Corporate Events Blog

You want your clients to go home with a vivid memory of your corporate event and more importantly you want them to tell others about just how good it was. So how to achieve this with a budget to think of and the long lasting impression being the all important agenda?

Over the years, many events companies have sprung up offering events from clay pigeon shooting to go-karting to golf tournaments. The trouble is that you really want your event to be unique and have that ‘wow’ factor yet none of the aforementioned events really stand out from the crowd.

Be more than ‘just another event’
Whether your company stages an annual event or you are about to plan your first corporate event, what you want out of it will be roughly the same.
You must ensure that those leaving the event do so with such a positive attitude that it will lead to increased sales, increased productivity, better performance or a range of benefits that affect your company positively.

But how to achieve this?
You must first consider what your budget is and do this on a per head basis. This allows you to set an overall figure for the event organiser and allow them to tailor a set of suggestions to your budget. A good event organiser will always offer suggestions that will meet your budget and also some ‘aspirational’ options that are a little over what you have to spend but may just give your event the ‘wow’ you were looking for!

Consider what distances you are prepared to travel, remembering that in these days of cheap airfares, it is often better value to fly to Europe than it is to get all your staff to travel independently to a remote UK location.

Use a firm who specialise in delivery of out of the ordinary events and don’t be afraid to use a company who are not based in the UK – many such companies are experienced in getting the very best and most varied entertainment available which, because they are not limited to activities traditionally offered in the UK can deliver a corporate event that far surpasses your expectations.

Tim Welch of Ten80 Events, based in Chamonix says;
“Two of our most popular events are Husky Sledding and Glacier Treks because they combine the thrill of excitement together with the bonding achieved by the accomplishment of a joint effort. We have found that many companies would rather take a short flight and then have all the possibilities of an environment like the Alps available to them rather than be tied to another weekend of quad biking in Kent!”

Don’t be afraid
It’s not unreasonable to expect to pay up to £1000 per head for a truly exceptional event (think 5* accommodation, personal chef and fully serviced VIP treatment) but compare this and all the loyalty you gain from it to simply paying a (taxable!) cash sum into your employees accounts which is so easily forgotten.

Visit Ten80 Events to find out more about exciting corporate events or organising a company conference. Ten80 Events is one of the fastest growing corporate event and team building companies in the Alps.

Fed up with the standard euro-pop on offer in most ski resorts some ski holiday goers decided to bring some decent music to the mountains,  and Snowbombing was born.  It was one of the first music events to hit ski resorts in 2000 and has progressively grown over the years to become the one of Europe favourite music festivals at altitude.

This year it’s hitting Mayrhofen in Austria for the fifth year running.  The line up is great with Doves, Fat Boy Slim, Editors and the as well as 2manydjs, Friendly Fires, Vitalic and De La Soul.  With talk of wardrobes leading to snowy DJ-filled worlds, a Forest party and Artic disco’s it sounds like Narnia on acid, and that is no bad thing.

As the temperature dropped and the heavens opened a sigh of relief could be heard echoing down the valley today as it meant fresh snow had arrived.  We’ve had a baking hot week with temperatures up to 18 degrees in the town and the snow took a battering.  Seasonnaires were looking worried, locals were dragging out there shorts and the snow was like a slush puppy spill on the mountain.

Today has done wonders for the skiing conditions in Chamonix and we have more snow forecast tonight and tomorrow which means visitors over Easter will not be disappointed and seasonnaires can rest easy as they have while before they need to pack up their skis, boards and boots.

With the weather forecast predicting 80% – 90% sunshine all week, I think it’s fair to say spring has arrived in Chamonix.  I had my first real taste of it on Sunday with a day in Flegere, learning to jump, ollie and 180 my way around the mountain (learning being the operative word).  I was not the only one out and having some fun falling about on the soft spring snow.  I wouldn’t recommend it first thing in the morning but once the suns out the snow is very forgiving.

The red wine has been swapped for rose, bbq’s are being dusted off and après has  moved outdoors in the sun soaked afternoons.  Last year we had great skiing all the way through the spring, even with a late season powder day on April 30^th.  With guaranteed sunny skiing in April its well worth booking a ski trip just for the comedy goggle tan you’ll get.

If there really is no rest for the wicked then Ten80 Events must have done something truly heinous because our diary is filled up back to back with events.  Not that we’re complaining, we’re having one of our best seasons yet.  Tim and Al are out in St Anton on an event enjoying the 262 km of groomed pistes and après ski Austrian style.  The whole trip looked like brilliant fun; from luxury accommodation at Chalet Montfort to the lunches at Verwall Stube and Hospiz Alm and parties at the Piccadilly Bar.  I would be jealous but we have some corking trips coming up this month in Chamonix as well as a corporate event in Val d’isere too.

The credit crunch has had a far reaching effect across almost all sectors of the business world. This has left employers facing a difficult problem: How do you maintain the morale and loyalty of your workforce whilst also keeping costs to a minimum and also satisfying the ‘green police’ who look over all aspects of corporate spending and frown when extra costs on things like travel are expended?

Is it worth it?

In almost all areas of life, it is remarkable how much difference a little perk or benefit can result in a much greater return of loyalty than the item actually cost to give.

When times are hard however it is all too easy to cut back on these little extras without realising the knock on effect it could be having.

Holding back on the perks means that employees can expect little reward for their hard work and diligence.

Interestingly, there are many companies also using the excuse of the credit crunch to cut back on perks but not necessarily to save money. Banks have been well known to cut perks to give employees the impression the company is under financial pressure. The theory is that this leads the employee to work harder to ensure that their salary is more secure.

With a little creativity however a company can beat the credit crunch and still enjoy the perks they were used to.

What are the options?

Traditionally companies have shied away from expensive but short lived events such as;

• Days out at Ascot, Wimbledon, Henley Regatta, Premiership Football
• Corporate golf days / motorsports
• Executive yacht charter

all of which carry a certain exclusivity but offer very little in the way of team building opportunities or event ‘bonding’.

Because of the dramatic change in the tourism market, new opportunities for longer, more effective corporate events have sprung up with hotel and chalet operators across the European continent especially in France, Switzerland and Italy.

Luxury accommodation has become affordable due to the demand having shrunk. This has enabled operators like Ten80 Events to offer week long fully serviced 5 star trips for a fraction of what it would have cost before the credit crunch hit.

“Our customers are increasingly aware that the standards have risen and the costs fallen and the availability of offers is like nothing they have experienced before” says Alistair Slinn of Ten80 Events.

Companies are also taking advantage of the opportunity to run a corporate event during the winter months thereby avoiding competition with the increased domestic travel experienced during the summer months.

Visit Ten80 Events to find out more about French corporate events and organising a company conference. Ten80 Events is one of the fastest growing corporate event and team building companies in the Alps.