Corporate Event Planning & Marquee Hire
Thames Marquee offers professional London marquee hire and have many years experience of providing wedding marquees, party marquees and corporate marquee hire for exhibitions & hospitality events. Our experience has enabled us to build up our knowledge of providing high quality and professional planning advise for corporate events.
We are therefore, not only able to offer marquee hire, but also are able to offer you corporate event planning and corporate event management advise to help you organise corporate events. Whether you are hosting a marquee corporate hospitality event to thank you customers for their business, holding a business awards evening or presenting a new range of products or services, we can held you organise your event, and provide corporate marquee hire too. Please see below, a quick guide which should help you when planning a corporate event.
Sharing Corporate Event Planning Information
Once the appropriate approval has been gained to proceed with a corporate event, don't keep it to yourself. The event may be relevant to other sectors, divisions or countries within your organisation - notify PR representatives, directors and sales & marketing managers nationwide and worldwide. In many cases, this may enable the costs and human resources required for an event to be spread across participating divisions / companies.
Corporate Event Management Timescales
One of the most common mistakes made when doing corporate event management is leaving insufficient time for planning. The time required for corporate event planning is very much dependent on the type and size of the event. However, in an ideal world, the planning process should start approximately six months before the date of the event.
These may seem long lead times, but there are many factors to consider:
- Competition for tickets at major sporting events
- Availability of venues and suppliers
- Seasonal availability of marquee hire
- Deadlines set by corporate event organisers, e.g., submission of order forms
- Issuing invitations - at least ten weeks prior to the event
The level of activity will also vary at different stages of the project. The initial corporate event planning stages are usually the busiest. This will be followed by a quieter period which predominantly involves overseeing things to ensure the project is running to plan and budget. Activity then increases again three to four weeks before the event.
Timings for exhibitions are guided very much by the exhibition organisers and the deadlines set in the Exhibitors' Manual.
Preparing the Business Case
Participating / hosting events is a costly exercise. It is therefore important to carefully consider the rationale behind attending. You should be clear in your own mind that the event is the right activity.
Does it meet your objectives, and more importantly, the objectives of your organisation? Do you have the internal resources to carry through the project or will you need to use external suppliers? Do you have sufficient funds, or could you utilise the budget more effectively on other PR activities? It is therefore advisable to draw up a plan, and in doing so consider the following questions:
- What are the objectives of your planned corporate event?
- What are the cost implications of your event - is there a budget?
- Who is your target audience of your corporate event?
- Where is your client base?
- Is there a theme, if so, what?
- Do you need an internal sponsor?
- What is the format?
- Do you require entertainment?
- What are the time scales - are they achievable?
- Can you manage the event yourself, or do you need extra resources?
- What information can the organisers / suppliers provide to demonstrate previous success?
- What level of response / exposure do you expect to achieve?
- Is the event sponsored by a reputable or known organisation?
- Who else is planning to attend - reputable companies, respected competition etc.?
Things to Consider when Planning Corporate Events
Finally consider whether you could achieve similar or better results, at less cost, by undertaking other PR activities, such as:
- Focused direct mail campaigns
- Running a targeted seminar
- Assisting sales people to focus on the appropriate audience
Marquee Hire Quotation
If you require further information about the corporate event planning services we provide or indeed the corporate marquee hire services that offer, we suggest that you request a free brochure or quotation. Please contact us via this website's contact form. Alternatively call us directly on 01895 436636 or 07798 823230.
Marquee for Hire in London
In addition to corporate event planning services, Thames Marquees provide marquee for hire in London for the following events:
