Corporate Event Planning for Upscale Corporate Events
What do upscale retailers Holt Renfrew and Nakheel/Dubai World, upscale real developers of the Palm Island trilogy and the Map have in common?
When the were looking for an organizations to work with their teams, they called Executive Oasis International, a Toronto based firm that plans and organizes unique, engaging and upscale corporate events. As the President of Executive Oasis International and based on our experience in planning events in Canada, Asia, and the Middle East, I am pleased to bring you tips and ideas to ensure the success of your next corporate event.
- Corporate Event Planning
- Visit our website for all the help you need to plan upscale corporate events flawlessly.
Corporate Event Near Toronto
What You'll Find on This Page
Corporate Event Planning: Pitfalls to Avoid
Allocate sufficient time for planning.
There is no way that you can expect to pull off an effective corporate event if 1 - 2 weeks prior to the event you are just contacting suppliers.
Move out of the downtown core.
It is amazing how resistant some organizations can be to moving out of the downtown core. Often, by move just outside city limits, one can pay a fraction of the cost for an absolutely gorgeous venue and gourmet cuisine.
Don't splurge on food and accommodation and scrimp on the keynote speaker.
You need an experienced keynote speaker to dazzle your audience. I remember a company that contacted us in a panic. They had blown most of their budget for a top of the line venue with all the bells and whistles. They had little left to pay for a speaker. We suggested a couple of cost effective venues but eventually had to pass on that booking as they insisted on the high end facility and could not afford to hire an experienced professional.
Get your priorities straight.
We'll say more about alcohol later but here is one example. We've seen companies insist that they have to have an open bar for the duration of an event and then find that they have to go with one of the cheapest options for their main course. We even seen organizations pass up beautiful venues just so that they can spend more on booze.
Gourmet Cooking Team Building
Facilitated, interactive cooking team building that combines team cooking challenges with feedback about team dynamics and a debriefing about lessons learned and how they can apply to business. We have a competitive restaurant simulation in which teams have to develop a theme, menu and marketing plan for the restaurant and cook dishes from their sample menu for judging. We also have sessions insipred by the popular TV shows. Iron Chef and Next Great Chefs.Cooking team building sessions are currently available in Toronto, Dubai, Oman and Jamaica. In Saudi Arabia, we can organize a recreational cooking team building event for you using local gourme chefs. The team feedback and debriefing are not available. We would be pleased to work with teams from Saudi Arabia if they are able to travel to Dubai or Oman.
- Gourmet Cooking Team Building
- Visit our Website for information about our Gourmet Cooking Team Building Toronto, Jamaica, Dubai, Oman
Don't let Booze Bust Your Next Corporate Event
There is no way to address this topic without just coming out and saying it. "Watch the booze." Again it comes down to priorities and there is also the matter of liability.Here are some other tips:
Hire a Smart Serve or TIPS trained bartender and EVEN USE HIM OR HER FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY SUITE if there are members of your team who tend to overdue.
The bartender will have received training to detect potential problems and turn off the tap when appropriate. This will protect your company without making you look like the party pooper.
Be Aware of Local Practices
Depending on where you have your event, there may be certain cautions you need to absorb. For example, I don't know if it is by coincidence or desgin, but I have often noticed police R.I.D.E checks in close proximity to banquet facilities in Ontario's Greater Toronto area, police often set up R.I.D.E. This can be a surprise especially if your event has taken place in what appears to be a remote area. If it is apparent that someone has been drinking blows over the legal limit in a breathalizer test, the keys to the card could be taken for a while and there could be charges. What a horrible way to end an enjoyable evening.
If you're doing an event overseas, don't assume that what you can do at home you can do abroad. If you're in Dubai you can serve alcohol at an event at a hotel, however, public consumption of alcohol and public drunkeness will not be tolerated. Move next door to Sharjah and alcohol is prohibited.
Be aware of potential legal liability
Many companies are not aware of the fact that if they allow the liquor to flow freely, your company, the venue and the event planner (if the company's name is on the contract) could be held liable if someone gets into an accident and injures someone on their way home from a corporate event.
In a recent high-profile Ontario case(Hunt v. The Sutton Group Realty), the bar and the employer were found 25% responsible for the $1 million in damages that was awarded. An employee suffered permanent brain damage as the result of an car accident that took place after she left a corporate Christmas party and drove while she was drunk. This was in spite of the fact that Hunt had refused 3 offers of a ride home. The basis for the Ontario Superior Court runing was that the employer should have taken more aggressive action to stop her from driving even if they had to confiscate her car keys or call the police.
