Corporate events, company get-togethers, product launches, annual meetings, and executive conferences don’t have to be boring or stuffed-shirt. In fact, your clients will look to you as the corporate event planner to identify ways to bring a little fun, excitement, and enjoyment to their events. Infusing one of these business functions with fun is going to require a different approach than what you might do for other, more social events. But if you’re looking for ideas and inspiration that cater to this executive-level or business audience, keep reading.
1. Engaging & Fun Speakers
If your corporate event involves speakers or special guests, you can explore booking those who also have exciting and fun presentations. Yes, you’ll have to select speakers who bring value to the event first, complementing the brand, the company, or the theme. But when you’re able to introduce fun speakers, you’ll be sure to boost your audience engagement.
2. Exciting Presentation Formats
Make sure whatever format your corporate event follows has some fun and excitement to it. No one wants to sit through yawn-worthy topics across one long segment. And bland conveying of speaking points will begin to feel tedious. Instead, look to break up the talking, mingling, and topics in a way that feels like a series of fun and manageable activities.
3. An Easy-to-Follow Itinerary
Provide guests with an easy-to-follow itinerary of the corporate event, so they can anticipate each shift in conversation and segment. Keep those outlines simple and use fun and exciting language to build enthusiasm, lead up to a big announcement, or reveal prizes.
4. Food, Beverage & Entertainment
Keep your corporate event guests happy with the proper offering of food and beverage. If your event is shorter in length, provide refreshing snacks and drinks. If it’s a full-day event, be thoughtful about planning meal service. Consider options that provide energy and alertness instead of foods or snacks that might make guests feel tired and full.
In addition to satisfying the food and beverage elements, your next opportunity to infuse a little fun into the corporate event is with the right entertainment. Even if there isn’t a stage performance, you can bring in “side entertainment” like caricaturists or artists for guests to enjoy between meeting discussions. And music is always a great way to surge energy into an event crowd, even if it’s only in the background of an event.
5. Breakout Sessions
For those all-day corporate events or New York conferences that inspire learning, training, or networking, definitely add breakout sessions or group learning to the itinerary. Conveying information to one big crowd will work for some aspects. But your guests will find more value in breaking out within smaller groups to further discussions, networking, and learning. Breakout sessions are a great method for breaking up the monotony of a lengthy presentation, too.
6. Take Breaks
If you can’t add breakout sessions, be liberal about incorporating breaks. Every hour or two, make sure guests have an opportunity to stretch, grab a snack, or check their emails. When you provide dedicated times throughout the event for these breaks, you’ll find attendees won’t be as consumed by their devices during the presentations. And your audience will remain more alert when they have a chance to move around and get a little oxygen.
7. Icebreakers & Games
A common way to bring a little excitement to your corporate event is with the genius use of games and icebreakers. If your guests are strangers to each other or are maybe employees from different offices, getting to know each other can be a great way to increase engagement among them. Consider introductions for smaller groups and breakout group mingling games for larger audiences. Have some fun with the name tags and other identifiers. Brief games can be helpful to break up the presentation format, too.
8. Swag & Prizes
In addition to these other methods for making corporate events fun, you can always amp up your swag and prize game. Door prizes, random guest prizes, and awards are added value your guests will love. From company-branded apparel to gift certificates and top-level prize giveaways, your corporate event attendees will love the take-home goodies.
Get inspired by these ideas and infuse your next New York corporate event with fun and excitement. The more fun you can bring, even if the theme is more business-centric or executive-level, the more value your attendees will take away from the engagement.
For even more ideas and inspiration, make sure you get to The Event Planner Expo 2022 this October! We’re celebrating ten years this year and are pulling out all the stops in assembling the best of the best for event industry attendees. Explore remaining exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, too, to showcase your New York event planning service to thousands!
