assistant
- Event coordinator
You may add other roles, depending on your needs.
Itemize and Delegate Tasks
Another step during your planning is itemizing and delegating tasks to your team members. This will ensure accountability on each task, as well as a smooth preparation leading to, during, and following the event.
Canvass for Vendors
From all the tasks you’ll identify, you should know which one you would have to outsource to vendors or service providers. You may include events publicity materials, catering (if the venue doesn’t have an in-house caterer), loot bags (if needed), and the event venue itself. The more vendors you could ask for a price quote, the better.
Create a Budget
Once you have canvassed from different vendors, you must create an event budget and present it to your big bosses for approval. Make sure to leave a small wriggle room in the budget to serve as your emergency fund for unforeseen expenses.
Secure the venue
You have to book your chosen venue months in advance, especially if your target date falls on a peak season. This will also allow you to determine the facilities of the venue that are readily available and to work out possible freebies or discounts.
Create an Events Tracker
Aside from merely organizing an event management team, you should also create a shared events tracker your team members could access anywhere. This will help everyone stay on top of your team’s overall progress.
Do Follow-Ups
Make sure you’ll follow-up on your speakers, guests, and vendors to see if you’re on the same page days before the big event. This will guarantee that all the people involved in the event know their responsibilities to avoid last-minute surprises.
Do a Dry-Run
It’s also critical to have a dry-run at least one day before the actual event. This will involve the flow of the event, sound system, seating arrangement, lighting, and the like. A dry-run will also help you identify potential problems so you could make quick adjustments.
Have a Contingency
Never be caught unprepared and without a back-up plan.
What if Speaker A accidentally got lost on the way to the event? Who will fetch him or her?
Be sure to picture out all worst-case scenarios and have solutions ready for them.
With these tips, you should be fairly prepared for the big event. Success now lies in how well you would execute your game plan.