Arranging a corporate event is a tremendously complex affair that requires a team of professionals to pull off successfully. When you are working in a competitive market like Dallas or Houston, the team you select for event design and event management plays a major role in its success. This team will help you design the event concept and theme, secure a venue, book talent, arrange for vendors, select a menu and catering, and arrange for the technical needs of your event like lighting, sound, video, and staging.
When creating your event, understand that hiring the best event planning team is the key factor in determining the event’s success and your sanity. It is important to engage a full-service event production company in DFW, Houston, San Antonio, or Austin as early as possible to manage the design and production of your event.
Hiring a full-service corporate event planner means exactly that; you get a full team of professionals to help you shine at your next event. Your attendees will see your company as the host, and your brand will shine bright as the result of a wise event planning company selection.
Whether you are hosting a:
- business party
- corporate training event
- incentive event
- strategic planning event
- communications meeting
- organization/product launch
- team building event
each of these can be elevated to become an incredible experience for each attendee.
Who is On An Event Planning & Management Team?
Depending on your event size, the following members are typically a part of your team of corporate event planners:
Event Designer – Creative Director
Establishing a good rapport with your designer is essential. Also, you should feel comfortable being transparent and honest with your feedback to them. This is YOUR company’s event!
The best event designers think outside the box while drawing on years of experience. Your initial event design should not be constrained by the what is, but should fully embrace the what if during the event idea brainstorming phase. If you can dream it up, it should be considered. And if you aren’t a dreamer, that’s where a great event designer can be an incredible asset. They can get inside of a client’s head to draw out what he or she really envisions but may be having trouble articulating. Expanding your initial event ideas into a creative and brilliant design with an executable plan is this person’s key deliverable.
From event goals, to event marketing and invitation ideas, to room design, to building a program order, social media sharing strategies, and everything else to create a positive experience for each attendee, the Event Designer creates a creative but unified planning process and event roadmap.
Catering Director – Coordinator
Food makes or breaks your event. An event’s catering director should have a rich network of catering vendors with a diverse selection of cuisines. Every event doesn’t need Texas BBQ. Some do. And some events need a formal 7-course meal, while others need only delicious hors d’oeuvres.
A great catering coordinator will provide on-site tastings, so you can select from real samples, assessing the taste and appearance of each menu item.
Catering directors don’t only help you select the food. They ensure that the service lines in the venue’s kitchen or caterer have ample food that is prepared properly. We’ve even seen our catering director step into the kitchen to assist in an emergency.
Technical Production Director
Once you engage your full-service event production company in Texas, the production director will work to pull together a team built specifically for your project needs. That includes technicians, lighting and sound engineers, designers, and a crew. The person who helps coordinates and will act as the liaison between your team, your talent, your venue, and the event’s technical staff. The more technical elements required, or the more complex the event environment, the better an early date of engaging the event planning company helps in reducing issues like the availability of needed rental gear.
Your technical director not only handles the procuring the needed event technology and A/V equipment, but they also build and install all of the technical production elements like staging, hanging trusses, rigging lights, and flying up speakers. This person also oversees the team operating the equipment during the event.
Event Project Manager
With a large, or even a small, corporate event, the success is in the details. Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s is vital to you shining at your event. A good project manager is highly detailed focused, with a mind geared toward problem-solving. This project manager shields you from the stress of micro-decisions or death by 1000 paper cuts. A great project manager is like a duck. They may be paddling 900mph underwater, but above the surface all you see is calm. This increases your confidence that the event IS going to be a major success.
The Project Manager coordinates the team to make sure everything is working in synchronicity. The PM serves as the budget watchdog to make sure that the event stays on track financially. This person also coordinates communication between all the parties involved–the client, the event planning internal team, the venue, and vendors. The project manager is the eyes and ears at the event, providing an advanced presence at the event, and responding to the emerging needs of the attendees.
Finally, the Project Manager performs a post-event audit and assessment to evaluate the success of the event. They note tips, solutions, and best practices to incorporate for future or repeating events.
Taking the Load Off of You
Your event planning company performs many vital functions that can remove a significant portion of your to-do list and makes your event truly spectacular. Find a team that specializes in corporate events. Planning a wedding (or birthday party) and planning a successful corporate event is not the same thing. Get peace of mind by selecting an event manager with years of corporate experience with both large and small businesses.
Next article in the series: How Far In Advance Should I Start Planning For My Corporate Event?