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What can you do to make your next corporate event more memorable, enjoyable and unique? Businesses continue to plan bigger and more frequent events. It's crucial to find ways to differentiate each occasion from the last and encourage more people to show up. These ideas can help you organise a great meeting or celebration:

1. New Venue in Sydney

A classy, eye-catching Sydney venue could make your next event special. For instance, you can hold a conference at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney's Urban Winery or a nearby surf club. Be sure to visit the site beforehand. Don't forget to think about access to public transit and lodging.

2. Trendy Sydney Catering

Talk to your caterer and suggest trying something new. One popular trend involves serving a variety of canapes and other snack-size foods, such as burger sliders. This makes dining more convenient and lets participants sample diverse cuisine. Guests can easily control portion sizes, too.

3. Healthy Menus

More and more people want to eat nutritious meals. Try to choose appetising foods that don't deliver too much fat, cholesterol, sugar or sodium. Iron and protein help energise attendees so they can focus on presentations. On the other hand, overeating could compel half of your audience to take naps!

• Smaller portion sizes
• Energy, not excess calories
• Naturally delicious

4. Popular Cuisine

If you're not sure what to feed people, use a written survey or online poll to ask your staff about favorite meals and snacks. Keep in mind that allergies and religious beliefs can prevent some people from eating what the majority prefers. A poll could also help you plan other aspects of the occasion, like entertainment.

5. Live Music, Comedy

Don't arrange the same old entertainment that everyone has already seen and heard. Hire a different person or group to perform live music. Another option is to invite a stand-up comedian to your company meeting. Some people get offended easily, so choose a band or humourist with care.

6. Better Presentations

Don't rely on music to provide all of the entertainment. Make presentations more engaging with video, audio and inspiring words. Try to summarise data into concise material that leaves a lasting impression. Your event will achieve greater success if presenters forgo the usual dull PowerPoint shows that put audiences to sleep.

• Succinct and on-topic
• Tell interesting stories
• Multimedia effects

7. Insightful Speakers

Think about inviting an independent expert to speak at your conference. Choose someone who can look at your industry from a different perspective and offer valuable insights. For example, perhaps your company provides renovation services. You could invite the host of a home improvement show to speak at the event.

8. Special Lighting

Changes in lighting can help presentations become more dramatic, memorable and easily visible. If possible, dim lights while speakers use projectors and brighten them when participants need to walk around. Spot lights illuminate presenters in an eye-catching way. Remember to ask about lighting when you compare venues.

9. Fun & Games

Incorporate some exciting, enjoyable activities into your next event. You could consider adding trivia competitions, bowling, ping pong or 1980s arcade games. Try to choose games that fit your meeting's theme. If the weather and venue prove suitable, think about scheduling some outdoor activities as well.

10. Souvenirs

Give guests a tangible gift that will remind them of the event and its goals. Your staff could hand out a custom branded product, copies of a group photo or a signed copy of the company owner's book. An alternative is to let participants create something. For instance, everyone could paint their own pictures of the venue's surroundings.

To sum it up, you can greatly improve your next corporate event by introducing memorable activities, entertainment and cuisine while taking guests' personal preferences into account. It's also vital to condense and add action to dry presentations. Laissez-faire can help Australian companies achieve these goals. It offers top-notch catering, menu planning services and unforgettable meeting venues - don't hesitate to contact us for enquiries.

Are you in charge of planning your corporate celebrations? Or are you looking for new ways to bring your company's employees together? A corporate celebration is really an excuse to help your employees connect on both a professional and personal level, extending your company culture and making it clear that you value them. Here are a few of the top corporate celebration ideas, in addition to what makes them special -- and what venues may be the best option. 

Product Launch

Launch parties are used to build both internal and external hype for a new product. Usually a product launch involves a fairly detailed presentation, which may require a large stage and audio/visual equipment. Following the product launch, guests may eat, relax, and discuss the product that is to come. Product launches are usually planned well in advance and often have members of the press in attendance.

As the eyes of both clients and customers are upon the organization, a product launch is generally a more formal event. Consequently, it's usually held at a formal venue. Product launches should be held in a large area, such as an official conference room, ballroom, or event center. Ideally, many people will be at a product launch, including those who have been instrumental in the product's creation. The Prince Henry Centre, The National Art School, and the University of Sydney may all be good choices.

Milestone Celebration

A milestone celebration is an excellent way for an organization to celebrate its accomplishments, while also generating excitement and buzz moving forward. Milestone celebrations are frequently used as a way to anchor the organization, looking back at what has been completed so far while also covering what still needs to be completed moving forward.

A milestone celebration can be as formal or informal as desired. A small milestone celebration might be celebrated in the company's old cafeteria, while other milestone celebrations may be held in restaurants, museums, or other event spaces. Depending on the number of individuals involved, a milestone celebration can be an intimate gathering or a large, company-wide event. The Venue, La Porte Space, Bangarra, and the Freedom Hub could all be good options. 

End of Year Celebration

An end of the year celebration is really meant to celebrate the hard work that employees offered the company over the year, while also rewarding them with great food and a relaxing time. Food is of the utmost importance, as many of the employees will appreciate foods (and potential bonuses or profit-sharing) more than anything else. An end of the year celebration often involves an assortment of canapes, a meal, and -- of course -- champagne.

