Five winning strategies when hosting a corporate event include:
- Feed your participants well.
Compensate participants for their event attendance with hearty meals and fine cuisine. Instead of settling for a carbohydrate-laden bar of donuts and pastries, give those taking time to attend your event wholesome food that will fuel and recharge them. Invest resources in finding a caterer that offers brunch favorites such as basted eggs with vegetables, and whole-grain breads. Serving impressive food can also improve attendance, too, and inspire many to attend enthusiastically. Offer up a juice bar or specialty coffee station to keep guests hydrated, while pampering them with unique options.
- Stimulate senses.
It is important to engage individuals at your event with activities or an interactive experience, such as a game or challenge. Some find that preparing goody-bags that play on all of the senses is another way to help participants retain the information covered at the event. Since some individuals respond to aromatherapy, providing balsam bags or scented wax melts could foster integration of the information that you present at your corporate event. Giving a few strong mint candies in the bags may be an effective way to facilitate this same response in other attendants. Use your goody-bags to stimulate the senses and show appreciation for the individual’s contributions and attendance.
- Make people want to come.
Unfortunately, many corporate functions get a bad rap. Staff often resent the time commitment that may take away from their work or result in added hours at the office to compensate. The best way to circumvent this is to make individuals want to attend your event. A great way to achieve this is by hiring a noted entertainer, inspirational speaker or celebrity performer for your event. Whether you find a speaker that engages and motivates the audience, or a musician who provides the perfect mood to get up and move, enlisting a corporate event production company may be the best approach to pulling this together.
- Get Crafty
Another fun option is to set up a “bracelet bar” for the attendants. This could be facilitated during check-in or during a break in the schedule. Provide beads, hemp, string, and other notions for attendants to create their own take-home of the event: a beaded bracelet. Wearing these will foster solidarity among those participating, and crafting these will be more fun than anyone would anticipate.
- Foster engagement.
It’s a fact that seating has everything to do with the success and engagement of individuals at a workshop or training, and it is reported that round seating arrangements promote conversation and interaction among participants. It may also make sense to invest time and effort into assigned seating. This may provide the opportunity for individuals to work and learn with people that they are less familiar with or that they have not yet met. Increased socialization is a great outcome for a corporate event, and could also be an effective means of networking for many.
Build the anticipation and boost participation by utilizing social media to keep potential participants abreast of what the event will focus on, and to promote excitement through teasers, giveaways, or related resources for browsers to enjoy. A successful corporate event not only exudes a positive image of your company or business, it serves to educate and inspire those associated with and dedicated to your organization. For these reasons, it is worth investing time, effort, and energy into ensuring that it is well attended and worthwhile.