Yes it is that time of year again here in Brisbane for all of the back to back office Christmas Parties. Before you get to carried away make sure you consider these 5 points that will ensure you have a very successful party.
1. THE OBJECTIVE
What is the events overall objective? I know what you are thinking…It’s just for everyone to celebrate another year and hear John’s terrible jokes. Well yes that is one outcome but companies unfortunately aren’t built on listening to peoples jokes and everything needs an outcome even if it’s just to promote a more positive organisational culture ensuring staff stay on in the company for a longer period of time. Or is it to show your clients to an experience they will be speaking about up until the New Year. Whatever it may be you need to get clear with the outcomes so that you can produce an incredible event.
2. THE TIMELINE
Depending on the overall objective there are obviously a lot of elements you will need to consider like whether or not to have music, styling, speeches, photo booths etc etc. But one of the most crucial elements to any event is the timeline and if you have too many elements taking place it can cause the guests to lose interest. Being the end of the year we found from a recent poll we took most Christmas Party guests would prefer to speak than listen to entertainment, so if you are planning on having a lot of entertainment that isn’t in the background you should schedule this more towards the start of the evening rather than towards the end of the event when guests have been drinking more and just want to converse. Also be mindful of the fact that there is no need to overdo the entertainment unless it is inline with your events objective.
3. THE IMPACT
Whether it is a small dinner or a cocktail event keep in mind that the first thing your guests see is the first emotion they will associate with the event you are delivering.
With this said we always recommend an entry piece to start getting guests excited before they are shown through to the party. A backdrop that they can get a photo in front of with the company’s logo and a #hashtag for social media that they can share as soon as they arrive is usually a solid way to get them excited and create noise outside the event you are delivering, which many corporate companies fail to tap into when hosting events.
4. THE GIFT
At any event it is important that every guest feels special and taking something away from the event has been scientifically proven to leave a longer lasting positive memory from the person or event that it has been received from. So in the light of Christmas we would recommend that every guest gets to have something to take home with them to remember the occasion. And if it is a case of 500 guests or more we would recommend that you have a photo booth so that they can have a picture from the event to remember it by.
5. THE AFTERMATH
Do you share your events after they have been completed? The average business cycle is no longer 20 years, it is 3-4 weeks which means that companies can no longer keep doing what they are doing and keep maintaining the same success rate. Whether it’s just the CEO sharing it on their private account or the company you need to have a professional photographer and/or videographer to be able to showcase what you are all about in your newsletter, social media platforms or wherever your clients live. Don’t ever underestimate the power of sharing what you do even in the attempt to show the outside world what your core values are in order to start attracting better potential job candidates or to build relationships with investors. People buy from people and a good event shows that.
Have any questions regarding this article? Then send an email through to hello@forevaevents.com.au
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
-The Foreva Events Team
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