10 Mistakes To Avoid When Organizing A Corporate Event

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Organizing a corporate event can be a great way to help your company improve employee relations or increase brand awareness among your target market. When done right, it can lead to positive publicity, sales leads and more. That’s why it’s really important that you take time to plan it well. This helps you avoid potential mistakes that could turn your special event into a major disaster. 

Of course, no event is perfect. Minor setbacks are understandable and, at times, completely unavoidable. However, it’s the major blunders you want to steer clear of because they can cost you big bucks and damage your reputation. 

So whether you’re hosting a grand trade show or a simple team building activity, here are some common mistakes you risk encountering if you’re not careful when organizing your corporate event: 

1. Having a slow and confusing event check-in

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As they always say, first impressions last, so you want your guests to get into your event fairly quickly upon their arrival. The check-in process should be as smooth and hassle-free as possible. Otherwise, the discomfort and negative experience begins at the door, which can be really frustrating. That’s definitely something you - and your guests - wouldn’t want to happen. 

Make sure that you anticipate such problems by establishing a system and assigning individuals who fully understand the task. Have signage ready to guide people to where they should sign up and which way they should be going. That way, any potential confusion is avoided.   

2. Underestimating the size of the event

Imagine advertising an event non-stop on your social media channels and then on the day of the event, you realize you’ve underestimated things. You now have more attendees than your venue can accommodate. That would definitely be terrible both for you and your guests!  

While it is not always feasible to have an estimated number of attendees at your events, it’s always a better idea to overestimate a little. Consider the attendance of your past events or other similar events to have an approximate figure before booking a venue. 

Another practical solution to avoid having an overcrowded event is to have tickets available. This will be effective in limiting the number of attendees as only those who have tickets will be able to enter.

3. Not allocating the right budget

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Proper budgeting plays a big role when it comes to organizing a corporate event. Your first step is to determine how much money you’re planning to spend. Next, you will need to break it down to ensure that all expected expenses are covered.  

That said, you will need to shop around and get quotes from venue spaces, caterers, and others so you have a clear idea of all the costs. Ideally, you should have a team member (or even a committee) responsible for handling the budget. 

4. Failing to do a venue walk through

Skipping this is a huge mistake you can’t afford to make as you organize your business event. In fact, All Seated calls walkthroughs “crucial” and describes them  “the icing on the cake of the last several months of planning.”

“Walking the flow from start to finish as a guest is a great way to ensure that the day will be seamless,” the website likewise added.

Doing so gives you the chance to see the place through your guests’ eyes. Plus you get to plan more effectively as you make a personal site visit. You can even make last minute changes to your program as needed. 

5. Forgetting to check competing events

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Another error event planners sometimes make is forgetting to check if there are similar events happening in the area or on the same date as theirs. 

As much as possible, this should be avoided especially if you’re trying to attract the same audience in the first place. You don’t want to confuse crowds and you don’t want to directly compete with bigger, more established events if you’re just starting out.

6. Having too many planners 

Remember the old saying that goes ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’? The same can definitely be said when it comes to organizing corporate events!

Having too many people planning a single project can lead to disaster as you’ll end up getting too many suggestions on what to do and how to do it. To maintain the quality of your upcoming event, choose committee leaders who’ll lead certain aspects of the preparation. This will help you save time and will likewise take much of the burden off your shoulders.

7. Not hiring enough helpers

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On the other hand, you want to make sure that you have enough people to help you out during the day of the event. When it comes to event staff, more is certainly merrier. You want them to be very visible during the occasion so that they are easily available to lend a hand to you and your guests.

Just make sure that you train them in advance. They need to know exactly what their duties and responsibilities are. If you can meet with all of them before the event, that would be perfect. Do an orientation and encourage them to ask questions to ensure that everyone’s on the same page. 

Remember that the event staff will represent you and your business. You definitely want to create a positive experience for your guests. 

8. Ignoring the importance of having a ‘Plan B’

One important factor to consider: weather can be unpredictable. If you’re hosting an outdoor affair, you might want to have a contingency plan in place in case it rains on the date of the event. 

Aside from the weather, you may also want to have a generator to prepare for a sudden power outage. An invited resource speaker gives you a day’s notice that he or she can’t actually make it? You might as well have a standby in mind to take on the task.  

With enough attention to detail, you can anticipate and solve problems before they occur. You and all the attendees can look forward to enjoying a stress-free event, regardless of unforeseen circumstances.

9. Not offering food and drinks

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Nothing would turn off guests faster than attending a long event that doesn’t offer any refreshments at all. You can keep everyone happy by serving appropriate food and drinks during your event. 

Should it be necessary, ask for guests’ dietary requirements ahead of time so your caterers are aware of any allergies or preferences.

10. Skipping the post-event follow-up

No, things do not have to end right at the conclusion of your event! You can send your guests, speakers, and sponsors a ‘thank you’ note and then send out a short survey where attendees can give honest feedback.

This will help you get positive comments you can later share on social media or in an upcoming blog post about the event. Actually, even the negative reactions can be helpful as you and your team can use them during the evaluation process. You’ll know about what things you can improve on next time around.

Conclusion

Organizing a corporate event is surely not a walk in the park but it’s possible to do it right. Keep these common mistakes in mind and you can bet that you’ll be on your way to having a successful event.

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