A corporate event can be a great way to attract attention, but make sure it is relevant, within budget and legal, says a professional event organiser.
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Entrepreneur: Leanne Hunter, Co-Director
Company: Podium - The Event Producer
Business type: Events production
Founded: 1994
Employees: Five permanent staff
Head office: Sydney, New South Wales
Contact details: +61 2 9660 2822
The Podium Story
Companies stage events for many reasons: to launch a new product into the market, to reward and motivate important clients, to stage a national sales conference, or the chief executive may simply wish to hold a great end-of-year Christmas party for staff and valued customers.
Whatever the event type - a road show, a media event, a sporting event in a stadium, a webcast or an exhibition - the managers responsible for it need to consider their strategy and logistics well ahead of time. Failures can, and do, happen - and they hurt a company's image and profitability.
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Key learning points:
- Event planning - Keep it simple and concise. Do not try to do too much and not be able to pull it off. Set a budget and stick to it.
- Event preparation - Do not underestimate the time needed to plan an event. A product launch can only happen once - and it must work then.
- Event liability - Read contracts and don't hesitate to seek legal advice. Ask questions about issues of public liability, and occupational health and safety. Better safe than sorry.
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Leanne Hunter says: "We always ask clients, ‘Why are you doing the event? Most importantly, what return on investment do you want from that event?’ Anyone can stage a great party but if everyone goes away only remembering the entertainment and not any of the key messages, then what outcomes have been achieved?
"Everyone wants the 'wow factor' when staging these events. But you've got to sit down and ask what is your 'wow factor'? What is your vision of this event and what do you want it to achieve? How does this event fit into the other marketing activities in the organisation? How will it provide a platform for sales initiatives? Often the vision doesn't [match] the budget that you are starting with."
Professional event producers such as Podium provide an outside perspective for companies seeking to develop event-marketing strategies and will take responsibility for producing just about any type of event. For example, Podium might advise a client to maximise an event’s impact by making it shorter, rather than drawing it out over a five-hour dinner.
Events must be relevant to their audiences. For example, some audiences are very affluent and sophisticated, which means an event to reward them or give them an incentive must be unique and beyond their ordinary buying power.
Staying on budget is essential. Hunter says: "If a client doesn't have the budget, there is no point in putting theming around the room. Focus your energy on the lighting and on the table – the experience that the client is going to get directly in front of them - rather than trying to put a few props around the room and create a concept that is not going to work."
Podium timelines every aspect of any event that it produces - from when the company logo will be due for artwork, to when a client will be contacted about menus or a speech, and when the client will receive a deposit invoice. Timelining keeps the event on track and the client accountable in order for Podium to deliver the event.
Podium documents its own internal procedures too. With a team of five staff, Hunter and her co-director, Tony Bonney want to ensure consistency in service delivery. "We have a policy procedures manual, we have an event-producing manual, we have manuals on everything. It's critical that whether Tony and I are running the event or an event manager is running the event, the client gets the same level of service every time."
Hunter advises would-be clients of professional event producers to check their contracts for issues including public liability insurance, professional indemnity, and occupational health and safety. She says: "There are some venues in this city [Sydney] that we will not use because we are liable not just for the guests in the function space but for the precinct surrounding it. Our public liability doesn't cover that nor does our client's cover that."