The Most Common Types of Corporate

Events
The Top Types of Corporate Events Every Event
Planner Should Know
BY ROB HARD
 
Updated March 05, 2017

According to Meeting Professionals International, more than $122 billion is spent

annually in the U.S. meetings industry. This money is most commonly spent at
resort hotels, city hotels, suburban hotels, conference centers, restaurants,
country clubs, and convention centers, but at the end of the day, some of that
corporate meeting money is spent at nearly every unique venue imaginable. It's
no surprise then that corporate event planning and all that goes with it is big
business. While some larger corporations and organizations have corporate
event planners on staff or contract with an event planning agency, many others
(particularly the smaller companies and organizations) simply pass along the job
of planning corporate events to someone in HR or another department.

Whether at a corporate environment, association, non-profit, or government

agency, the most popular corporate events typically fall into one of the following
programs:

 01

 Seminars and Conferences

•••

Purpose: Organizations plan and hold these meetings with targeted audiences,

and provide them with relevant information.
Description: Seminars are usually shorter events, lasting a couple hours, ½ day,
or even a whole workday. They have single or multiple speakers and generally
keep all participants together in the same space. Conferences, on the other
hand, typically have multiple sessions that occur concurrently that are geared
toward different interests, different positions or roles, and even skill level. They
are typically held at hotels, begin with a keynote session and then hold breakout
sessions by topic. A conference is usually planned for at least half of a day
though generally conferences span the course of one to two days or sometimes
longer.

 02

 Trade Shows

•••

Purpose: Organizations attend trade shows as a lead generation activity. They

may also choose to host or sponsor a trade show to reinforce their image as an
industry leader among those who attend, such as members, customers,
prospects, and suppliers.

Description: Event planning for trade showsinvolves negotiating sponsorship

rates for trade show booth space, advertising and promotion at the event, and
sometimes speaking opportunities at the event for the leadership at your
company to speak. Many logistical details exist to assure that the trade show
booth, promotional materials, giveaways, and staff arrive on time for your
company.

 03

 Executive Retreats and Incentive Programs

•••

Purpose: This is where the big bucks are spent on a per person basis. Executive
retreats and incentive programs are often held at luxury resorts in exclusive
destinations, and they receive the most visibility in an organization. Business
development and organizational planning are typically the topics of the agenda,
but equal weight is given to enjoyable activities as part of the original incentive
and reward.

Description: Executive retreats and incentive trips typically last between three

and five days and require attention to site selection, lodging, transportation,
catering, business meetings, and golf and other activities. Negotiation skills must
be sharp because these programs involve all aspects of event planning.

 04

 Golf Events

•••

Purpose: One favorite event at every organization is to hold its annual golf

outing. Relationship management is the primary objective; however, business
content must always drive event planning, not the other way around.

Description: Most golf courses prefer their clients to reserve tee times either first
thing in the morning or at 1 p.m. if you are not renting out the course and
clubhouse for the whole day. That can cause scheduling issues as it relates to
the business meeting content. During the planning phase, it is important to keep
internal clients on track, and not allow them to minimize the business time.

 05

 Appreciation Events
•••

Purpose: These programs allow an event host to spend informal time with its
guests in a non-traditional environment, giving both parties an opportunity to
build a rapport and learn more about mutual business priorities. Appreciation
events can range from programs geared toward employee appreciation to those
for showing client appreciation, both of which have become a staple in corporate
America.

Description: There are limitless possibilities and types of appreciation events

that organizations hold throughout the year. Common programs include:

o Dinner and theater

o Day at the race track
o Suites at sporting arenas
o Day and evening cruises
o Private parties at music festivals
o Holiday parties
o Tickets to the most popular events in town
 06

 Company or Organization Milestones

Purpose: Company milestones provide a business or organization the

opportunity to celebrate a grand opening or other major milestone or
anniversary. 

Description: Company milestone events vary significantly in their execution, but

tend to follow similar programs as employee and client appreciation events.
These types of events tend to be celebratory in nature and can be limited to
company employees or expanded to include clients, vendors, and even the local
community depending on the company's size and stature in the community.
  07

 Team Building Events

•••

Purpose: Team building events are meant to build upon the company's strengths

while building employee confidence, goodwill, and morale. Team building events
also provide the unique opportunity for employees to spend time together in a
non-work environment working together to solve puzzles and complete
activities. Team building events are meant to do just that - build stronger teams. 

Description: Corporate team building events have been epitomized by outdoor

and physical group activities like a ropes course. In fact, there are companies all
around the nation that specialize in hosting team building events in their intricate
indoor and outdoor courses. That said, team building events can also focus on
other types of team building activities from workshops to sensitivity training.  

 08

 Product Launch Events

Purpose: Product launch events can include internal product launch meetings to

inform all employees across the company about any upcoming products to full-
blown product launch parties to create a buzz surrounding the product's release
among customers and the media. Product launch events are most common for
business to consumer (B2C) companies.

Description: Product launch events are generally meant to generate media

coverage and industry buzz prior to a product's release. The launch event may
include a flashy introduction to the product along with an address from the
companies most important executives. Large product launches also tend to be
very much a big party with well-known guests, dinner, and entertainment
depending on the industry. 

 09

 Board Meetings and Shareholder Meetings

•••

Purpose: Board meetings and shareholder meeting both server extremely

important purposes for both private and public companies. Board meetings
serve as an opportunity for board members to meet to review business
performance and meet with company executives to make important decisions.
Shareholder meetings, on the other hand, provide companies the opportunity to
share recent performance, targets, future goals, and business strategies with its
shareholders.

Description: Annual, bi-annual, or even quarterly meetings can be small internal

meetings of board members or large-scale prestigious business events for
shareholders that range in size depending on the size of the company and
shareholder turnout.