Organizing your first corporate conference can be a daunting task. From ideation, topic selection, inviting guests and speakers, everything will be a challenge for you because you are organizing the event for the first time.
You have two options to go about it. Either take it as a challenge or take it as an opportunity, both will work in your favor.
Why? Because corporate conferences are an opportunity for you to grow bigger and get better at it. However, to save you from some of the mistakes that you can make in organizing the event, we have created a list of the dos and don’ts.
Let’s learn all about it.
Dos of Corporate Conferences
An unsuccessful corporate event can directly impact the reputation of your company. It will also undermine the motivation of attendees, and they might not attend other corporate events of your company.
So, here is what you should be doing when arranging a corporate conference for the first time.
- Define Your Objective
Your first chore is to define what your event’s objective is going to be. If the conference is about a particular niche, i.e., digital marketing, then the event should be planned around it.
However, if the conference is focused on your company’s yearly targets, then the objective should circular around that. This would also mean preparing presentations, tasks, and setting milestones for the conference.
- Start Planning Early
When you start planning your conference, plan the roadmap first. A few questions you need to ask yourself at the very start are:
- What will be the schedule for the conference?
- How many people are you going to invite to the conference?
- Will it revolve around a single topic, or will it cater to multiple topics?
- Will you invite external speakers? If so, who will they be? What will be their selection criteria?
- How will the event unfold?
- Will you have hi-tea or will you have lunch at the conference?
- Create a Budget
Similarly, you need to have a budget for your conference. Your conference expenses will depend on the budget you have allocated for the conference.
If you have a limited budget, make a budget sheet, and list out all the things that you can do related to that budget in it.
It is wise that you keep last-minute expenses in mind as well. The sheet will help you stay transparent and record all activities to track your expenses.
- Choose Your Target Audience
Next, choose a target audience that is relevant to your topic. If you are inviting an external audience, you will have to find those that are the best in their game.
You will only invite 20% of the audience for free. The rest should buy a ticket for the conference because that is how you will pay for the expenses incurred.
You will also need to find relevant speakers for your audience so that they can teach something new and essential to them. For example, in a content marketing conference, you can invite the best people of content strategy such as Joe Polizzi.
Don’ts of Corporate Conferences
Now that you have a know-how of the dos of corporate conferences, let’s discuss the mistakes that you should avoid. These are:
- Choose a Venue that Can’t Accommodate People
If your audience is significant, make sure that you select a venue that can accommodate the attendees.
- Market Your Message Repeatedly to Your Guests
If you keep promoting your event to your audience after a while, they are going to get irritated from it.
There is a chance that they will even mute your email notifications. You sure don’t want that to happen.
So, what is the option available to you?
Don’t repeatedly message your guests. Make sure that you send them an invite through emails and then wait for them to show their interest. If they don’t, you can retarget them through ads. But don’t use the same medium more than twice.
- Stop Rehearsing for Event
What irritates the conference audience the most?
Irritating noises during the conference, noisy speakers, buggy microphones, and ill-prepared presenters.
The solution is to rehearse a few days before the main event. This will give you enough ideas about how to get things done and what makes to avoid them.
- Forget to Check Sound Equipment
The most recurring problem in corporate conferences is the faulty sound system. So, if you are organizing the conference at an external venue, make sure that the sound system is working correctly.
If there is a glitch in the microphones, get them changed. Make sure that the internet is working properly so that the presenter can run online websites and apps within seconds.
If they are using a projector, make sure that it is in working condition as well. When you hire an AV Rental Company in Dallas, ensure that conference organizers have the latest audio and video equipment to make their event a success.
- Forget to Create a Stronger Network
As it will be your conference, make sure that you have an after-conference party where your guests, speakers, and attendees can meet and greet each other.
It will be a great opportunity for them to network. You will be surprised to know that most people only attend conferences because they want to network with other people.
These opportunities are not found everywhere, and conferences of like-minded people provide them.
Partying thoughts
We hope that you are now clear about the dos and don’ts of arranging corporate level conferences. Now, organize one and use these tips to minimize mistakes.
