Usually when people think corporate event, large networking events or holiday celebrations come to mind. These large events entail catering, drinks, at least business casual dress, and a stack of business cards. Too often people forget about the benefits of smaller, more intimate events.
But when it comes to corporate event planning in Frederick MD, you can’t discount small events.
Smaller events allow large benefits – like higher engagement from your attendees, fewer event logistics to coordinate, and a more casual setting.
What Is a Small Event?
When I say “small event”, I mean small. Think fewer than 15 people. These are great events for in-person invitations to those who you think can benefit the most from your event.
For example, at our most recent Events at the Assembly: Happy Hour, we invited people who were redoing their offices, specialized in graphic design, and understood space branding. The entire group was under ten people- but the right people were in attendance. Everyone was able to learn from each other and leave with something they could apply to their goals.
Smaller corporate event planning in Frederick, MD, means planning an event that has concrete benefits for every single attendee. Your goals are very different than they’d be a large event. You’re not there to build an email list or host the biggest, most impressive event. Intimate corporate events are the best events to help educate your community and display your expertise.
More Conversation
For many people, a small, more intimate event may make them feel more comfortable. The higher their comfort level, the easier time they’ll have joining in conversations and interacting with people. How many times have you gone to a large networking event and noticed a few people awkwardly standing around the edges of the room? In a small event, there’s no one to hide behind and the comfort level should be high enough that nobody feels as though they have to hide.
The last intimate group discussion and networking event I went to was here at New North. I left knowing everybody’s name. There were no awkward silences in the Q & A because everybody felt comfortable enough to pipe up throughout the discussion.
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Less Event Coordination
Setting up a small casual event means making people feel at ease. For our small events, we make sure there’s plenty of beer, good snacks, and chairs for people to sit in – and that’s it. With a small event, you don’t have to worry about coordinating caterers, bringing in the right number of servers, acquiring party gifts, or handing out raffle tickets.
Small events should make people feel at home. That means your event shouldn’t feel like a high-pressure affair. After all, most people don’t hold a nightly raffle at the dinner table. You want your attendees to feel comfortable standing up, grabbing a drink, grabbing a snack, wandering around, and finding their way back into the conversation. Not having a huge catering buffet or servers hustling around takes the pressure off of an event, both for you and for your attendees.
Customized Content
With a hand-picked audience, you can also customize your content for the event. Yes, you should do this for every single event that you hold. But when it comes to corporate event planning in Frederick MD for small events, you can take customized content to a whole new level.
When you hold an event for fewer than 15 people, you probably have a good idea of who’s coming and what their business is struggling with. Choose a topic for your event that you believe will benefit a small facet of your community that’s struggling or has experience with a similar problem. Your goal should be to choose a topic for your event where people can learn from each other.
Work with Your Community
Small, intimate events are about community building. When you’re corporate event planning for a small event, you want to work within your community. Look for co-hosts that can bring in their own audience and provide complementary expertise to your own knowledge.
When choosing a topic, consider the needs of your community. What’s the common denominator for issues that businesses in your community struggle with? Is it within your ability to address them? How can your expertise help those around you?
I’m not saying you should go out and become best friends with your competitors in your community (as a matter of fact there are many who would argue against that). But there is something to be said for helping the businesses around you. When communities come together to learn and move their individual businesses forward, your whole community improves by leaps and bounds.