As any experienced business leader knows corporate events can offer numerous benefits if planned and organized correctly. Looking at the matter strictly in-house, these company gatherings tend to have a positive influence on team spirit, communication between staff members, and overall productivity. If we draw other parties in, corporate events can be observed as a powerful tool for networking and improving brand awareness. All these perks appear to be even more potent if we put things in a casual, outdoor setting.
Now that we finally got the opportunity to engage in such an activity and still have many sunny days ahead of us, let us take a look at a couple of useful guidelines that will help you put your next corporate gathering on solid foundation and harness all the benefits we mentioned above.
Include employees into decision making
If the end goal of your corporate event is to strengthen the staff bonds and motivate employees for future challenges, we can agree that they need to have a say in the whole matter. The decisions that are made by the senior staff and go against the wishes of lower-ranked employees may feel enforced and, being such, greatly undermine the results you are trying to accomplish. On the other hand, allowing your team members to participate in an organization can create a sense of empowerment and provide useful benefits even before the event starts.
Set a theme and make networking a priority
We decided to put these two things together because, if they are absent, your event can easily slip into mindless chatter and social grouping. You should avoid this at all costs. In terms of the overall brand management strategy, the event should push your branding agenda and produce clear, tangible, and measurable results. To get better social results, do your best to create as many points that will encourage productive interactions as possible (buffet table, dance floor, outdoor bar, etc.), and keep the entertainment subdued.
Cutting-edge tech for an engaging multimedia experience
Keeping that in mind, you need to make sure that your event will be backed up by the comprehensive multimedia experience that will combine entertainment bits with the brand’s promotional content. This challenging task can be easily accomplished by large-screen HD TVs like the ones offered by Furrion and powerful soundbars that will immerse the attendants into the brand experience you are creating even further. Using these tools will create an image of an innovative and cutting-edge company with a look firmly set into the future.
Encourage social media activity
Ever since they initially took off, social media platforms have become an incredibly potent marketing channel. Corporate events are a great opportunity to harness the potential of these assets. If you flavor the setting with interesting touches like ice arrangements, warm lightning, beautiful flowers, or even a skillful mixologist, you will encourage the attendants to send the image of the event in the world and start online chatter. This way, even if your goals were bound strictly in-house, you will be able to do something for brand image and organically reach new clients.
Keep the guests comfortable
In one of the previous passages, we mentioned the importance of social interaction points. You don’t need, however, to go overboard with this idea. On the contrary, cramming the attendants into small spaces and long waiting lines can only make them agitated. So, do your best to provide the guests, at any given moment, with all the amenities they can imagine. We are talking about ample food and drink, fresh water, and paper towels. You can incentivize social gathering with more premium content like cocktails. Also, restrooms need to be readily available and regularly cleaned.
Think beyond the event
Last but not least, you need to realize that a corporate event does not end when the last visitor leaves the venue. Guests need to take home with them some piece of promotional material that will make sure that all the brand messages you were trying to send stay with them in the following weeks. Pamphlets, branded USB sticks, and other novelties will serve this purpose just fine. You, on the other hand, need to set up the mechanisms that will measure the impact you were able to produce. Both these things need to be built into the core of the event from its very inception.
These few points are only scratching the surface, but they should give you some general idea of what are the goals of a successful corporate event and how can one be organized. The global economy is going to experience a rough time in the following months, and possibly years. Every opportunity to put your brand on the map and increase in-house productivity should be used to the fullest extent.