3 Christmas Party Tips to Help You Throw the Best One Yet
Planit Events Inc. shares 3 tips to help you throw the best Christmas party this year!

3 Christmas Party Tips to Help You Throw the Best One Yet

As the frost rolls in and the air becomes crisper, it’s safe to say that the holiday season is right around the corner. I know that for most of us, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of all between your work and personal life, which can lead to extra stress. So whether you are getting your plans together for a corporate or family event, I have some great tips to share with you to help ensure that your Christmas party is a hit for each and every one of your guests.

Plan Ahead

As the holiday season can become hectic quickly with numerous events, buying presents for family and friends, and much more, planning ahead will save you a considerable amount of stress. First, pick a date and stick to it. The sooner you let your guests know about your fabulous Christmas event, the sooner they can pencil it into their calendar before other invites arrive.

Once you’ve set a date, create a checklist for yourself. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! Check out the Planit Events Inc. starter checklist to get you started. What kinds of things should you include on your checklist? Consider the following when making your unique checklist:

Where will the event be held?
How many people will be on the guest list?
Will the event be held at a restaurant, or do you need to start looking for a catering company?
Will there be a bar?
Will there be a gift exchange or prizes given away?
What will be the entertainment?

Download the checklist here: Christmas Checklist

If you want to check out some more great tips on planning, visit my blog!

Décor

It’s not a Christmas party unless there is holiday décor! With lots of advance planning, give yourself a chance to think of a theme or, better yet, start a Pinterest board of all your favorite décor ideas, and from there, you can narrow it down. Think about who your guests are? Do you want to go for a more elegant look, or do you want a more fun, spunky vibe?

Need some help putting your décor together? Look no further! Planit Events Inc. launched a new product earlier this year, Décor Crate! Décor crate makes decorating for your event simple! So how does it work? You will receive your custom curated Décor Crate, which has all your decoration needs, as well as a small box with items that you will keep and do not have to be returned. Don’t worry; a handy guide will be in the crate! Once you are done with your event, simply package all the items that are to be returned back into the crate.

Once we have the crates back, we will sanitize and clean all the decorations and have them ready to go for the next event!

Entertainment

It’s important to choose entertainment that everyone will enjoy! But where do you start? Again, think about who your guests are and what they enjoy. What have you done in past years that people liked or disliked? Here are a few of my favorites:

Photo Booth
- Guests tend to let loose a bit during holiday parties, and it’s great to capture these happy moments with a photo booth! Christmas props like antlers and Santa hats can make them even more fun!
Live Music
- Music is a great way to get people up out of their chairs to dance and sing along! Remember, if you’re going to have live music, ensure you secure a band or DJ that will play the right genre of music for your audience.
Games and Giveaways
- Games and giveaways are a great way to get people excited and involved in the party. Perhaps a gift exchange or raffle! There are lots of ways you can go about this. Remember, if you’re going to incorporate a gift exchange, set a minimum and maximum spending limit.

Now, remember, the holiday season is supposed to be fun and full of appreciation for one another. Planning ahead and sticking to your checklist will help you plan a great party that not only your guests will enjoy, but you too! Planit Events Inc. is always here to help, especially when you have too much on your plate. So let us take the stress away so that you can sit back and enjoy the holiday season with your colleagues, friends, and family! Reach out to us to see how we can help you plan the most fabulous holiday party that people will be raving about years from now!

3 Ways to Increase Engagement During Online Events

The past two years have completely changed how events are run. Countless trade shows, awards nights, and corporate events have switched from in-person events to either online or hybrid-type events. That being said, event planners have been faced with new challenges, one of which is engagement. I have learned many engagement tactics over my years of experience for in-person events; however, I was posed with the new challenge of engaging guests during online events. I wanted to share a few of the valuable tactics I have learned over the last bit that have helped me improve engagement through the online or hybrid events I have been involved in. Remember, an online or hybrid event can be just as effective as an in-person event if you roll up your sleeves and get creative!

Compelling Content

I can’t stress this enough, but compelling content for your event is key to attendance and engagement. Focus on your target audience, research, and use past event surveys to determine what type of content your audience wants to see. Ensuring that the appropriate content is presented is the first step in the engagement process. Better yet, provide recommended content to each guest based on their interests or reason for attending the event! This can be done by asking each attendee to pick topics of interest during the registration process. Once you have compiled your compelling content, you can move on to the next step, which is encouraging networking.

Encourage Networking

Networking can be complex during online events, so guests need to be encouraged. But how do you do that? We sometimes forget that guests attend many events not just for the keynote speakers or to generate new leads, but many attend to broaden their network and create new connections! Online events can be a bit more tricky as it’s not as simple as going up to a new person and introducing yourself. As an event planner, finding the right way to encourage your guests to network is one of the keys to a successful event.

First, it’s essential to host your event on a platform that allows one-on-one conversations between attendees. These one-on-one conversations can be encouraged by creating “hot” topics that the target audience would be interested in discussing. Perhaps invite subject matter experts to attend your event to entice other guests to join conversations to learn and collaborate.

Another networking method is creating topic-assigned groups, where attendees can join a group topic they are interested in and discuss it among other guests, exhibitors, and sponsors (and trust me, the exhibitors and sponsors will love this too). These discussions create new relationships, opportunities, and connections!

Include Incentive

Online events can seem less attractive to guests, and they may be less enticed to participate, so how do you give them the little extra push they may need? Provide incentive. There are plenty of ways to go about this, so I thought I would give an example of two ideas you can implement into your next event:

Assign points to guests participating in certain activities. At the end of the event, you can give away prizes provided by the event host or sponsors. These activities can consist of:

Visiting an exhibitor/sponsor booth

Joining a group discussion

Booking a one-on-one meeting with another attendee, exhibitor, or speaker

Joining a live keynote speaker session

Encourage exhibitors and sponsors of the event to do a give-away of their own to entice attendees to visit and interact with their booths. These giveaways will allow your exhibitors and sponsors to collect basic information (name, company, and email) about potentially interested guests, which can turn into leads in the future.

Online and hybrid engagement is different for every event. Contact Planit Events Inc. to discuss ways to improve your next event to ensure your audience, sponsors, and exhibitors experience strong engagement, in turn creating a successful event!