It’s one thing to coordinate the travel plans of a VIP guest attending an upcoming corporate event. It’s quite another challenge to organize the logistics of an entire conference for a group of executives.
Whether this is your first (or tenth) corporate event, planning the agendas and activities of an event (i.e. conference, seminar, workshop, appreciation, etc.) for corporate leaders can feel overwhelming.
By partnering with Executive Transportation, you can instantly check off airport pickup/drop-off on your to-do list. In fact, we’ll work with you to ensure your VIP guests have reliable ground transportation throughout the entire event—whether you require a fleet of private vehicles to transport certain guests individually, or luxury mini-and-motor coaches to transport them in groups to hotels or offsite after parties.
Though essential to the success of your upcoming corporate event, and the peace of mind of both you and your guests, ground transportation is just one important detail in a long list of things to do.
Planning a Corporate Event Checklist
In this article, we’ll share a few tips on how to plan a corporate event, so you can stay in control of the logistics and feel confident throughout the process.
1) Plan Your Objectives
Before you can plan out the logistics, you first need to have a solid understanding of the type of event your company is hosting.
Questions you’ll need to address include:
- What are our goals for this event?
- How will we measure success?
- When is the event?
- Who is on the guest list?
- Will you need to provide hotel/travel accommodations?
- Who is presenting at the event?
- How many guest speakers will you need?
- What type of activities will be included?Where is the event taking place?
It’s best practice to work out these details first and share them with your leadership team before getting started. Once you have this information in hand, you can move on to step 2.
2) Finalize Budget
In addition to planning the objectives of the event, be sure you meet with your finance department to review the estimated budget.
You’ll want to work closely with your finance team, especially when you start incurring pricing proposals from outside vendors for services needed, such as catering, ground transportation, hotel rooms, branded merch items, etc.
3) Create a Committee for the Event
The responsibility of a corporate event should never fall on a single person’s shoulders. Feel empowered to organize a committee that includes members of your company who represent different departments that you’ll require assistance from during the actual event, including:
- Finance
- Marketing
- IT
- Human Resources
- Security
These departments will need to be heavily involved in the planning process, and their participation can ensure your event is a success. For instance, your event will require a high level of AV equipment and technology, especially if you plan to have presentations, a panel of speakers, videos, etc.
You’ll want to choose a member of your company’s IT team to help you decide which type of equipment you’ll need and to help you plan out who will be assisting you during the conference with technical support.
Your Human Resources team can help you make a running list of guests and ensure your security team is aware of who’s expected at the event, as well as which members are VIP.
Marketing will help you advertise the upcoming event, design and send out invitations, and order branded merch to offer as VIP gifts, if needed.
4) Start Booking!
As soon as you form your event committee, begin handing out assignments, so your team can help you start reserving hotel rooms and ordering essential items needed for the event.
As you know with current supply delays and shortages, it’s best to get the booking process started immediately so you can plan for unexpected delays and make adjustments, as needed.
5) Meet with Your Committee Regularly
Be sure to set up regular meeting times with your committee as you continue to plan and coordinate the event.
Have an agenda already planned out that allows you to review the status of each department, so you can check off what’s been completed and create new action steps at the end of each meeting.
If someone from your Human Resources team is in charge of the guest list, be sure they are reaching out to guest members periodically to ensure they have their travel itinerary before the day of their departure.
Plan Your Corporate Event with Executive Transportation
To learn more about how we can help you plan the ground transportation details for your next corporate event, contact us today!
Our team is committed to ensuring the experience is professional, reliable, and stress-free for your guests, as well as your team!
