Corporate Event Planning

Corporate Event Planning is the first of four types of events that require planners and on-site management staff to run them:

1. Corporate Meetings
2. Conferences / Conventions
3. Incentives
4. Events

Corporate event planning comprises the majority of the work to be found as an event planner; and therefore is the focus of this page.

Even if you think you're only interested in other types of events, this page contains very important information to understand the event and meeting planning industry; so read on!

Admittedly, working a boring old meeting for a boring old company might not seem as exciting as the half time show at the Super Bowl. However, keep in mind two things:

• Many "boring old corporate meetings" aren't boring at all (and yes, some are). Many are held in international destinations, at five-star hotels, with high end evening events and top-name entertainment. At some corporate events, there are exciting excursions such as whale watching, helicopter tours, or sailboat regattas (further explained on the "Incentives" page). "Incentives"). They are often fast-paced and large-scale, with millions of dollars at stake (and often large budgets to match!).

• When it gets down to it, there are many, many more opportunities for work in corporate event planning. In Las Vegas alone, in the year 2006 there were almost 24,000 meetings or conventions; which brought in 6.4 million business travelers who spent almost 8.2 billion dollars. And there was only one Super Bowl half time show.

Yes, that one show is much more exciting and most likely more profitable, if you can land it; but until you gain enough experience to apply for that kind of job, I suggest you "get your feet wet" (and keep paying the bills) with corporate events and meetings.

Ok, ok, tell me more about corporate event planning!

As mentioned before, just about every kind of business in any industry has a meeting or event at some point or another. And we're not talking about the kind where everyone meets in the boardroom and someone is assigned to bring the bagels.

The type of meeting that requires planners are larger, either in scope and/or attendance (although there are also many small meetings held in your local city every day that need either a planner or on-site event management).

The majority of corporate meetings have an average of 60 to 500 attendees, with many events averaging 2,000 or more.

Why do companies need to hold meetings?

Well, obviously the content varies with every industry, and every company, and even each meeting. But the purpose of these conferences can be understood by the following:

All meetings can be broken down into two types:

• Internal: only employees of the company attend, or
• External: people who are not employees may attend (usually potential customers)

Internal meetings often fall into one of the following categories (but there are millions of topics and reasons to hold a meeting):

• Manager Meetings: The upper management need to meet to discuss change in policies, problems or issues, change in personnel, marketing strategies, etc.
• Train the Trainer: Recently promoted management needs to learn how to lead and, literally, be trained on how to train his work force that is working below him.
• Sales Training: Let's say a company adds a new product to their line, or a pharmaceutical company adds a new drug. The sales force needs to be trained on the attributes of this new product, and how to sell it to their customers.
• Product Launch: When a company introduces a new product to the public, it is officially "launched." Companies often hold meetings just prior to or on the actual launch dates.

External meetings are held for a number of reasons as well, but here are a few of the most common:

• Product Launch: Just as the company needed to host internal meetings to prepare the employees for a product's introduction to the public, now it needs to be introduced to the public and potential customers.
• Product Promotion: Sometimes, potential customers need to learn a bit more about a product. For example, when a car company releases a new car, it will invite buyers from car dealerships to a meeting; there they can learn about the new car, and even test drive and order it.
• Product Education: Pretend a large software company just introduced a complicated and expensive piece of software. Potential customers who might be interested in buying it are invited to a seminar that teaches them the benefits of the software and how to use it, and gives them a chance to ask questions before buying it.

Of course, these are just a few examples of the hundreds, if not thousands, of reasons a company might hold a meeting. The point is; as long as there is free enterprise and companies selling products or services, there will be meetings, and therefore a need for corporate event planning.

The exciting part of corporate event planning is that you get to learn a little bit about a lot of different industries. It is a job that really, truly, no kidding, is never the same!