Corporate Event Planning: Five W’s and 1H Approach

A number of questions pop up in your mind while planning a conference. The level of planning can take your event on the top or turn it into a flop. The need of the hour is to avoid a hazy approach and have a clear mind. Answers to who, what, where, when, why + how will help to plan an event that won’t disappoint you. Here are five questions that one should consider while planning an event at corporate venues London.

What-the Nature of Event?
First, think of what type of event it is. The nature of event will help to make important decisions regarding the venue, invitees, food, and a lot more. For example, if it’s a business conference, a well-appointed conference centre is the right choice while for a corporate summer party, a cruise, or a rooftop garden will be more inviting option.

Who-the Audience?
Once you know the nature of the event, it’s important to know the audience. Reflect who will be attending the event. Once the number of invitees is decided, you can start looking for suitable venues. Depending upon the nature of the event, decide whether the event should be informative and formal or entertaining and engaging for the guests.

When-the Date and Time?
When you know the audience, it’s easy to decide what date will be suitable for them. Give the invitees plenty of time beforehand so they can schedule the event in their calendar. Make sure that the event doesn’t clash with other holiday festivities or sporting events in the area. Also, ensure that the event is not in the afternoon as you will have to make special efforts to keep all eyes open.

Where-the Venue?
Find a suitable location and venue on your desired date. Good rule of thumb is to start looking for potential venues well ahead of time. It will ensure that you get the desired venue on desired date. Finding a venue is of no use if it’s not available on desired date. Finding a venue in London is not a hard row to hoe as choices are endless. But planning ahead is essential.

Why-the Event’s Purpose
Think what you want to achieve from the event. Whether the event is to build team spirit, for entertainment, or to impress clients; establish clear objectives before making any plans. If there are already conflicts in the team, a competitive outdoor activity may not be best suited but it can be used for an event planned solely for entertainment and fun.

How- Execution of Plans
Have a clear idea of how you want to carry out the event. The answers to five W’s will help to establish an agenda to follow.

Researching these five W’s and 1H will enhance the chances of the success of the event.

A Guide to Plan an International Conference at London Conference Hotels

London Conference Hotels

It’s no secret that planning an international conference poses many challenges in front of us. From language barriers to currency exchange, many problems come up that need to be addressed. Choosing London conference hotels as your venue eliminate half of the glitches. Most of the hotels offering conference facilities also offer accommodation, airport shuttle, and currency exchange services too. To help you plan successful international conference, here are some tips and suggestions.

Venue with Accommodation

Picking a hotel venue is the perfect choice when it comes to planning an international conference or meeting. Book multiple rooms at the hotel in anticipation of your attendees. Don’t forget to check the cancellation policy of the hotel. It’s suitable to pick a location in proximity to the airport.

Business Resources

Check with the speaker what AV aids are required at the event. Most of the conference suites feature state of the art facilities including internet, high-tech AV equipment, and secretarial services too. Expert technical staff remains at hand so that your conference runs smoothly.

Hire Translators

Establish a most commonly used language for conversation. Since it’s an international conference, it’s handy to hire translators. The venue may have its own multi-lingual staff to handle language issues of the guests. Talk to the event mangers to confirm what facilities and services they offer.

 

What After Conference?

Apart from ice-breakers and activities, there should be an after-party once the conference is over. This will give an opportunity to the delegates to mingle with each other and relax a bit.

Plan in Advance

Good rule of thumb for a successful international conference is to plan everything ahead of time. Book your venue in advance to get special offers. This will help you keep your budget on track. Besides, give your delegates enough time to plan their trip abroad.

Try these ideas to make your international conference or meeting a success.

5 Money Saving Tips for Planning an Event at London Conference Venues

London Conference Venues

In these challenging times, it’s no secret that companies are trying hard to save pennies wherever they can. Web conferences and social networks have a great place. But there are times when there is no option left apart from holding a conference to gather your delegates at one place. And you often end up breaking your bank. But there are several key areas where you can save your hard earned money. To help you stick to your budget, here are some money-saving tips to plan a business conference at conference venues London.

