Corporate Event Ideas Guide | Planning Your Corporate Event

Corporate events can be a fantastic way to raise the profile of your business – an opportunity to celebrate team successes, rebrand your enterprise and galvanise company culture. A great corporate event executed successfully can transform the way people view and engage with your business.

However, they also require a robust understanding of your audience, an ability to market your event across numerous channels and tight budget management. If you fail to get these different parts working in tandem, your event will struggle to succeed, no matter how strong of an idea you have.

To ensure your event is successful, we’ve put together a list of tips and corporate event ideas for planners, and how to execute your plan.

Why are corporate events important?

Corporate events might sound like just another distraction keeping you from your to-do list, but in a world where branding, networking and broadcasting, your successes are increasingly important. The right corporate event can be pivotal in helping a business take the next step.

Whether it’s an external event where industry professionals can mingle and enjoy guest speakers or an internal end-of-year celebration for you and your colleagues, here are just a few reasons you should consider holding a corporate event:

Why you should hold an external event:

Celebrate your successes and impress both existing and potential new clients with your achievements throughout the year
Reinforce confidence in your brand, establish your company profile and put yourself at the forefront of emerging conversations and trends as an industry thought leader
A showcase opportunity for what makes your company culture unique, forward-thinking and successful

Why you should hold an internal event:

Corporate events built around celebrating team successes boost morale, offer opportunities for team collaboration and to build an organic company culture
They’re a space for colleagues to share expertise and develop their skill sets
Regular corporate events foster a positive work environment and contribute to employee retention as something to look forward to on their calendar

Samuel Zeller via Unsplash

Organising a corporate event

So we now know the impact a great corporate event can have on your business, but what actually makes an event great? Let’s look at some of the key aspects.

What’s the point of your event?

Before you can start planning your event, booking speakers and inviting guests, you need to decide on the purpose of your event. Think of this as a mission statement for your event.

Why are you putting the event on?
Who is the event for?
How are you going to make it special/different?

With clear goals in mind, your event has a much better chance of not only coming together, but running smoothly and being successful. As part of your initial planning, write out a step-by-step script of how you envisage the event panning out.

As an event organiser, you need to specify the steps each member of staff will take and when they need to take them – this is called an event brief and you can learn all about crafting one with our guide to making an event brief. Sketch out a map of your preferred event space, guest speakers you’d like to book and the key takeaways you want everyone to leave with. Now, how can you bring that to life?

Your Audience

Successful event planning starts with a simple question – who are my audience?

More than any other factor, the wants and needs of your audience will help to shape the tone and structure of your event. Cast your net too wide, and you’ll fail to truly hook anyone. Whether it’s a training day, team-building exercise or networking opportunity, there will always be an audience out there eager to attend your event.

Start by putting together an ideal audience profile. Consider the following points:

The demographics of your audience (age, gender, location, education, position)
Their pain points (what can you provide that other events can’t?
What do they value? What are their interests, lifestyle quirks and attitudes?
What are their goals and motivations? And how can attending your event help them work towards them?

Once you have an audience profile in place, you can start to build out the particularities of your event, from how the day’s talks will flow into each other to the size of the venue.

Before you make a decision on your event, consider how your audience would react to it. When attendees feel seen, heard, and inspired, the event becomes more than just a gathering – it becomes something they’ll think (and talk) about for years to come.

Entertainment and production value

A successful corporate event hinges on delivering a high-quality, memorable experience. Simply being out of the office is not enough – you need to carefully select entertainment, speakers and activities that not only align with your brand message but provide an inspiring experience for your audience. Immersive elements, such as engaging speakers, interactive tech, well-designed lighting and audience participation, can help create a dynamic atmosphere that holds your audience’s attention.

When it comes to entertainment, choose speakers who are both relevant and energising. Whether they’re in-house experts or external professionals, ensure they bring a fresh perspective and genuine enthusiasm. If hosting a panel, aim for chemistry and interaction amongst each other and the audience to help build a connection and maintain attention.

