Corporate Marquee Hire Event Planning
Below is some information on corporate event planning and corporate event management to help you when organising your next big event.
Sharing Corporate Event Planning Information
Once the appropriate approval has been gained to proceed with a corporate event, don't keep it to yourself. The event may be relevant to other sectors, divisions or countries within your organisation - notify PR representatives, directors and sales & marketing managers nationwide and worldwide.
In many cases, this may enable the costs and human resources required for an event to be spread across participating divisions / companies, in particular the costs involved in organising marquee hire for multiple corporate event stands.
Corporate Event Management - Marquee Hire
One of the most common mistakes made when managing a corporate event, is leaving insufficient time for planning, venue finding or marquee hire. The time required for corporate event planning is very much dependent on the type and size of the event, the type of venue you require and the size of marquee your event needs. However, in an ideal world, the planning process should start approximately six months before the date of your corporate event.
These may seem long lead times, but there are many corporate event planning factors to consider:
- Competition for tickets at major sporting events
- Availability of corporate event venues
- Booking corporate event catering & exhibition stand suppliers
- Deadlines set by corporate event organisers, e.g., submission of order forms
- Issuing invitations - at least ten weeks prior to your corporate event
The level of activity will also vary at different stages of the project. The initial corporate event planning stages are usually the busiest. This will be followed by a quieter period which predominantly involves overseeing things to ensure the project is running to plan and budget.
Preparing the business case
Participating in or hosting your own corporate event is a costly exercise. It is therefore important to carefully consider the rationale behind attending. You should be clear in your own mind that the event is the right activity to ensure the desired outcome.
Does it meet your objectives, and more importantly, the objectives of your organisation? Do you have the internal resources to carry through the project or will you need to use external suppliers, such as marquee hire & catering? Do you have sufficient funds, or could you utilise the budget more effectively on other PR activities? It is therefore advisable to draw up a plan, and in doing so consider the following questions:
- What are the objectives of your corporate event?
- What are the cost implications - is there a budget?
- Who is your target audience?
- Where is your client base?
- Is there a theme, if so, what? (remember, this is one of Area Marquee Hire's specialities, so be sure to ask us)
- Do you need an internal sponsor?
- What is the format?
- Do you require entertainment?
- What are the time scales - are they achievable?
- Can you manage the event yourself, or do you need extra resource?
- What information can the organisers / suppliers provide to demonstrate previous success? (See our corporate event testimonials page)
- What level of response / exposure do you expect to achieve?
- Is the corporate event sponsored by a reputable or known organisation?
- Who else is planning to attend - reputable companies, respected competition, etc?
Finally consider whether you could achieve similar or better results, at less cost, by undertaking other PR activities, such as:
- Focused direct mail campaigns
- Running a targeted seminar
- Assisting sales people to focus on the appropriate audience