Pick Your Location Wisely

Location, location, location is an often-quoted mantra of the conference planning industry. Proximity to the airports, hotels, and London attractions, all these factors will increase the cost. It’s better to first consider your requirements like whether your attendees are local or international, this will help you decide whether you want a space near airport or not. Consider the duration of the conference to decide whether to book a space with accommodation or not.

Beer Budget

It’s the most demanded facility, so you cannot afford to compromise on quality. But drinks are also one of those things that can blow you budget. The best way to save money is to look for a venue that has an in-house catering service. These are more flexible when it comes to deciding the menu that fits the event’s budget.

Decorate on a Dime

Decoration is yet another area that turns into a real budget blower. But with simple tips, you can keep the costs to minimum. The best possible option is to find out a fully- decorated venue. Renting decorations turns out to be quite expensive whereas using in-house stock can save you huge bucks.

Focus on the AV Equipment

Do not get swayed and blindly pick a venue offering high-tech AV equipment.  Talk to the speaker and decide whether AV aids are actually required or not.

Registration

Are you still using pen and paper for registration? Web registration is a killer app in the market. Why not register your attendees using this app and save money rather than wasting it on paper methods.

These ideas and tips will help you save precious pennies while organizing a business conference or meeting.

Tips to Make Your Business Event More Interesting at Conference Venue London

Conference Venue London

Organizing a conference is a great way to gather your entire workforce under one roof and communicate your business message. However, conferences can be deadly dull for the audience. Endless presentations lead everyone to drop off. But with some thoughtful touches, you can make your conference engaging and interesting and set it apart. Turn your boring corporate event at conference venue London into a productive experience with these ideas and tips.

Ice Breakers

Games, activities and ice breakers are a great way to spice up your event and enhance participation. You can pick a conference energizer as per the space and seating arrangement. According to your company’s needs, set the time period from 10 to 90 minutes. After lunch is the best time to introduce an ice breaker and get everybody back on board.

Give Me a Break!!

Don’t leave your guests checking their watches. After a long presentation and lecture, the employees may feel tired and sleepy. Give them breaks in between to refresh and reenergize.

Outside the Box

Pick an outside the box location for the meeting. A good location and setting can add that X factor to your business event. If the weather is not fowl, hold your meeting outdoor. If weather is cold and budget is not a constraint, hire a glass-covered and heated rooftop venue.

Refreshing Beverages

There comes a time when everybody really needs matchsticks to prop up their eyes. Before your audience falls asleep, serve hot beverages like tea and coffee to let the guests reenergise and start again.

After-Conference Party

An after party can truly make up for the fun and frolic that was missing in the conference. As it is said, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So, serve the best food to win the heart of your potential clients.

Conferences are not necessarily meant to be boring. With some extra planning, you can make your conference a fun and productive event.

Ways to Use Social Media to Engage Audience at London Conference Venue

London Conference Venue

Integration of social media into a conference has almost become an expected thing. But with a vast array of social media tools, it becomes difficult to know where to start. First of all, when you hire a London conference venue, make sure that it has all the contemporary features like internet and AV equipment. Most of the conference organizers do not take full advantage of the social media to engage the audience. To help you plan an up-to-date conference, here is a blue-print of using social media before, during, and after the event.

Before the Conference

Create an Event Page:All conferences and events usually have an official website. But you can also list your business event at various social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Your attendees swim in different ponds so you have to make use of these different online platforms to reach your target audience.

Tweet Information: Keep posting important information regarding you conference. This will help your audience to acquire relevant information and you can keep in touch with your expected attendees.

During the Conference

Live Discussions:Host a live discussion through web conferencing. The audience will get an opportunity to hear from the experts that are otherwise not present in the conference. But make sure that appropriate AV aids are at hand like projector, sound systems, and computer.

Networking: During the conference, give your audience the freedom to interact and network with each other. Ask a helper to monitor the questions posted on your event page and discuss it during the conference.

After the Conference

Post Videos: Post videos of your conference on You Tube. This will help you track the likes and dislikes for your event.

Ask for Feedback: Through your blog posts and Facebook page, encourage your attendees to give feedback. The response will help you track the success of your conference.

