Putting on a Business Event

Almost all businesses will have to put on an event at some stage, whether it’s an intimate lunch with clients, a product launch, or large-scale charity event. Rebecca Spicer asks experts what makes the difference between wow and woe factor in event planning.

No matter how big the event you’re putting on, and no matter who you’re putting it on for, the ultimate goal of any business owner should be to create the ‘wow’ factor, giving your audience a lasting impression of your business, product, or goals.

While target audiences, subject matter, and objectives will differ between businesses and events, the wow factor is the number one thing our experts agree on. And the good thing is, creating it doesn’t have to break the bank—you just have to be creative, or hire an events management company to do it for you.

Most businesses will put on an event to deliver a new message, company goal, or product launch to clients, employees, or the media, "and it is certainly about giving people a unique experience," explains Sean Brandtman, director of Think Big Events. His company specialises in helping businesses stage themed events, and pays close attention to aesthetics such as lighting and music.

Jody Lennon, managing director of PR agency Kinetics, agrees that having a theme is extremely important, especially for media events. "We have to ensure the theme is fitting with what we’re launching. Knowing how to theme the event can make or break it.

"It’s important to make it interesting for the media, but it really depends on what you’re trying to launch as to whether it should be a fun event, or whether it should be a business event and quite focused."

Wowing people can also be as simple as educating the speakers to deliver the message effectively, says Brandtman. "Educating the speakers and people presenting at these events to talk for shorter periods of time but really push the message across, has been effective with the work we’ve done."

He warns, though, that you won’t always be able to please everyone. He maintains a realistic goal to impress at least 95 percept of participants enough that they’ll walk away saying it’s the best event they’ve ever been to, or the most memorable, fun, and exciting. "And the other 5 percent who will have some criticisms? Be constructive with that. Find those people and find out why they weren’t happy," he says.

And it begins with budget. Along with your objectives, your budget will determine the size and type of event. While your options are limitless and you could have a budget of anywhere between $1,000 and hundreds of thousands, the key is to ensure that you make a success of the event in order to get a return on your investment.

Brandtman advises starting with a venue or location—decide how much you’re willing to spend on that, and keep that cost separate; establish how much you want to pay per head for food, drinks and any gifts for participants; and finally, allocate separate funds for a theme, lighting, entertainment and ‘wow’ factor. And if you choose to engage the help of an event manager, you’ll need to factor in the cost of their time and expertise as well.