Incorporate activities that encourage participation. Keeping things light-hearted helps break the ice and break down barriers, keeping attendees relaxed. Don’t be afraid to get a little silly. Ideas like singing or an improv workshop can be surprisingly effective if tailored to your group.

Promotion

Promotion is a key part of turning your event from a collection of great ideas into a fully realised experience people can actually enjoy.

One of the best ways to build anticipation in your event is through a strong pre-event social media strategy, leveraging partnerships to amplify reach. Embrace social media as much as you can in the build-up to the event, choosing channels based on the preferences of the audience you profiled when you first started putting together ideas for your conference. You can read our social media guides here:

If your audience isn’t very social media oriented, consider other ways to reach them, such as a targeted re-marketed campaign based on similar brand preferences or utilising your existing email database to encourage word of mouth.

One to consider ahead of time – how will you follow up on your event? Ensure you’re keeping the conversation alive after the event is over with targeted email, social media and paid display advertising. Send a short online survey to gain useful feedback about their experience.

You could accompany this with a voucher code, request for a review or a link to a forum related to the event itself, encouraging post-event discussion in a more organic way.

Read more event promotion tips in our round up.

Catering

Don’t scrimp on the food when it comes to planning your event. Hungry, tired guests do not make a captive audience, and failure to keep them fed and watered can lead to negative perceptions and negative feedback.

Many venues offer their own catering services or will allow you to source your own. Whichever option you choose to go with, make sure it’s informed by the profile of your audience, your venue has adequate space for the delegates to enjoy refreshments, and you’re offering a varied range of options for all dietary requirements. Read our latest blog for more insights into how to cater for an event or check out our in-house hospitality options at 20 Bedford Way.

Image by Jose Martin via Unsplash

Choosing the right venue

Central to the success of a corporate event is your venue. It can make or break the experience for both organiser and guest, so it’s vital to consider all the elements before making a choice about where you’ll hold your event.

What to consider when searching for an event venue

So, how do you know if a venue is the perfect setting for your event? Here is a quick list of key considerations:

Your budget – renting a venue for a day, weekend or full week will no doubt take up the largest portion of your budget, so it makes sense to plan your outgoings around it. Many venues will offer pre-arranged pricing packages or be open to negotiating costs should you only need to rent out a specific room, for example.
Flexibility – Whether you only need a small space for a company away day or multiple rooms for guests to mingle in between conferences in the main hall, most venues should be able to accommodate your needs. Finding a space that is easy to manoeuvre around, has your technological requirements and is easily commutable too is key.
Technical facilities – Corporate event facilities need to be up to scratch. If not, you risk making your event (and company by extension) look amateurish, or worse, watching as your conference grinds to a halt entirely. Make sure you’re working with a venue that has a full AV set up, PA system, professional lighting options and robust Wi-Fi.
Location – The location and accessibility of your venue is a key factor in who can and will attend your corporate event. It’s not just a case of hosting your event in a rural, town or city location, but parking and public transport opportunities. Holding your corporate event in London, or any other big city, will involve a large amount of research. You need somewhere with good transport links or if not, then ample parking.
- An added bonus would be a venue close to local amenities for things such as pre- and post-event parties.
Extras – It’s always worth taking the time to find out what additional services the venues you’re considering offer, such as:
- Post-event cleaning services
- Live streaming capabilities
- An in-house team to help your event run smoothly throughout the day
- An on-site bar
- Breakout rooms and outdoor spaces

Running a corporate event at 20 Bedford Way

With its versatile selection of rooms, including the flagship Logan Hall auditorium and smaller committee and meeting rooms, 20 Bedford Way is the ideal London venue to host your corporate event. Located in the heart of the city in Bloomsbury, this Grade II listed building is both iconic and the perfect blank space for a multitude of events.

For more information, fill out our contact form or call us on 020 7612 6143 or email us at venuehire@ioe.ac.uk.

Corporate Event Ideas for Your Next Event