Many end of year celebrations are brought to the office, if the office has a large enough event space. If it does not, however, an event space, ballroom, or other large event center may be ideal. End of year celebrations are often done with the entire company in mind, which makes a particularly large space important. Other considerations with an end of year celebration include how drinks will be provided and what entertainment will be available, as guests are likely to stay practically all night. Sone good venues include The National Art School, Roundhouse, or the White Bay Cruise Terminal.

Corporate Awards Night

If you want to motivate your employees, consider a corporate awards night. A corporate awards night serves the dual purpose of showing employees that they have been recognized and showing other employees which values your company wants to emphasize. By giving employees awards of recognition, you can boost their morale and make sure they serve as an example to others.

Corporate awards nights can and should be rather formal, as the formality of the awards ceremony only adds to the feeling of recognition and inspiration. A corporate awards night can be held at a large venue, such as the Urban Winery, The University of Sydney, or the National Art School. It's important that employees have a stage on which they can give a small speech and be recognized. 

Post-Conference Celebration

After a conference, a less formal celebration may be desired to encourage employees to relax. A conference can be an extremely taxing event, and it's important that employees know that their contributions were valued and that the company does want them to have a solid work-life balance.

Post-conference celebrations will often be at a smaller and more intimate location, such as the Coogee Surf Club, The Venue, or the Studio Hub. Primarily, you will want to facilitate inter-employee interactions, so they can easily talk and unwind. 

Are You Ready to Start Planning?

Plan your next corporate event - contact the expert chefs at Laissez-faire  today. Through Laissez-faire, you can get expert opinions regarding your menu and your venue -- the two things that make your corporate events special and memorable.

When planning a corporate event, one of the first things you should think about is having a strong theme. A theme is optional for many personal events, but for a corporate event it's really a necessity. Here are some of the reasons why a corporate event can benefit from a theme.

Event Themes Offer a First Impression of the Event to Employees

Many corporate events can sound generic, such as awards ceremonies, or holiday parties. When employees are told that such an event is happening, they may not be able to get really excited about it: after all, they don't know what to expect. Having a theme gives employees something to latch onto and get excited about, offering a positive first impression.

Event Planners Can Use Event Themes for Decor and Design

Planning an event from scratch is very hard. An event theme gives an event planner information about what type of decor they should invest in. Certain themes lend themselves very well to specific colors, patterns, and decorations. All of this ultimately simplifies the process of planning. 

This is especially true of more common event themes, such as a "beach side or tropical vacation," as there are many examples of these themes that you can look at in design magazines, scrapbooks, and online. 

Event Caterers Can Design Menus Around an Event Theme

An event theme gives your caterer a jumping off point when designing your event's menu. Of all things in a corporate event, the food is arguably the most important. Food is what most people are going to remember the most. 

Your caterer can get creative about matching your food to a theme, potentially based on geography, appearance, ingredients, or season. An arrangement of exciting and unique food will not only emphasize your theme, but also give employees something to talk about both during and after the event.

Event Themes Are Memorable Compared to Events Without Themes

An exciting and whimsical theme event is going to be more memorable than an event without theme, as there's more to distinguish it. A generic corporate event just doesn't have a lot to remember, whereas a themed event can have unique activities, food, and design -- all of which will keep people talking about the event for years to come.

In the future, employees will be more likely to attend corporate events and enjoy them, as they already know that the event is likely to be engaging and fun. Corporate events that are non-mandatory can easily have attendance issues, while making corporate events completely mandatory often strips them of their fun. 

Event Themes Let Employees Work Together

Deciding upon an event theme doesn't have to be the responsibility of the event planner alone. Rather, an event planner can have employees work together to decide on themes and add elements to the theme. This taps into the creativity of employees while also giving them a certain amount of ownership and engagement in the party. The more they engage with the party, the more likely they are to get a party that they enjoy.

Event Themes Can Be Used for Any Type of Corporate Event

A theme is an easy way to plan virtually any type of corporate event. It doesn't matter what type of event it is: a theme can be applied. Moreover, you can choose how much you want to apply the theme. Some events can be heavily themed, with costumes and events, while other themes can be a very light theme that involves only catering and decor. 

Event Themes Let Employees Get Creative and Involved

In addition to letting employees make decisions about a theme, employees can also get creative and involved in other ways. You can host contests that are related to the themes, have employees dress in costume, or have employees participate in making decor. This gives employees some time to connect with the theme of the event, while also giving them some fun things to do together.

Planning and engaging with a corporate event is an excellent team-building exercise, regardless of the type of event. If you're interested in helping employees work better together, having them participate in the planning of a corporate event can have some major advantages. In addition to this, it does reduce the amount of planning that the event planner has to do on their own.

All-in-all, an event theme essentially creates a framework for a corporate event. Meanwhile, employees are able to decide how much they want to get involved with the theme, as well as adding their own input to the event itself. If you want a memorable, exciting corporate event, you need a memorable, exciting theme. You can get started now by discussing your corporate event and your needs with Laissez-Faire.