The Biggest Corporate Event Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make

The Biggest Corporate Event Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make

When it comes to throwing a corporate event where you hope to gather some of your existing or potential business associates and further your company’s ideas, messing it up gloriously is not an option. 

The thing is, while you shouldn’t stress too much over how you deliver your speeches and if everyone got their cookies and champagne at the exact second you want them to, there are some matters that you need to take care of if you want your event to be a success. 

Most of these matters are preparatory, so to speak, so the preparation for the event and the research you put into it is where you should place the majority of your energy. If you manage to pull this preparatory stage off well enough, you won’t have to worry as much about the actual party later on.  

In this article, we’re going to list the biggest corporate event-making mistakes you can commit, so you can avoid them easily. As you will see, virtually all of these come down to what you do before the event itself, so again – if you nail the preparatory stage, you won’t have to worry as much about the results later on. Watch out for the biggest event mistakes you don’t want to make.

Picking the Wrong Venue 

Booking an entire football stadium to host a 30-people party for your 10th company anniversary can seem like a brilliant idea at first, but careful deliberation here is a more useful approach than megalomania, so to speak.

At the same time, finding a venue that’s too small for the number of people you intend to have on can have its obvious negative effects. Plus, you may appear broke or clueless to your potential business partners. A lot here is about leaving a good impression as you can see, rather than just having the people well-fed at the event.

So, what you want to do here is find a venue where everyone can fit (plus a couple of extra seats just in case) and that’s ideally not too far away from where the invitees live. 

Considering a Food an Afterthought 

No one likes going to an event, sitting there for 2-3 hours, and then leaving the place famished. Not only will an invitee get irritated, but also they won’t be able to concentrate on what you’re trying to present them with, which are all prospects that can hamper your overall event success rate. 

Of course, the prospect of having no food at all at your event is even more catastrophic, so don’t think you can save any money that way. Even those small stands at fairs and international book fairs, as well as car fairs and shows, have at least some candy in a bowl that people can grab if they get low on sugar.

On the other hand, while no one’s expecting some Gordon Ramsay-level cooking skills of you, make sure the food is not just a bun with some butter and a slim piece of salami on it. A little bit of creativity in this department can go a long way. Also, you might want to include gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, as well as vegan foods, to cover the needs of all of your attendees.

If you aren’t sure how to go about this, you can always hire a professional to help you out. Event planners from Sydney, for example, are well-known for their skills when throwing corporate events is in question. After all, Australia is one of the most exciting countries in the world with diverse cuisine and excellent weather all year round, so chances are – you’ll be presented with plenty of interesting options for your event.  

Giving Speeches that are Too Long 

… can bore your attendees into oblivion and that’s one thing you do not want to do if you’re trying to pitch them an idea or a product. 

So, while speeches should be an integral part of your corporate event, make sure they are neither too long nor too short, as the idea is to capture the attention of the audience, relate to them the message you intended to, and then let the other activities take place that you’ve planned for. 

Non-Existent or Poorly-Organized Agenda

While keeping the atmosphere at your event relaxed and the speeches short, it is also important that you don’t overdo it in the sense that you fail to incorporate any sort of company-related agenda at all. 

If you do this, the event may come across as too laid back, disorganized, and worst of all – pointless.

What you want to do is prepare for the speakers at the event at least a rough sketch of what they need to say, and have a clear idea of what the purpose of the event is.

The bottom line, if you do a good job of preparing the event, executing it won’t be that difficult when the time comes for it. As long as you have a clear goal for the event before you, book the proper venue, and organize some food and entertainment, you’ll have a good chance of success.