What are you bound to forget when planning a corporate event?

Ok let’s get real. Not everyone starts planning with a check list. For those of you who fits in this category, if it’s any consolation people who plan with a checklist are also bound to forget details.

If you are planning an event for a corporate, here are a few details you tend to miss out!

1. Menu!

First things first, let’s talk about food. Planners often forget to consider the food preferences of the guests. Yes, we keep vegetarian dishes and seafood but often forget to consider meat items. Some guests may have different believes and serving some meat items may not look so accommodating. This could be comprehensible at a wedding or private party but not so much at a corporate event. We suggest you stick to the usual meat items and offer it in different preparations to have a good spread.

Also, consider the time of the buffet timings. If your event is for guests with families, consider opening the buffet an hour early to accommodate kids and if nibbles are not provided.

2. Presentations!

Most of the corporate events start off with company/product presentations. The most important thing is to keep these short and engaging. Don’t bore the guests with too many details in a presentation. We suggest providing a docket with printed documents with details for easy reference or put it on a thumb drive. This could also come in handy as a great giveaway.

Next, if there are two or more speakers at your event, always remember to have a timer screen in front so that everyone could stick to the agenda to carry out a smooth event.

Here’s something too important to forget! Always provide a clicker to the speakers so that they don’t have to stand in front of a laptop screen the whole time or depend on another to navigate through the slides. This makes the speaker walk around freely during the presentation, hence, create engagement with the guests.

Very importantly, have a back up of all the presentations, animations, videos in case of emergency.

3. Timing!

If your formal event is concluding with a gala dinner, always check the venue usage timings. Most hotels in Sri Lanka allow the venues to be used till midnight, however, if your guests are all in for the party, consider extending the hours. ALWAYS have the prices negotiated with the venue before the event, preferably in writing.

4. Must haves!

Ensure to provide your guests with water bottles and mints at the tables and if your event consists of more than one presentation provide them notebooks and pens as not everyone comes prepared.

5. Registrations!

It is very important to know the turnout for your event. Hence, always arrange a registration table at the function to mark attendance. Instead of getting details at the counter, we suggest you print out a list of registrations to only mark at the entrance. Make sure to sort the lists alphabetically or in any other form that makes it easier to find the relevant person. Idea is to not have guests gathering around the counter to be registered.

Living in this era, you could always opt to get registrations via a QR code. However, we suggest you have a secondary method as not all will be tech savvy.

6. Data Collection!

Best way to update your company databases would be to collect business cards at events. What we forget is to organize a container to collect the cards. Make sure to note this down on your hotel checklist so that you could easily update designations, additions etc to your database subsequent to the event.

7. Photographs!

Not your selfie at the event with #workmodeon and yes, we often have a photographer to cover the event. What we miss our on is to communicate to the photographer the important picture you require such as sponsor banner placements/ sponsor ad on screen/ full pictures of guests at the presentations, giveaways etc. Planners will most probably be running around at the event, therefore, always brief the photographer what pictures are important at a briefing prior to the event.

8. Charges!

If any charges pertaining to the event should be borne by the guest, ensure to always have this in writing ideally prior to the event and/or at the event. You could have all relevant details printed and given in a docket at the time of registration.