To the practical boss events may seem frivolous and a waste of time but
work events important not only serve to keep worker’s morale high but
also create opportunities for networking and courting new clients. These
can range from hikes, cocktails, trivia nights to conferences.
However planning events can be difficult and intimidating especially for
those with smaller budgets and no experience, our marketing and events
team has put together 6 main considerations for guidance.
1. Determine your purpose and theme:
When planning an event individuals jump straight to themes eg black tie/
game night without proper thought to the aim of the event. It is paramount
to have clear objectives and KPIs for events to guide the process and
justify budgets. This ensures that money is not spent on an event which
delivers no value to the business.
Good examples of justifiable purposes for work events include increased
foot fall (which could prove beneficial for retailers or real estate
companies), team building, client entertainment etc
2. Picking suppliers and determining budgets:
After determining a theme the team should then compile a list of items
required and get quotations from party (and other) suppliers. Supplier in
this context could mean event equipment supplier for businesses with
sufficient budgets or retailers such as House of Leather for employees
working on DIY events with smaller budgets. These figures together with
other costs such as venue, transportation et cetera are compiled in
budgets for approval by management.
3. Sending out invites:
The third crucial step to having a successful event is to send out well
detailed invites early. The details you should include in the invites are
purpose, theme, day, time, location and requirements from attendees
(ticket purchase, content submissions etc.)
4. Event Pre pep
:
Before the event it’s important for the teams to conduct a recce to to avoid
any event day surprises and ensure adequate space, proper electrical
connections, enough parking etc. This period ideally a week or two to the
event is the best for sending out reminders to guests
5. D DAY Preparation:
The event day is exciting but can also be unnerving for large events such
as conferences. Eva Mirara from EvoQ the marketing consultant for
Workshop gave us some event day advise, “After years of doing events
we believe that you should always get on site early to double check. You
must also delegate and trust your team in addition to having a fast and
steady event day communication process with suppliers and all
stakeholders. Finally, relax if you’re well prepared any setbacks can be
fixed.”
6. Post Event:
After the event it is important to coordinate set down especially on out
office hired venues to avoid additional hire costs. After a successful event,
it is important to carry out a postmortem with the team to discuss wins and
areas for improvement on future events.
Don’t forget to send out individual thank you notes to smaller events and
sponsors or VIPS for larger events; posters could be created to thank
larger crowds eg. for music events and concerts.
Do you have a team tasked with running events at work or do you do it inhouse? What tips do you find most useful?
