Essential checklist for organising a corporate event

All of us who organise events and all those people who, because of their work or in a private way have ever organised an event, know that it can be quite a complicated task. There are many details to control. Therefore, to organise an event you need time and discipline, to ensure none of those details runs away with us…..

To facilitate this task we have prepared a basic checklist to help you familiarise yourself in the easiest way, with everything relating to the event and ensure it is more easily controlled when organised.

Objectives & strategy are the first step

It is essential to have clear what our objectives are. Once clear, we shall be able to decide who we wish to invite, which means, towards whom our event is directed. As we always say, corporate events have become an imperative communication tool and give very good results. However, to achieve those results we first have to know what we want to achieve. Logical, right? Therefore, once we have decided on the message we want to transmit and to whom, we can deal with the strategy, planning and personalization adapted to the company and their objectives.

On the other hand we must ask ourselves how long in advance must we start to organise all the details. The answer to this question is not so easy and it depends on several factors: the type of event, the chosen destination, the venue we wish to reserve…… To prevent unwanted problems of lack of availability, it is better to have foresight. It is better to be over cautious than to leave it all to the last minute.

In view of the above we are going to give a short breakdown of the essential points and their basic tasks:

Basic steps 3 months before the event:

• 3 months is the minimum time period we recommend to reserve venues and invite guests
• An effort must be made to get to know the chosen suppliers well to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge will give us better control over all the details on the day of the event.
• Be aware of and make clear the final date for guests to confirm their attendance. Do not forget to take into consideration details such as the date from which a catering company will pensalise you for reducing the number of diners.
• The basic scheme for the event should be established by now. It is not necessary to set timetables but it is important to have a clear idea of approximately how long meetings will last, the number of coffee breaks, necessary equipment in the meeting room, type of lunch…..
• It is very important to advise the speakers, especially if they are not part of the company. Their diaries may be more or less booked and this issue can give you more than one headache.
• If it is an event of some importance with media presence, you can also pre-advise them so they can book the event as soon as possible.
• Activities, excursions, restaurants… everything should be reserved with minor details pending
• Do not forget that for a brand event décor is also important and at least the corporate colours should be present.

Basic steps 1 month before the event: 

• It is imperative that the event flows naturally. We mean by this that we should not have a very tight schedule. Delays are natural which means they should not cause too much re-arrangement of a programme.  By this time we should have an almost final programme that includes any possible delays.
• It is important to also confirm whether transport is required for the attendees, to ensure it is reserved.
• We shall confirm chosen menus in restaurants, giving them details of timetables, dietary requirements, numbers…. We shall do the same with any programmed activity or excursion.
• Once the programme is ready, a copy can be sent out to those people who have confirmed their attendance.
• We shall start to promote the event (if required). Use of social networks is becoming indispensable.
• We shall make a list of possible material we shall have to buy ourselves, if required. For example, keep handy a box of biros or bottles of water.
• Have decided whether there will be a welcome detail for the attendees. Also, welcome and farewell letters should be written by now.
• We should be clear that the requirements of the speakers and the meeting room audiovisual material are covered.

Basic steps for 2 weeks before the event:

• It is really important to revise the programme with every one of the people involved. That way we can learn if anybody has any doubts and then we shall have time to resolve any queries.
• Send off all the material needed to the place where the meeting is held.
• Send a press note to the media. This will allow you to provide greater coverage of the event if required.

Basic steps one week before the event:

• New revision of the programme for the same purpose as the previous week.
• If you have a special App for the event, send the link to all the participants to download. If you do not have an app, do not forget to take enough printed copies of the programme to distribute on site.

Basic steps one day before the event:

• All the material we shall need should now be on site. We must check nothing is missing.
• Try to advance as much as possible any details of decoration or technical material.
• Check that all the audiovisual material works properly.
• Continue on social networks for your event to get greater coverage.

Basic steps for the day of the event:

• You have to be at the venue sufficiently in advance to be able to resolve any unforeseen problem.
• New revision of the programme to ensure that every person involved in the coordination is very clear about everything.
• Signage should be correctly positioned.
• Accreditations should be clearly presented on a table so that distribution to attendees is swift.
• We shall try to greet each guest individually if possible. It does not have to be by any particular person, but they should receive a “Hello, good morning” at the door to the meeting room.
• Check that everything is clean and ready on time.
• Do not drop your guard once all the attendees are in place. If you see that somebody needs something, ensure they are attended to quickly.

Basic steps once the event has finished: 

• Remember we had some objectives before we began to organise the event? Now is the time to check if we have achieved them and how far.
• Thank every single person for attending, in writing, and ask for their feedback
• Thank all the cooperators, suppliers and workers for their good work; they have made the programme function correctly.
• Check you have the billing up to date to close all expenses as soon as possible and draw up a final balance.

With this checklist we have wanted to share the basic steps for organising successful events. In any case, as professionals, we know how complicated it can get and the amount of input time required. To guarantee a perfect result it will always be better to have the help of a specialist agency. The experience provided by that agency is going to guarantee the success of your event.

We hope you have found this article interesting. Please contact us for ore information. We will be happy to hear from you!

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