In Childs v. Des Ormeaux, while the judge did not rule in Childs' favour, he did underscore the fact that a "duty of care" exists between host and guests and indicate that he would have been willing to assign 15% liability to the host.
Other Articles
- Deck the Halls, but take precautions
- How to throw a liability-free office Christmas party.
- Employer Liability for Employee Driving Accidents
- Not wanting to spoil the fun, sometimes employers forget that they can be held liable for employee driving accidents after drinking at corporate events.
- Catering and Alcohol
- As a guest, liquor service looks easy ("Crack open a cold beer, mate!") But with this service comes responsibility, by-law and liability issues.
- The death of the party/La fête est terminée
- Social host liability is lurking just beneath the surface of Canadian jurisprudence. Commercial establishments and employers have already been found liable for damage caused by guests who've drunk too much.
- Company Off Hook In Alcohol-Related Death Following Party
- A wrongful-death lawsuit that sought $50 million from a company that served alcohol at its Christmas party, as well as the company's event planners and a drunken attendee, has been dismissed and the company exonerated.
If attendance at this particular event had been mandatory - if, for example, the party took place at a corporate sales conference where attendees were expected to be there - that could have been considered a furtherance of corporate business.
- Combustible Cocktail
- A shocking ruling. Philips County Sheriff's Department in Montana was held liable when a drunken County Deputy fell to his death over a railing into a hotel's inner courtyard during a conference sponsered by the organization. The company was found liable even thought he and 3 other employees had obtained access to the hospitality suite room key without authorization and continued drinking on their own after the hospitality suite was closed.
Promoting Responsible Drinking
If members of your team have a tendency to overdo it, for large events, use Ladybug Teknologies Inc.'s Know Your Event Service. This will give employees an opportunity to self monitor alcohol levels during the course of an event.
In view of recent court rulings, this may be a wise course of action. A number of brokers now offer this. Just do a search on-line for Party Alcohol Liability Insurance.
Helpful Resources
- Know Your AQ Event Service
- This service provided by Ladybug Teknologies Inc. uses state-of-the-art calibrated breathalyzers to enable participants to voluntarily test their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level over the course of an evening and take an active and preemptive role in their choices surrounding alcohol consumption.
- Know Your AQ to your employees as part of In-House training Programme
- Ladybug Teknologies' Know Your AQ training program teaches employees the much underrated skill of responsible drinking.
Educate Your Team About Responsible Drinking
Incorporate a Smart Serve Ontario responsible drinking DVD into your orientation programme and show it during your next sales rally or incentive trip.
- Best Practices for Special Occasion Videos and DVDs
- Perfect for orientation and sales rallies. Promotes responsible drinking
- Smart Serve Ontario's Special Events Guide
- Topics include:
- Your responsibilities
- When you would need a Special Occasion Permit (SOP)
- How to apply for a SOP
- Party Checklists, recipes
- Your responsibilities
Certainly there is nothing wrong with a cocktail reception and a glass of wine with dinner. Rather than letting the liquor flow freely all evening, it's wise to serve it early.
Bus 'em
As an extra precaution, why not hire a party or luxury bus to take people back and forth from your head office to the event venue? This will give people more time to get the alcohol out of their system. However, if people are drinking up until the time they board the bus, even a bus will be of limited value.
Use Designated Drivers
IF employees will be travelling by car to corporate events, ensure that there is a designated driver for each vehicle. Yes, this may make you appear to be a party pooper but it is better to be a party pooper than to pay out a large settelement due to some alcohol related accident.
Call a Cab
You might also want to consider having a backup plan. Provide a taxi to take guests who overdo it direclty home or to hotel accommodation where they can sleep it off.
This is so important that I am going to repeat it.
Courts throughout the USA and recently in Canada are rendering judgements that hold companies liable when employees consume too much alcohol at company-sponsored functions and then cause accidents or injure someone after leaving the event.
The bottom line is this....if an intoxicated employee insists on driving, threaten disciplinary action, take away the car keys, and if all else fails, call the police.
It's important to plan wisely and ensure that booze does not bust your next corporate event.
Voice Your Opinion
Do you thing that companies should re-think their policies for serving alcohol at corporate events?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes. It's just a matter of time before someone else gets seriously injured.
Mike_Aoki says:
I have another concern: corporate event budgets. Most event halls and restaurants charge very heavily for alcohol drinks. So one of the fastest ways to conserve your event's budget is to limit people to one or two free drinks.
Posted July 21, 2008
executiveoasis says:
Some organizatons have been way too cavalier about the way in which alcohol is served at company functions. The recent court rulings should be a wake up call for anyone who is paying attention.
Posted July 18, 2008
