Hosting a corporate event, especially when you have never done so before, can be extremely nerve-wracking, but corporate events can be great PR and the ideal way to boost staff morale, so chances are you will need to suck it up and host a business event eventually if you are a business owner.
Anyway, we’ve got you covered because, if you can avoid making these common corporate event hosting mistakes, you are sure to make your first attempt at hosting a success:
Not catering to your audience
It seems really obvious that, if you want to host a successful corporate event then you need to ensure that the event caters to the particular likes of your audience, but so many business people get that wrong, and it leads to participants getting bored and leaving in their droves unless they are contractually obliged to be there.
So, if you are holding an event for high-level CEOs, pull out all of the stops with nice wine, good cheese, and a classical music orchestra for entertainment or if you are holding an event for young fans of your products, get a decent DJ in, lots of cupcakes and some celebrity speakers, for example, Basically, think about the kinds of things your audience identify with and make sure you give them what they want.
Make it look good
Another thing that a lot of people get wrong when hosting their first corporate event is to not do much window dressing, by which we mean keeping the conference center as they kept it instead of using good event rentals to jazz the place up a bit and making it seem more exciting. You can rent everything from light-up screens and flooring to more comfortable chairs and the more effort you put in, in this department, the happier your guests will be, and the better your event will look on social media, which is always a goods thing from a marketing perspective.
Being a poor communicator
If you want your event to go off without a hitch, then you need to be good at communicating with your attendees. You need to endure that they know exactly when and where the event is and what they can expect from every single moment of their time in the event center. If thy don’t know where they need to be or what they will be doing, chances are they will get lost, be late, and come unprepared.
The easiest way to communicate all of this stuff is with a website or blog or even a social media event post because, that way, you can update details in real-time and ensure that your attendees always know what is going on.
Not leaving enough time
There is nothing worse than having guests turn up for a talk or event and the place not being ready for them. That is why, when you are planning your next corporate event, you should add in an extra hour or two for setup. You may think it will only take an hour to decorate the room and set up the projector, but things can and do go wrong, so the more time you give yourself, the less likely you are to be embarrassed having to set up around guests who are getting bored and impatient.
Not having fun
Yes, corporate events can be very stressful, especially when you’re the host, but you and your guests will get a whole lot more out of it if you can loosen up and try to enjoy it a little. Fun events tend to get better feedback and more positive posts on social media, so loosening up may well be good for business, as well as your event, too.
Not following up
If you have a corporate event, and when it’s over it’s over, you are missing a trick. Following up by asking for feedback is a good way to work out how you can make your next event better, and asking attendees to offer suggestions will help you to make it more fun in the future, so be sure to send an email survey to follow up on every event you run.
As you can see, there are a lot of mistakes that you can make when hosting a corporate event, some of which are much easier to make than others, but now you know what those mistakes are, you can do everything in your power to avoid them and ensure your business event goes off without a hitch.
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