Planning a major corporate or entertainment event is a big undertaking. It means wearing a number of different hats and coordinating with venue staff, vendors, talent, and your own team to ensure everything comes together at the right time.
Rather than trying to juggle everything simultaneously, it can be helpful to break down the event planning process into distinct areas. This makes it easier to keep track of your progress and delegate certain tasks to members of your team.
We’ve put together this event planning checklist that you can use as a starting point when organizing a corporate function like a conference, product launch, sales meeting, or gala.
Before you actually put your ideas into action, it’s important to define your goals and identify logistical considerations. For most corporate events, the pre-planning phase should take place at least three months before the event.
Pre-planning your event should include the following:
The setting for your event is one of the most important elements. The venue you choose can impact the number of guests you can invite, staging elements, sound acoustics, and the ambiance.
If you’re hosting a virtual event, venue selection can look a little different than when you’re organizing an in-person function. But regardless of format, you need to make sure your venue can support your needs when it comes to scheduling, bandwidth, parking, and vendors.
Here’s a breakdown of tasks to complete when choosing a venue:
Not every corporate or entertainment event needs sponsors. However, sponsorships can offer significant benefits including financial support, enhanced visibility, additional resources, and diverse marketing opportunities.
Here’s a to-do list for getting sponsors:
Vendors play a crucial role in planning and executing successful corporate events. Working with reputable vendors takes significant pressure off you and your team because you know specialized tasks will be performed by experts that you trust.
Vendor selection and scheduling tasks might include the following:
Now that you’ve secured a venue, sponsors, and vendors, it’s time to flesh out your event program. This is crucial to ensuring the day-of activities and overall event production run smoothly.
Here are some key steps to preparing an event program:
A comprehensive marketing plan is key to gaining visibility for your event. Promotion is all about finding the right audience and tailoring your image to them and their interests.
Here’s a marketing and promotion checklist to help you get started:
The logistical and operational aspects of your event can make or break the experience. This stage is all about putting the finishing touches on your plan.
Here are some organizational tasks to complete before the big day:
In the final week of planning, you should be focused on organizing the last-minute details and confirming final plans with participants.
Here are some last-minute tasks to perform before the day of your event:
On the day of the event, everyone should understand their role and responsibilities so anything that goes wrong can be immediately dealt with by the appropriate team. Make yourself available and check in regularly throughout the day with key organizers.
Here are some tips for managing your event in real-time:
After the curtain call, you should take a moment and be proud of everything you’ve accomplished. But your work doesn’t end there. It’s important to follow up with your guests, talent, vendors, and internal team to say thank you and evaluate what worked and what didn’t so you can improve for future events.
Here’s a post-event checklist to follow:
A big part of event planning is delegating tasks effectively. That means knowing what needs to get done and picking the right people to do it. At Catalyst, we provide full-service event production solutions. We’ll work with you to plan all the AV elements of your event and help you choose the right microphones, speakers, visual displays, and camera equipment. We own, maintain, and transport all our own gear, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
Get in touch today to tell us about your event!
Planning a major corporate or entertainment event is a big undertaking. It means wearing a number of different hats and coordinating with venue staff, vendors, talent, and your own team to ensure everything comes together at the right time.
Rather than trying to juggle everything simultaneously, it can be helpful to break down the event planning process into distinct areas. This makes it easier to keep track of your progress and delegate certain tasks to members of your team.
We’ve put together this event planning checklist that you can use as a starting point when organizing a corporate function like a conference, product launch, sales meeting, or gala.
Before you actually put your ideas into action, it’s important to define your goals and identify logistical considerations. For most corporate events, the pre-planning phase should take place at least three months before the event.
Pre-planning your event should include the following:
The setting for your event is one of the most important elements. The venue you choose can impact the number of guests you can invite, staging elements, sound acoustics, and the ambiance.
If you’re hosting a virtual event, venue selection can look a little different than when you’re organizing an in-person function. But regardless of format, you need to make sure your venue can support your needs when it comes to scheduling, bandwidth, parking, and vendors.
Here’s a breakdown of tasks to complete when choosing a venue:
Not every corporate or entertainment event needs sponsors. However, sponsorships can offer significant benefits including financial support, enhanced visibility, additional resources, and diverse marketing opportunities.
Here’s a to-do list for getting sponsors:
Vendors play a crucial role in planning and executing successful corporate events. Working with reputable vendors takes significant pressure off you and your team because you know specialized tasks will be performed by experts that you trust.
Vendor selection and scheduling tasks might include the following:
Now that you’ve secured a venue, sponsors, and vendors, it’s time to flesh out your event program. This is crucial to ensuring the day-of activities and overall event production run smoothly.
Here are some key steps to preparing an event program:
A comprehensive marketing plan is key to gaining visibility for your event. Promotion is all about finding the right audience and tailoring your image to them and their interests.
Here’s a marketing and promotion checklist to help you get started:
The logistical and operational aspects of your event can make or break the experience. This stage is all about putting the finishing touches on your plan.
Here are some organizational tasks to complete before the big day:
In the final week of planning, you should be focused on organizing the last-minute details and confirming final plans with participants.
Here are some last-minute tasks to perform before the day of your event:
On the day of the event, everyone should understand their role and responsibilities so anything that goes wrong can be immediately dealt with by the appropriate team. Make yourself available and check in regularly throughout the day with key organizers.
Here are some tips for managing your event in real-time:
After the curtain call, you should take a moment and be proud of everything you’ve accomplished. But your work doesn’t end there. It’s important to follow up with your guests, talent, vendors, and internal team to say thank you and evaluate what worked and what didn’t so you can improve for future events.
Here’s a post-event checklist to follow:
A big part of event planning is delegating tasks effectively. That means knowing what needs to get done and picking the right people to do it. At Catalyst, we provide full-service event production solutions. We’ll work with you to plan all the AV elements of your event and help you choose the right microphones, speakers, visual displays, and camera equipment. We own, maintain, and transport all our own gear, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
Get in touch today to tell us about your event!
Are you planning a shareholder meeting, conference, product launch, trade show, or other type of major event? You need to make sure the production value matches the quality of your event’s content. Working with a reliable, proven leader in audio visual event production like Catalyst ensures your event runs smoothly, exceeds the expectations of your audience, and has the impact you want.
Get in touch today to schedule a free consultation, learn more about our services, and tell us about your event.
We work events both nationally and internationally. No matter where you are, Catalyst can come to you.
(818) 818-6117
info@thecatalystcompanies.com