From “the entrepreneur of the year“ to fancy team-building activities, big corporations organize tens, if not hundreds, of events yearly.
Small but Mighty: Unleashing the Power of Company Events
However, working for a small business doesn’t mean you lack excellent company events. They have more to do with good organization than they are related to splashing out huge sums of money. If you approach the matter studiously, you have a realistic chance of pulling off a gala corporate event that will amaze all your business associates, employees, and clients alike.
Determining the theme
To save money, you need to focus a lot. This begins with the theme itself. Is the upcoming event formal or informal? Will only employees get invited, or is it aimed at the general public? Is it a party you must send invitations for and expect guests to bring something like a present?
These are just some of the numerous questions you must ask yourself to define the event to the last detail. Clearly defining the event type will make it easier to project the budget and prepare the venue. For instance, a business conference or a seminar requires different preparations than an outdoor team-building activity.
Choosing a venue
Once you know the overall theme and nature of the event, you are ready to select the venue. The options are endless, but an indoor shall with AC is a smart choice if the event is scheduled during the summer. Nothing is appealing in sweating in the punishing New South Wales sun!
If you have enough time, take the opportunity to browse between different venues in search of the best deal. On the other hand, if you’re working with a limited budget (hey, some business owners are outright stingy), look for venues you can have free of charge. Perhaps you can use the office after hours, or an employee will be willing to let you use their backyard free of charge.
Doing it all on your own
Big corporations often hire external agencies to take care of all the organizational details to make their events memorable. They do this because their employees are often disinterested in the role of the organizer of company events. If you run a tightly-knit business in terms of HR, there is no need to outsource. Throw in a few extra leave days, and your employees will be lining up to assume the provisional role of event managers. Unless you are organizing the Academy Awards ceremony, a highly motivated team of people who already work for you can take care of the organization independently.
What to do for entertainment
Few events don’t require any form of entertainment whatsoever. Botha reception and a conference can benefit from a band playing in the back. There are so many different artists and especially musicians that you cannot afford not to hire one of them. Depending on the genre, background music is appropriate for formal gatherings, including a strict dress code and backyard parties. DJ hire in Sydney has become a new standard for organizing team-building events. Whatever the theme of the office party is, a DJ will help spice things up and have the staff mingling around.
The power of a good speech
Just as music is welcome at any event regardless of its type and theme, so are speakers and experts always a good thing to have. In a conference, this is the keynote speaker whom you should invite months in advance so it can help your marketing campaign. Other corporate events should include a short speech from a renowned expert or a CEO to raise morale. Even a backyard party can include a short humorous toast delivered by the DJ if you fall short on experts.
A mandatory follow-up
Your work is not quite done once the last guest leaves, even if this happens at 3 AM. The hours, days, and weeks after the event are also integral to it, as you should conduct follow-up activities. Internal events, like parties and team-building activities, require workers to complete a short survey. In it, they can grade the company event, propose future venues and themes, and point out what was mismanaged. In more formal events, apart from a follow-up, you can analyze the total cost and the long-term effects. For instance, if the point of the evening was to generate leads, you can guestimate how many new contacts were established.
As you have seen from our guidelines, even small firms can successfully organize big company events. All they need are a couple of motivated individuals ready to make the most of the budget they are entrusted with to keep all the guests well-entertained.
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