Corporate event planning requires exceptional planning and organization. If you take the time to learn how to plan corporate events, then you will find that each successive corporate event becomes a bit easier to plan. A corporate or business event is an investment by your company in marketing a product or some other aspect of your business. To maximize the return of your investment, you need to develop a corporate event planning process that works.
Step 1: Determine the scope of your event. Decide what kind of impact you want to make. For example, you may decide that a product launch should be done in a large hall while an informal customer appreciation party would be suitable for a warehouse. Make a list on a piece of paper everything you want to accomplish with your event, and then use that list to determine the scope of the event.
Step 2: Compile a guest list. Include every person you want to invite to the event. If you plan on having an event that is open to the pubic, then you will sill need to estimate what you think attendance will be.
Step 3: Consider a theme for your event. When you develop a theme, you can then begin to decide how you want the event to be decorated.
Step 4: Create a setup list. Make a list of event decorations, speakers and setup costs, including catering and hired help necessary to run the event. Determine whether you will be having the event at your facility, or if you need to rent a hall. The rental cost will also have to be figured in as part of your corporate event setup costs.
Step 5: Seek volunteers. When doing your corporate event planning, circulate a description of the event among your employees and ask for help. The less staff you have to pay, the more money you save on the event.
Step 6: Decide how you want to advertise your event. If you are doing an invitation-only event, then your only cost will be for the invitations and postage. If you are doing an event that is open to the public, they you will need to put together a list of advertising costs for mediums, such as the media, radio, and print.
Step 7: Compile all of your information into a budget. The budget should contain detailed aspects of how the money will be spent, how much each line item will cost and the grand total for the event. Add an extra 20 percent to all costs to allow for changes in the plan or problems during corporate event planning and execution.