Strategic Event Themes

One of the challenges that many Meeting Professionals have is translating business objectives into actual on site meeting and event experiences. It seems that many organizations, especially in this tough economy, are spending extra time focusing on pre-event strategy. Why are we having this event, who should be attending, what will we spend, where will it be located, are all great pre-event strategy questions to help define your overall parameters. Where the ball gets dropped is when you have done all of this work on the front end and received the thumbs up from the management team, but the logistical components don't carry the same amount of strategic planning. One idea is to be more creative with the theming of your receptions and evening events. Gone are the days of broadcast dinners where everyone sits and listens and boring awards are given out. Throw out the 1 hour presentation by the CEO with the graphs and ridiculous slides that makes everyone nod like machines. Don't bother with the "fire and Ice" "Black and White ball" "roaring twenties" or "disco boogie". Look within your strategic event plan to uncover ideas for theming. Select colors that represent your companies brand and culture. Focus on organizational core values such as leadership, growth, and community responsibility and present a theme that emulates these emotions. Plan an interactive experience where guests are encouraged to learn about topics and receive praise for their continued efforts and support. Expanding into globalization, emphasize regional areas of growth. Incentivize employees, emphasize departments and champions by providing bios, pictures, or maybe even letting departments create individual theme options to be displayed. Client events, focus on solutions and experiences that represent who you are. Don't simply entertain and hope for the best, take the time to translate your strategy into living breathing event experiences that allow attendees to grow.