You are to organize a successful and grand corporate party at the company you work for but don’t specialize in organizing parties. You have never done any event planning in your life but have to deliver. So, what do you do? You could use a corporate event planner, but is there much time to give them all the details of the in and out of your company. The guess is as good as yours; you better than anyone else knows how the company works.
Hiring a planner is not a bad idea, but you won’t be able to take full credits for the work, and you should see this as an opportunity to experiment and try something new. You should explore the field of event planning for once and follow this guide to get a good grasp on how to plan an event successfully.
8 Steps to successfully planning an event
1. Start with why
To host a successful event, you have to understand why you are hosting one in the first place. You should have meetings with the right people to know precisely why the party is holding. Are you trying to sell to the attendees? Or are you retaining old clients by thanking them? Here is a list of other reasons why you might be holding the party.
- To announce a new product.
- To celebrate the new official.
- To attract a new audience.
You must know why so you can plan the tone and theme of the party. Imagine a scenario where you are trying to attract a new audience( the attendees are in the attraction stage), and your party has sales banners left and right. That could put them off and leave them uninterested. Not unless the product is packaged in a way that attracts them to ask, ‘what is that and what is it about?’ That is the reaction you should aim at when planning a party meant to attract new prospects.
2. The plan
You have your ‘why?’ The next phase is to plan. Remember, she who fails to plan plans to fail. You must have a solid plan before you dive right into it.
Here is a list of things your plan should include:
- The event’s objectives, you should write this out first
- Goals: You should have a plan at each stage of the party’s organization until the event itself. This is to help you track your performance. You have to be realistic
- How many people are attending? This would help you plan your budget, which we would discuss in the next paragraph
- What is the event theme? You can plan according to your audience. For an elite audience, you can include a desktop vaporizer in the budget; you might get surprised that your audience would enjoy vaping at the party.
- You should keep in mind that choosing the date for the event should come last after you already have directions for planning the party.
3. Budget
You already have a mental picture of how you would like the party to go. Now it is time to allocate funds to their respective locations so the event would not flop. Your job is to manage and stay on top of the event, so you can’t do it alone. Here is a list of things to set a budget for:
- Location of event
- Food and drinks
- Desserts
- Host
- Flyers to promote the event
- Partners if necessary. For example, you can pay an entertainer to keep the guests glued to their seats.
- Speakers
- Waiters (or otherwise if it is a ‘serve yourself’ event)
- Decorators
- Miscellaneous
You should spend within 80-90% of the budget in case of unforeseen events. Don’t be wasteful, extravagant, maybe depending on who is attending but not wasteful. Stick to your goals, and you have a successful event coming your way.
4. Choosing a team and communicating your idea
The team you create should involve people who have better experience handling event planning than you do. Hire people who already have the right connections to get you everything you are looking for without wasting time and money.
5. Finding the perfect event location
This takes up about 40% of the challenge. Finding the perfect spot for the event could make or mar the event.
You should answer the following questions before looking for a location:
- How long would the event run for?
- Would your guests need to stay over or come the day before?
- What would the room look like?
- Would you need a projector?
- What would the sitting arrangements look like?
All of these you should ask yourself and your team before searching for a place so you won’t waste time. Some event locations already have decorations and work with excellent food service. It would be great to find it all at once, but read the next paragraph if not.
6. Arranging for food and drinks
If choosing the location was 40% of the job, arranging for food and drink is 40%. People are always happy with anyone who has served them good food and drinks. Your guests would remain pleased throughout the entire event. Food is usually the highlight of parties, so make sure your guests are well taken care of.
7. Be a good manager
Don’t only delegate tasks. Always check up on your team. Have the goals you set been met? Don’t wait until it is the last minute till you confirm how things are. Make sure you have seen the location chosen yourself. Make sure you have met the food service that will deliver on the event day. Hold your team members accountable for their respective roles. Make sure things are running smoothly before the event day.
8. An event to remember
You want your guests to remember the event for a long time. It is possible some things don’t go as planned, so you should arrange for the little things that make your hard work count. It could be a game, charade, or a giveaway—anything to get your guests engaged with the event.
Conclusion
If you have never planned an event, you should try out this article. If you have arranged one in the past and you think you could have done better, what did you learn?
Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.
