Your ideal corporate event planning timeline

How to plan an event for thousands of attendees

Large-scale corporate events shouldn’t come together at the last minute. Securing optimal space for 800+ attendees requires careful planning, often years in advance. To gain buy-in, you must navigate the buying group’s needs and collaborate with other members to define the problem and find a budget-compatible solution.

• Reserving flexible and premiere space allows more creativity for event branding and content delivery.
• Forecasting enables your organization to align the location with growth potential.
• Planning in advance ensures your reputation isn’t characterized by reactive, decision-making scrambles.

Boost your bargaining power by booking early

Your budget benefits when negotiations with desirable hotels, convention centers and other venues are less competitive further out from your event. Delaying your venue decision to 12–15 months out often means you’re reacting and designing your agenda around whatever meeting space you can find.

• Securing rates through multiyear agreements informs the procurement process and creates cost savings.
• Partnering with the same property or hotel brand for multiple years helps your program gain additional concessions that improve the attendee experience.

Reduce risk with event contracting expertise

Having the right team during contracting mitigates setbacks when potential challenges arise. Environmental disasters, global health scares and market upheaval all impact corporate events. Having a trusted partner to navigate those situations on your behalf creates a competitive advantage.

• Negotiating low deposits and including protective clauses for cancellation and attrition are key.
• Partnering with event management experts minimizes threats, risks and liabilities anywhere you host.

Champion advanced event planning

Once you have a plan for what will make your 2030 event a success, it’s time to navigate the next steps. According to Forrester, on average, 13 people within an organization are involved in a buying decision, and 89% of purchases in their survey involved two or more departments.