Top 10 Tips for Planning a Corporate Event

1. The first and most important factor to take into account when booking your conference is the location and its proximity to both the relevant target audience and transport links. Take into consideration if there is onsite or car parking near to the venue. The cost of your conference could steadily rise if transport such as taxis etc has to be factored in at a later stage.
   
2. There is a lot of competition between venues so make sure you do your homework to get the right deal.
   
3. Further consider and confirm the availability and provision of all the audiovisual equipment, such as LCD Projector, Screen, DVD, Whiteboard and Wi-Fi, which is needed for the conference. While the initial cost of the room might seem very competitive, when the AV equipment charges are added it can look very expensive. So consider all costs when deciding on the venue, and not just the initial room hire.
   
4. If accommodation is needed, make sure that this is also negotiated into the overall cost. Again take into consideration the location of the venue to transport links.
   
5. Make sure to call into the venue for a show around before confirming your event. Venues vary in size, comfort, design etc and may not be ideal for your event. Consider if you need natural light, air conditioning etc.
   
6. By their very nature conference details can change up until the last moment so make sure you are in close communication with the person from the venue who is looking after your event. Make sure that all details have been conveyed and confirmed with the venue.
   
7. Managing breaks and lunch are very important in terms of ensuring that your event goes to plan. Consider the numbers of people that are attending and location of the refreshments to ensure that they are run efficiently.
   
8. If there is a choice lunch make sure that the venue take a note of these at the beginning of the conference to ensure that the time is allocated.
   
9. Make arrangements to call to the venue the evening previous or at the very least give an hour before the start of the event to make sure that everything is in working order such as the AV, that the room is set up in the way needed and that tea/coffee breaks etc are prepared for.
   
10. Ensure that the proper signage is in place for the attendees of the event to ensure that the event starts at the scheduled time. The venue should have no problem providing this for you.

Dave Murdiff