You’re planning a corporate event. You need vendors, a location, speakers, and attendees. And you want your event to go off without a hitch.

You probably know that events never go as planned, but what you probably didn’t know is that you can avoid many of the common pitfalls corporate organizers and event planners face regularly.

In this article, Platinum Speakers Agency is going to share five no-nos you want to avoid.

Common Corporate Pitfalls

#1. You Forget to Check the Weather

Whether you’re event is indoors or outdoors, the weather matters. For an outdoor event, you obviously want to know how the weather will influence your event. Do you need umbrellas? Do you need rain jackets? You want to have contingency plans for your event to deliver on the experience you promised our attendees.

A snowstorm, hurricane, tsunami, tornado, or otherwise can be a show stopper for corporate event planners. If you can get a 10-day forecast, know what to expect and plan accordingly.

#2. You Missed the Coat Check

You may have heard the phrase, “when it rains, it pours.” Well, if your weather is bad, you probably have attendees showing up with coats and other bad-weather attire. Not having a coat check is like taking guests coasts and throwing them on the bed in your guest room. A faux pas you don’t want to put your attendees through.

Instead, invest in some kind of coat rack system for your event to ensure your people have somewhere to drop off and pick up their wet-weather attire.

#3. You Limit Parking

Depending on the venue, parking can vary. However, you can find venues that have ample parking for your attendees. Not having enough parking can be a nightmare for your attendees. Having to park six blocks away and call an Uber to get to your event is a little much.

If you can’t get great parking, offer a parking-lot-charter-bus combination. You can have a majority of your guests park at a remote location and then charter them in. This can be super effective for larger events in downtown areas — and it could cost you less than trying to rent parking space nearby for your guests.

#4. You Ignore Out-Of-Town Guests

You may get attendees that are from out of county or state. This means that signs and markers need to clearly point your guests in the proper direction. Not having enough signage is a common oversight, but it makes your attendees arrival so much easier.

#5. You Neglect the Bathrooms

Keep your bathrooms clean. It’s an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation, but your attendees will surely notice if you’re not taking care of business. See if the venue has a cleaning crew, or hire a third party cleaning crew to keep things in tip top shape.

#6. You Under Staff

One of the worst feelings in the world as a corporate event planner is to have more fires than you have firefighters. If you are under staffed, every issue, problem, or hiccup is going to feel like a massive weight on your shoulders. Nothing is going to feel like it’s getting done fast enough. And you’ll constantly be wondering when the other shoe will drop.

Hire adequate staff and recruit competent volunteers; it will make your life so much easier.

#7. You Assume Nothing Bad Will Happen

Emergencies happens. You can do your best to reduce the chances that they occur, but you won’t extinguish them entirely. Not having an emergency plan for your attendees or your event is shortsighted. If you’re not sure how to prepare an emergency plan, get a third party consultant to assist.

Takeaways

Planning, coordinating, and managing a corporate event is no small feat. It’s a challenge, and it takes a unique individual to do it all. That’s why you want to avoid the following pitfalls to reduce stress and increase success:

  1. You Forget to Check the Weather
  2. You Missed the Coat Check
  3. You Limit Parking
  4. You Ignore Out-Of-Town Guests
  5. You Neglect the Bathrooms
  6. You Under Staff
  7. You Assume Nothing Bad Will Happen

If you’re planning an event now, or you have events in the future, remember to book your speakers in advance. Another common pitfall of corporate events is that the planners wait too long to book speakers. Get on the phone now and let Platinum Speakers Agency know what you’re looking for.

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