Forgive us for talking about Christmas so soon after the summer holidays, but if you’re an executive assistant you’ll likely be thinking about Christmas parties for the staff and honored clients. We’ve put together what we think are some great tips for planning the perfect corporate Christmas event.
1. Who are your guests?
As with any type of marketing you must know who your audience is so you can approach, inform, delight and engage with them. What do you know about the people on the guest list? Are they seated dinner types, casino, racetrack, fun-loving people?
Are they ballroom or escape room people?
Tip number one is to speak to the other departments, namely marketing, sales and customer relations, to determine the range of personalities you’ll be providing the party for.
2. Speak to the finance department
Next, you’ll need to know your budget. This could have an influence on the size of the guest list and everything you’ll be providing for them. If the sky’s the limit, then reach for it!
Knowing your guest profiles as well as you do, you can now determine how to split the budget between venue, food and drink, and entertainment.
Will you be providing transport, or sharing the details of your favourite chauffeur company?
Do you include contacts outside your client base to provide networking opportunities?
Will there be an open bar, or champagne on arrival?
3. How did it go last year?
Do you have any feedback from previous events? If you didn’t ask at the time, it’s not too late to ask now. It could make a nice introduction to the upcoming party and serve as a ‘save the date.’
If this is the first time you’re holding an executive Christmas party, ensure you get the feedback afterwards while it’s still fresh in your guests’ memories.
4. Select stunning invitations
It’s likely that your guests will have more than one invitation to mull over this year. Choosing the perfect invitation and sending it sooner rather than later will give you the edge.
Try to make it as easy as possible for your guests to respond and indicate dietary or accessibility requirements by perhaps adding a specially created QR code that can be automated to collate the acceptance and decline responses. If your establishment is more traditional, you could include a reply slip.
5. Get support with coordinating
There are some fantastic event management companies to choose from, so we can’t possibly tell you which one to choose or even assume you don’t already know this! However, you can be as involved as you want in the coordinating of the event, or you can outsource it all.
If you have a very large event planned, you will need support. Besides, this party is for you to enjoy as well…
As an EA you will have an extensive network of suppliers you can pull together to help you put on a Christmas party to be remembered the entire year! If you need more people in your network, speak to us and we can find anyone you need.
Merry Christmas from all at The Summit Executive Chauffeurs, may all your Christmas parties go with a swing.