Corporate Event Management

Types of corporate events

Most companies run a mix of internal and external events across the year. Each type has its own audience and measure of success:

• Conferences and summits

  Multi-session events for customers, partners or an industry, often with sponsors and exhibitors.

  Conference management software

• Sales kickoffs and company meetings

  Internal events that set targets, train teams and share strategy, often hybrid so every office joins.

• Product launches

  Events that introduce a product to customers, press and partners, in person, online or both.

• Seminars and training

  Sessions for staff or customers, where attendance by session matters for certification or follow-up.

• Trade show presence

  Exhibiting at industry shows, where the measure is leads captured and meetings held.

  Lead retrieval app

• Executive and VIP events

  Roundtables, dinners and offsites for small groups of senior guests.

  Inviting executives

• Celebrations and galas

  Awards nights, anniversaries, holiday parties and charity dinners.

  Gala dinner software

The corporate event management process

Whatever the event, the work follows the same stages. Writing them down once and reusing them is how a corporate events team runs many events a year without starting from scratch each time.

1. 1

   Brief and business case

   Agree the goal, audience, format, date range and how success will be measured, and get sign-off from the executive sponsor.

   Event proposal template
2. 2

   Budget and approvals

   Build the budget by category, route it through finance and procurement, and agree who can approve changes.

   Event budget guide
3. 3

   Venue and suppliers

   Source the venue, catering, AV, travel and any agency support, and get contracts, insurance and security reviews done.

4. 4

   Program and speakers

   Build the agenda, confirm speakers and brief them, and write the run of show.

   Run of show template
5. 5

   Invitations and registration

   Open registration with the right ticket types and questions, send invitations, and manage the guest list and waitlist.

   Event registration software
6. 6

   Communications

   Confirmation emails, reminders, the event app and push updates before and during the event.

7. 7

   Onsite delivery

   Check-in and badges, session tracking, VIP handling, and a team briefed on who to call for what.

   Onsite event management
8. 8

   Follow-up and reporting

   Send surveys, pass leads and attendance to sales, reconcile the budget, and report results against the goals in the brief.

   How to measure event ROI

Who does what in corporate event management

Even a small corporate event touches several teams. Naming an owner for each area early avoids gaps and duplicated work:

Common corporate event challenges

Most corporate event problems come from the setting rather than the event itself. The fix is usually process rather than effort: one system for the event's data, a standard setup each new event starts from, and an agreed list of what gets reported after every event.

• Data privacy and security

  Attendee data is personal data. IT and legal teams will ask where it is stored, who can see it and how long it is kept, so involve them before registration opens.

• Too many tools

  Registration in one system, the app in another and the guest list in a spreadsheet means re-keying data and errors on the day.

• Brand consistency

  Every page, email, badge and app screen has to look like the company, not like a vendor.

• Data that never reaches the CRM

  If attendance and leads are not passed to sales, nobody can show what the event influenced.

• Many events, small team

  Teams that run dozens of events a year need templates and reusable setups, not a fresh build each time.

• Approvals and access

  Several people need to work on the event with clear ownership, and leadership wants reports without asking for them.

What to look for in corporate event management software

Corporate event management software runs a company's events in one system. Ask each vendor to show your own event in the demo rather than a sample one, and check how much of the setup your team does and how much the vendor does. Use this list to compare platforms against your own events:

• Branded registration and ticketing

  Public, private and invite-only tickets, registration questions and payments where needed.

• A white-label event app

  Agenda, speakers, updates, networking, polls and Q&A under your brand.

• Onsite check-in and badges

  QR check-in, self-service kiosks, badge printing and session tracking.

• Hybrid and virtual

  Remote attendees in the same program as the room.

• CRM integration

  Registrations, leads and check-ins passed to the CRM your sales team uses.

• Team access and reuse

  Several organizers per event, and a way to copy last year's setup.

• Reporting

  Exports by ticket, session, order and custom field for the post-event report.

  How to choose event management software

How Eventdex supports corporate event teams

Eventdex runs registration, the event app, check-in and reporting for corporate conferences, summits, seminars and hybrid meetings. It does not source venues or suppliers; those stay with your team or agency.

• Set up with you

  The Eventdex team sets each event up with you and trains your staff.

  Corporate event management software

• Your brand throughout

  A branded registration page and a white-label app, so attendees see your company, not your vendor.

  White-label event app

• Salesforce sync

  Registrations, leads and check-ins sync to Salesforce for sales, marketing and reporting.

  Salesforce integration

• Several admins, reusable events

  Add more event organizers to an event, and clone an event to start the next one from its setup.

  Event registration software

• Custom reports

  Choose the attendee fields, filter by ticket type, registration type or order date, and export to CSV or XLS.