Conference organisers have to keep up with the communication revolution and its latest trends. These are just a few ways to utilize social media in your business event.    

Tips to Choose an Effective Theme for Your Business Event at London Conference Venues

London Conference Venues

No matter how hard the companies try, corporate events are held to be deadly dull. To inject some fun into the event, the best way out is to theme it. But choosing the perfect theme for a business event is a daunting task. You have to consider the latest trends, the type of delegates and their likings and of course your company’s corporate image.

With so much to keep in mind, you are bound to get confused. To help you pick a perfect theme for your event planned at London conference venues, here are certain tips and ideas.

What’s the Season?

Can you link your business event with something seasonal? With holiday season making its way into our busy schedules, you can blend your business event with office Christmas party or New Year party. These festive themes will give you an opportunity to mix business with pleasure. Along with completing your business goals, you can have some festive fun.

Current Trends

Look what’s happening in the world? Keep a track of the latest trends and try to tailor your business event around something recent like Olympics or some favourite business based television show like The Apprentice (a popular show in UK) or Dragon’s Den.

Type of Delegates

It’s important to consider the age group and interests of the delegates before picking a theme. Try choosing a universal theme that appeal to the majority of your guests, so that everybody can fully participate.

Go Green

Companies are trying their best to keep up a green image. So why not pick the ‘Go Green’ theme for your event? Gain a green image for your company by adopting a sustainable menu and suitable green decorations.

Don’t Break the Bank

Whatever theme you choose, make sure you don’t blow the budget. Pick a universal theme that does not require a lot of props and planning to make it successful. You can be creative and pick an imaginative theme but make sure that it is relevant to your event. You must be expecting people from different countries and cultures. So, a general theme like ‘Around the World’ would be more apt than a specific theme like Luau.

What after the Event?

Once the business thing is over, you have to offer something relaxing to your guests. Plan an after event party and arrange superb food to indulge the taste buds of the guests. You can also arrange some competitive activities and games like ‘minute it to win it’.

To make a business event success, it is important to blend business with fun. And these up-to-date ideas will help you pick a suitable theme and make your corporate event fun and engaging.

Latest Events and Conference Trends to Follow at London Conference Venues

Conference Venue London

London city hosts numerous business events every year. With advancements in technology, the trends in conference industry also keep changing. If you are to organize a conference in the capital city, keep a track of the latest trends for 2012 and the next year. It’s highly important to know what today’s modern delegates expect from a conference or any business event.

Follow these cutting-edge trends in conference industry to make your business event a success at London conference venues.

Technology Trends

• The IT Element

With technological advancements, updated equipment will continue to influence conferences and events in many ways. So, while booking any space, consider this as your search criteria. Laptops, projectors, large screens, and microphones have become a part of any standard meeting room kit. Besides, there is a high demand for onsite Wi-Fi access in the meeting rooms.

• Get Smart with Smart Phones

For the next year and beyond, smart phones will be the standard for computing. Your delegates will expect to connect, do business and blog live even during the conference.

• The Power of WWW

WWW will continue to impact the success of any business event. Adding that online factor is essential to connect to those who are not present. Networking with experts during conferences through web-conferencing has become common these days.

Catering Trends

• The Green Menu

Companies are attempting to maintain a green image even if they are not affecting the environment. The green movement will continue to gain momentum in the years to come which has given birth to sustainable menu. The event organizers ensure that all the products come from sustainable farming and production process. Sustainable menus will become great ways to boost event’s green credentials.

• Healthy Food Options

The whole idea of conference catering is transforming radically. The hottest topic in the market is nothing but healthy eating. With people becoming more concerned about their diet, conference catering modifications have led to healthier food options.

Customizing the Event

• A Special Touch

Rather than all-business events, companies are making an attempt to mix business with pleasure. Venues with onsite bars, views of the city, better catering are gaining popularity.

• Engaging Discussions

A guest speaker lecturing the audience has become a thing of the past. A more engaging conference is what your delegates require. Boardroom style seating plan is in trend for conferences and meetings. This allows close interaction among all. U-shape arrangement is apt for large groups.

Keep track of these latest trends in conference and event industry and try to be one step ahead to please your clientele.