If you work in the corporate world, planning a corporate event is likely part of your job. If you’re new to planning corporate events, or even if you’ve been doing it for years and want to improve your skills, this article will help get you started on how to plan a company party.
Pick a date and time
When you’re planning a corporate event, it’s important to pick the right date and time. You want to make sure that everyone can attend without conflicts with other events.
For example: If you’re planning an annual holiday party for your company in December, don’t schedule another big event for January or February–people will be busy celebrating New Year’s Eve and/or their birthday at that point! The same goes for picking dates too far in advance; if you schedule an annual retreat two years from now with no other big plans on the calendar, people might forget about it until it’s too late (and then feel overwhelmed by having so much work).
Decide on the location and venue
Deciding on a location and venue is an important part of planning a corporate event. There are many factors to consider when selecting a venue, including accessibility and affordability. You also want to make sure that your chosen venue reflects your event theme and is easy for guests to find (and get back home from).
The number of people attending should be taken into account as well: if you’re having a large celebration, such as an anniversary party or holiday meal with family members, then it may make sense for you to rent out an entire restaurant or hotel ballroom instead of hosting at home; conversely, if only five people need space for lunch one day next week then booking some office conference rooms would probably suffice in this case!
Finally–and perhaps most importantly–decide whether there will be parking available near where they’ll be held; this can be crucial when planning events involving lots of participants who might otherwise struggle to get around without their own cars!
Choose an event theme
Once you’ve decided on the date, time, and location of your corporate event, it’s time to choose an event theme. The theme can be anything from “Movies That Rock” to “A Night Under the Stars” or even “A Night in Paris.” It all depends on what type of event you are planning and what kind of experience you want to create for your employees and guests.
If it’s a company celebration or holiday party, consider choosing a theme that ties into whatever occasion is being celebrated–for example: if it’s Christmas Eve (or Day), maybe pick something along those lines; if it’s Fourth of July weekend then maybe go with red white and blue colors as well as patriotic music; if it’s Labor Day weekend perhaps consider patriotic colors again but also include some country music too!
Send out invitations
Once you’ve decided on the type of event, it’s time to send out invitations. The most important thing to remember when sending out invitations is that only invitees who are truly interested in attending will respond positively. You want to make sure that you have invited only those people who have expressed interest in your event or company and will benefit from attending it.
You should also send out invitations at least three weeks before the actual date of your corporate function so that there is plenty of time for them to RSVP (i.e., respond). It’s always better if they can reply sooner rather than later so that you can plan accordingly!
When sending out formal invitations via mail, always include an RSVP card along with an invitation card as well as any other information pertaining directly to this particular event such as date/time/location etcetera…
Make a guest list
The first step in planning your corporate event is to make a guest list. If you’re planning an intimate dinner party, this may be as simple as writing down everyone who RSVPs yes and sending them an email with details about the location and time. If you’re hosting a large conference that requires several rooms over multiple days, however, it’s crucial that all of your guests are accounted for–and that means making sure they can get there!
Here are some tips on how to go about creating an accurate list of attendees:
- Include every person who has been invited by name (and any other pertinent details). More information on the invitee sheet helps ensure accuracy later on when trying to track down who has RSVP’d yes vs. no.
- Make sure each person knows exactly how many guests they can bring along.
- Update lists regularly as people change plans or drop out altogether.
- Double-check with hosts if possible before finalizing invitations so they can confirm whether or not their house rules allow pets/children etc., which could impact attendance numbers.
Make sure you’re hiring professionals
All too often, companies will try to save money by doing their own event planning in-house. This is usually a mistake, because it takes away valuable resources from other projects, and it often results in an inferior product that falls short of expectations or even fails completely. Be sure to hire a professional event management company because this saves you time, and everything will be perfectly organized, down to the last detail. If you’re going to invest money into an event, make sure it’s invested wisely and that there will be results from the investment in terms of return on investment (ROI).
Make a proper budget for the event
You must make a proper budget for the event. The first thing you need to do is calculate how much money you will have available for this purpose, and then use that number as your starting point when creating your corporate event budget.
Remember, though: It’s not just about what you can afford; it’s also about what’s reasonable for your company or organization’s size and scope of operations. For example, if there are only five employees in your office who need transportation to get there (and they’ll be driving), renting two buses may not be necessary–especially if those buses cost thousands of dollars each! Instead, consider carpooling with other businesses nearby or taking public transportation together as a group–that way everyone gets their own vehicle back home at night without having spent too much money on transportation during business hours themselves!
Planning a corporate event is a lot of work and can be very overwhelming at times. However, if you follow the steps above and take your time to plan things out properly then you’ll be on the right track towards success!