Business-related events can often feel stale and follow the same old pattern. But that doesn’t mean they have to be! They can be a fun and a memorable one too.

To avoid the same old welcome speeches, bland catering, the usual conventional settings, all we need is to add a dash of imagination. Check out these six common Corporate event types and learn how you can make yours more memorable.

Corporate event type #1: Internal meetings

Internal meetings! It could be for your company’s board, sales team, or an annual company-wide occurrence. Internal meetings do require planning expertise just as much as a huge conference or trade show does.

So here are a few ideas that you could implement to make the company’s next internal meeting less of a burden and make it worth for people who are attending:

• Plan a timeline and stick to it: Based on the purpose of the meeting, keep it short and focused as possible by insisting on a schedule that everyone must adhere to.
• Share stories or metaphors: Whatever the meeting is about, try relating it to everyday business by involving real-life examples, case studies or creative metaphors. People will be glued to their seats for movies.
• Add a dash of entertainment to the meeting: Hire performers or entertainers- like a stand up comedian or a band. A good stand up can always lift everyone’s mood and set a fun atmosphere, or hire an impersonator – like how Obama did to translate his anger in an amusing way.

Corporate event type #2: Product launches

A great product launch should leave people buzzing with excitement and anticipation. A powerful moment for any company looking to forward their brand, a product launch is one of the few times where employees, investors, members of the press, and even competitors come together in one place.

A launch does not have to be an extravagant party or a big event to be engaging. Here are a few ways to challenge the tradition:

• Use augmented or virtual reality: Help the people to experience the product in a new dimension with the help of AR or VR, like how the commercial van manufacturer FCA did. FCA used augmented reality to show off a new line of vans and all the different colour schemes with only one van physically present. It was an efficient use of space and budget.
• Offer unusual food choices: At the launch of its Christmas themes for 2017, 8 Northumberland Avenue had set up a nitrogen ice cream bar which offered attendees, unusual flavours like popcorn or Jack Daniels and vanilla. Each attendee had the novelty factor of exhalable “dragon’s breath” nitrogen smoke.
• Choose a theme: Select a theme that sets the tone for the whole event, driving all of your planning decisions to help the engaging attendees. Choose a theme that resonates with your launch event.

Corporate event type #3: Conferences

When your company decides to host a conference, your reputation is on the line. This is the type of event where you can showcase that your company is a thought leader in its industry, capable of bringing together speakers and content that provide real value to attendees.

The registration prices are usually expensive for these types of Corporate Events, you need to pull off a spectacular experience that makes it worth the investment. Here are few tips on how to pull of one:

• Find better event speakers: Conference-goers are willing to travel far distances for the right speaker lineup. But finding and securing conference speakers isn’t always easy.
• Let attendees choose their own swag: People love free stuff, but only if it’s something they want. A customization swag booth is a sure-fire way to send them home with goodies they’ll keep. For example, a custom phone case or a caricature artist who captures your attendees’ likeness is more likely to help them remember their experience than a wrist band or a T-shirt.

Corporate event type #4: Training workshops

Conducting training workshops for employees can be a thankless task. Just like school assemblies way back when, many people aren’t excited about required gatherings — especially if the training is on a dry topic like security and attendees have a mountain of work to get through back at their desks.

Break people out of their distractions and get them participating. Here are a few ways to get people engaged:

• Experiment with room layout: Training rooms are always laid out in the same old orthodox way – rows of tables and chairs, which brings back the memories of the school regime. Challenge the convention and surprise your attendees. Try providing them with beanbags instead of chairs, standing podium tables, or tables with just a few chairs to encourage small groups.
  
• include networking opportunities: Whether a training event is external or internal, provide people the time to connect with each other. This could be encouraged during breaks followed by a fun game.

Corporate event type #5: Seminars

Seminars are often used to showcase a company’s expertise on a specific topic or internally to provide employees with learning opportunities. They also usually allow audience members to interact with the speaker.

To mix things up at your next corporate seminar, consider the following tips:

• Think outside the ballroom: Sometimes the best venues are the ones that don’t feel corporate at all. The event could be hosted on a houseboat or cruise ship and it will be a memorable one.
  
• have fun with technology: Instead of the boring old PowerPoint presentation, consider other means by which you can help your speakers connect with the audience through an app, social media, or even a chat bot to help people discover relevant content.
  
• Incorporate an activity during break time: Instead of the usual coffee break, consider adding something experiential into that time. Informal fireside chat sessions, for example, can energize attendees and help their brains get the break from learning they need to focus when they come back.

Corporate event type #6: Holiday parties

Most companies throw an annual bash around the holiday season to celebrate their employees and show appreciation for their clients or customers. Although more lighthearted than the other types of corporate events on this list, they still need to adhere to work-appropriate parameters.

The trick? Finding the right balance between fun and out of control, as holiday parties are often an HR department’s worst nightmare. Here are a few tips to keep things professional:

• Photo booth: People have enjoyed taking photo booth selfies since 1925 and not much has changed. Today’s social photo booths, though, make it easy for people to take stills, videos, or GIFs and share the images straight to their social media accounts.
  
• Contests: A little friendly competition can liven up your holiday party in no time. Some fun ideas include a scavenger hunt, caption contest, or even a pub-quiz-style trivia game focused on questions about the business and or the holiday season.
  
• Cirque show: The circus arts have undergone an image overhaul, thanks to acts like Cirque du Soleil, which have elevated the art form to an immersive experience. Add some of that mystique to your event by hiring contortionists, acrobats, and aerialists.

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