Vital Tips for Planning an Outdoor Corporate Event

Every business leader with at least some experience should be familiar with the benefits that corporate events may bring, but only they are carefully planned and well organized. Such events boost the team spirit, encourage communication between staff members and, ultimately, lead to increased productivity. Those are the main benefits when we talk about the employees.

On the other hand, there are events where guests are invited. The aim of organizing such gatherings is to boost brand awareness and facilitate networking, to name but a few. If you are in charge of such an event, you should seriously consider having it in an outdoor setting, providing the weather is favorable. Such a casual environment will only make all the potential perks even more potent, but you really need to plan carefully. To help you do that, here are some tips, based on the experience previous party organizers have gained over the years.

Selecting the venue

One of the most important things to choose is the venue for your party. The best way to go about selecting it is to actually invite your colleagues to give their suggestions. By asking for their ideas, you’ll make them feel more appreciated and you’ll inspire greater engagement. They can also suggest some team-building games, if that’s suitable for the event. Also, make sure that the venue is easily accessible and that there is enough parking space. Alternatively, consider organizing transport to and from the venue for everyone.

Get the necessary permits

Depending on the type of event you’re organizing, you might need to get some permits. Local authorities should be able to tell you what you need when you inform them about the number of people expected to attend the event. You’ll also be instructed about safety precautions required, especially if you’ve chosen a public park or beach. It’s absolutely necessary to be safe and abide all the applicable rules and regulations.

Entertainment

If your event is a bit more formal, requiring more than table tennis and volleyball matches, you need to make sure you have the right outdoor entertainment equipment. Use the best possible equipment to play your brand’s promotional content in the background or videos specifically designed for the occasion. What you also need are waterproof TVs and soundbars that can provide excellent quality sound. When placing this equipment, try to set it up so that people don’t have to crowd in a single spot to enjoy TVs and that everyone can hear really well what’s being played on the speakers.

Catering

Another crucial element you need to consider is catering. Again, a lot depends on the type of event, which is why you should contact local catering companies and look for those with experience of providing food at outdoor events. They’ll recommend the most appropriate and flexible menus, so that you don’t attract insects or allow food to go bad in a matter of minutes.

Pests

Every outdoor event carries certain risks, including those related to pests, such as mosquitos, flies, wasps and bees. This may seem trivial to some, but they can all ruin a perfectly organized party, thus damaging your brand image. It’s enough for one person to get an allergic reaction and the whole experience will be spoilt. So, you should imbue the event décor with repellants, such as bug-repellant lanterns and scented candles. Another idea is to provide drink and food plate covers and netting for the tents in order to prevent the pests from entering inside should you need to find shelter from the rain. Finally, you might want to install fans to keep the guests cool and the pests at bay.

What about the rain?

Since you have to set the date for your event quite early, it’s impossible to know exactly what the weather will be like. Ideally, you should know the average temperature for the month in question in your town, but even that is no guarantee that you’ll have a nice, sunny afternoon. That’s why it’s important to have a contingency plan. Party tents are the most obvious choice, since they will provide shelter from both the rain and blazing sun. Also, you need to make sure your equipment stays dry throughout the event, so don’t forget to protect it properly. Finally, make sure you can go forward with all the things you’ve planned for the event, regardless of whether it rains or not.

It’s not just the event itself

The impact of your event should last much longer than the event itself. You don’t want people to stop thinking about the party and your company as soon as they leave. Guests need to take home with them some piece of promotional material and your task is to set up the mechanisms that will measure the impact you were able to produce. Having these things built into the core of event is one of your major tasks.

These are just some of the most important tips related to organizing an outdoor corporate event, but they should be enough to give you a general idea of what the goals should be and how you should go about them. As the global economy is bracing for a very rough time in the following months or even years, using every single opportunity to put your brand on the map should be one of your priorities.